How can I achieve singing an Ab with power?

Question

Im a bass but i have a pretty good range. I can go from low E to a high E but as i hit the E and up i have to lighten up to reach the notes and i might be straining which is somehting i want to avoid. so can you help me sing the note, sound good singing it and hit it with power like Jimmy smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Oh and I also what to hit all the notes below the Ab with power not just hit that one not and the G sound like crap. THANKS!

Oh and this is a serious questions. No answers like "sqeeze your nuts before you sing the note" or "wear tight underware" unless its proven to work.

I Have to achieve this for the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. And no I can't try the role of trevor gradon.

Answer 1

This takes a long time to work into. In my opinion, you need to go to a professional voice teacher to help you attain your goal so that you do it right and not strain anything and cause permanent damage.

Voice lessons cost anywhere from $20-35 and up for 30 minutes. Go once a week, record your entire lesson with a digital voice recorder, put it on the computer and single out the warmups to practice throughout the week. Your teacher will help you with your goal and those warmups will help you extend your range and power with your range. Use them to practice every day. Eventually you'll have enough of them to make a CD with several minutes worth.

I professional can give you more specific advice. I would advise you to talk to several on the phone and meet with more than one before deciding on who you plan to go to for your lessons. Don't be afraid to ask them about their qualifications and anything else you want to know.

good luck,
Marianne

Answer 2

When you talk about "lightening up" your notes, you're going into falsetto. This can be trained to be stronger and more controlled.

It is impossible to tell you what to do without seeing what you're already doing. With voice lessons, you will learn breath support and control as well as placement and how to sing with a relaxed jaw and throat to fully maximize your potential. Be careful about trying to push out of your comfortable range or trying to increase your range without a teacher, you can do permanent damage to your vocal cords. Check out the National Association for Teachers of Singing for a qualified teacher in your area. www.nats.org

Now. Jimmy Smith is a tenor. You are a bass. One of the best things you can do for yourself is lean to identify and ACCEPT your vocal category. Part of what differentiates vocal categories is not just range, but the timbre and tone of your voice. As a bass, you probably have that wonderful rumble in your lower register and that's where your money notes are and you probably have a weaker top as opposed to a tenor whose money notes are going to be in his upper register. If you are a true bass, you will never sound like a true tenor or be able to hit those notes the way a tenor would and to have that be a goal can be very damaging and probably pretty disheartening if you can't achieve it.

Do some research on your vocal category and learn who some of the great bass singers are and what parts are out there for basses. Wikipedia gives a pretty good overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_(vocal_range)

Check out the Singers Musical Theatre Anthology books at www.sheetmusicplus.com in the Bass/Baritone editions.

Also, looks at these songs, some of my favorites and can really only be sung by a bass or baritone becuase you need that rumble.

The Devil You Know - Side Show (love this one!!!)
If I Can't Love Her - Beauty and the Beast
Make Them Hear You - Ragtime
Pilate's Dream - Jesus Christ Superstar
The Schmuel Song - The Last Five Years

Additionally (sorry this is getting to long, almost over!), take a looke into the classical realm. There is a lot of great rep written for the Bass voice.

Good luck!

** If you've been cast as Jimmy in TMM and you're a bass who doesn't have notes above an E, then you were unfortunately miscast. Again, you can do serious vocal damage if you push your voice outside it's range (not to mention you'll sound like a dying cat). If this is the situation and there's nothing you can do, then A. ask the Music Director to transpose the songs down so they're in a key you can comfortably sing them in and B. get a voice teacher immediately to start working with and see if you DO have those notes in there somewhere. Just realize though that increasing your range (actually, this is a misnomer. There is no such thing as "increasing" your range. You can only discover notes that have always been a part of your range but you may not have previously been able to access, however they're either there or they aren't. If they're not, there is nothing you can do) doesn't happen overnight so really pay attention to what your voice is doing. If your director is pressuring you to sing the song as is and hit the Ab full out, knowing it's not in your range...well, that's very irresponsible..

Answer 3

No. He needs, craves the affection and adulation basic for adult adult males without actual father of their lives, and "comrade" might placed him on equivalent par with others. i think of he admires Chavez and how Chavez has replaced the form to grow to be el presidente for existence.