Maximum Learning Speed 5G

[Have at ye]

Day 22,

Goal #4: Made a breakthrough today with my voice teacher by repeatedly singing an E4 in 'ahh' (e.g. law, awesome) vowel in full voice, albeit with many vocal hangups. But this had never been done before. D4 can be sung with very little strain, and was described by my voice teacher as "gorgeous" and "perfect". She also said that as a bass-baritone, I wouldn't be going much higher - probably to F4 - in order to keep to my voice specialty. In the pop-rock world, however, I could work on increasing my range with this sort of timber, but without the fullness.

@Have at ye; what do you mean by 'crazy vocal range'? What sorts of notes can you reach in 'full voice', even if it isn't in your fach? What kinds of songs can you sing in the pop-rock world. And what's the approach to get to your level?

Wall of text incoming.

Currently, C2 to G4 (although the G is quite shakey and really depends on the context. Still working on them extremely high notes, from E4 on up. It's going well, I'll get there eventually). Then again, there are certain bass parts that actually require that huge a range (f. in. Baron Ochs in Strauss' Rosenkavalier, or, dunno, Caludio in Haendel's Agrippina). I think that Ab4 is the upper limit for me, and I won't be going any higher (no point in that, TBH - there's only, like, a handful of parts for the low male voice that require it).

Your teacher is quite right - bel canto's definitely all about the quality of the sound, not a "who's got the highest/lowest notes" competition.

I'm best at stuff that requires a lot of range and includes both extremes - high and low (say, Osmin, Boito's Mefistofele, Claggart, stuff like. Also most buffo parts). There are some baritone parts I can pull off pretty well, too, the lower ones mostly (f. i. Don Giovanni. I'm working on all of the low parts at the same time, already performed as Il Commendatore, now working on Leporello and the Don himself, because why not. Masetto's a piece of cake.) It might be a mental thing, though - I really enjoy the challenge.

In the pop-rock world, well... damned if I know now. Anything, basically, if I transpose it to a comfrotable range. Used to sing heavy/thrash metal back in the day. My voice is really low/heavy, so I guess I could sing, dunno, Type'o'Negative or somesuch. I can also pull of a mean Elvis Presley impression.

As to time - in singing, there's no rules, basically. Everybody needs as much time as they need. It's the only extreme sport in which you get better with age (as a guy, at least ). F. i. for the first 3,5 years I couldn't sing crap. Lots of problems with pitch, lack of vocal control, etc. My coach told me it's to be expected and that I need to be patient - since I'm dramatic voice (as in - huge), it'll take time. F. in. just getting my face muscles strong enough to maintain the correct position took years. Even now, after 5 years of intensive study, dozens of performances and several operatic parts under my belt, I'm still at about 70% of final volume on the best of days, and there's still much work to be done on getting the timbre right in certain contexts, especially around the passagios (damn you, Prince Gremin!). At least after all this time I've developed enough vocal and physical control not to strain overmuch, and I know what timbre to go for, and how to go for it (as in - how it internally "feels" and "sounds" to me when singing. Interesting trivia fact - it sounds nothing like the way it sound for outside listeners; get a recording device and record yourself often when practicing ).

The approach was like this - I really love singing. I love theatre. I love being on stage. I've got a really good voice, and it's in of a relatively rare type. So one day I just decided I want to do that whole opera thing, and that's what I'm doing. It's a lifelong commitment. Perseverance, patience, and a bit of stubborness. I enrolled - somehow they accepted me - to the local University of Music, with very little preparation (some piano, a handful of private voice lessons), and I'm graduating this Fall, after five years. And it's still just the beginning, the groundwork. Also: always think on your own, and find someone whose ear you trust. I believe there's no such thing as "teaching" in the singing business - an instructor is just there to guide you, you need to realize how all the moving parts work for you, specifically, on your own. If it were otherwise, people would be able to learn to sing from a book on the anatomy of the human vocal apparatus. Every person is unique, everyone's built differently (anatomically speaking), everyone experiences the physical aspects of singing differently.

Some people can sing extremely well with very little instruction, it's, well, a talent. It's still much better to know what you're doing every step of the way, though - from what I've seen, the talented guys and gals are really "hit or miss", and they often run into unexpected problems since bel canto - and opera in particular - is extremely taxing on the nervous system and thus it's easy to get your "voice" borken, unexpectedly, for no apparent reason at all. And that's when technique comes in.