How to Expand Your Vocal Range with 3 Easy Exercises

How to Expand Your Vocal Range with 3 Easy Exercises with tags how to expand vocal range, vocal range, axl rose vocal range, mariah carey vocal range, freddie mercury vocal range, how to increase vocal range, singing ranges, vocal range of singers, vocal range singers, vocal ranges male, how to increase voice range, expand vocal range, vocal range scale, vocal range exercises

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Introduction: 0:00

1.5 Octave Lip trill: 0:52

1.5 Octave Gee: 1:45

1.5 Octave Bratty Nay: 2:38

One of the biggest reasons singers take voice lessons is to expand vocal range. People have done lots of research on singers like Axl Rose and Mariah Carey and have found that they have a tremendous range. Understanding your vocal range is an incredibly important first step in understanding your voice.

The best part is that for most, the vocal range of singers is not set and can be expanded. First let’s understand how to increase vocal range, then I’ll give you 3 exercises to sing higher notes.

The first step in understanding how to expand vocal range is to learn which voice type you are. I’ve written another article on the different voice types. Take a look at it so you know what to expect from your voice.

To sum of the contents of the article, I’ve learned from experience that most singers are some kind of tenor (for males) OR some kind of soprano (for females).

That’s not to say that basses and altos don’t exist. Just that those vocal ranges for males and females are rare. And we shouldn’t let these labels dictate how high we think we can sing.

The fact is that most singers between the ages of 20 and 60 can expand vocal range to some degree. While we may not increase everyone’s range by octaves, there’s usually a noticeable improvement.

You may have a lower or higher voice than others, but some of the principles of range are true for everyone.

The vocal mechanism expands vocal range by thinning and lengthening the vocal folds.

This is similar to the strings on your guitar. As the size of the string gets smaller, the speed of the vibrations increase. This increases the vibrations per second (also known as hertz) which results in a higher pitch.

The opposite is also true. The thicker the guitar string, the slower the vibrations and the lower pitch you hear.

Your voice works in the same way. In the larynx (or voice box), the vocal folds stretch and thin. This makes them vibrate faster and the pitch increases. The vocal cords can also shorten and thicken which would create a lower pitch.

With vocal range extension, the trick is to allow the cords to stretch in a safe and gradual way so they don’t thin too quickly. If the vocal cords thin too fast, they lose the ability to resist airflow and you may flip or disconnect to falsetto. I’ve also written an article discussing falsetto with several listening examples.

The best way to increase voice range is by working with exercises that allow the vocal folds to stretch while still maintaining their ability to resist the air.

The vocal folds resist air like a door that opens and closes.

If the door is made of paper, I can very easily run right through it. This is what happens when the vocal folds are too thin. They can’t resist the air from the lungs and the result is a breathy falsetto.

However, if the doors are made of a sturdy material like wood, I will encounter resistance when I hit the door.

So in order to achieve a strong sound at the top of my voice, I must have resistance at the vocal folds so that I’m not just singing air on the top.

It’s very important that we have both stretch and resistance at the vocal folds in order to increase our range. Just one won’t do it. You need both.

All 3 of these vocal range exercises will help you hit higher notes without the breathy falsetto sound.