Singing High Notes

Tip for Week of December 27, 2010

High notes are only high because we are standing up, if we were standing on our heads they would be low.
– A quote from master instructor Dean Kaelin

An interesting concept when we are bombarded with dramatic images of vocalists looking like they are about to burst a blood vessel as they REEEEAAACH for those high notes! The fact is that all pitch is created on the horizontal (the way our vocal cords are placed). Therefore, it is NOT a high or low situation. What we mean is that the higher we sing, the further up the resonation travels which is why we have the term “head voice”, and hence why we associate this with being “high”. (After all, the head sits above our chest on our bodies… at least it did the last time I checked!) Anyway, the good news is that high notes are no more difficult than low notes when produced with a balance of air and muscle. With the correct training and exercises we can all get used to using these higher tones and finally feel comfortable in the area of our voice that we so often shy away from!