Have You Hit the High Notes?
by Kate Downey and Billy DiCrosta
Kate Downey reminds fellow teachers of the importance in keeping up with their vocal range daily, not only for their vocal health, but also as an encouragement of the necessary stretching we and our students need to keep the voice in tip top shape!
I would like to start this teaching tip off by reminding my fellow teachers to study/take a lesson with another IVTOM teacher whenever you can to keep your vocal chops up. In my lesson the other night with Billy DiCrosta, we worked on my higher register. He asked me when was the last time I warmed up through my coloratura notes. I said honestly, probably three years or more! He made an awesome comparison to a piano with only 2 octaves. How boring would it be if you could only play songs in that range? Or what about just in root position? BORING!!
Of course, getting “up there” requires some dedication. Billy warms up his entire range every day. That mindset is super inspiring. It takes time, but it is a worthy practice that pays off!
Think about it…The more you work on your range and extending it, the better your belt will be! I promise!
I can’t say enough how eye (or vocally) opening this lesson was. And how awesome it is for us teachers, that we can provide our students with similar “aha!” moments. In this lesson, I was able to access my whistle notes which I haven’t in years (up to A6)…And now I’m singing Ke$ha’s “Praying” (which she glides up to an F6 toward the end of the song)! So work those high notes, your mix and belt will thank you.
Kate Downey is a music educator and performer with over 10 years of experience in the industry. She will be graduating in the fall with a Master of Arts in Music Business from Berklee College of Music. Kate was trained in Mix by IVTOM teacher, Billy DiCrosta. They met at Can You Sing singing competition, where he was judging and she was competing. Kate studied classical voice for undergrad, and in 2014 she became an IVTOM Accredited Teacher and has never looked back! She says “IVTOM is the reason I found my TRUE voice!” She shares her gift of teaching mix with her students each week, and is happy to share her insights with the general membership of IVTOM.
