Singing High Notes

Lisa Popeil

If I were to ask 100 people off the street to sing for me, what might I hear? Perhaps a few would sing with too breathy a sound or a few too loudly, some would be nasal, others dull. Many would be able to sing in tune and others would be all over the map. For all the diversity among us as singers, one thing is a sure bet: 95 of those good sports will have difficulty singing comfortably and beautifully on their high notes.

This vocal skill is probably the most difficult one to master across the board. The reasons, I believe, are that we speak in our lower range and rarely have the opportunity to work out high-pitch voice production and secondly, because when humans think "high", for anything high, like reaching a glass off the top shelf or pointing to the sky, we reach UP.

Here is the crux of the problem. When the larynx (the voice-box which contains the vocal cords) lifts up, which usually occurs with neck and throat constriction, you'll be straining. Therefore, what's natural and intuitive for the rest of human life becomes counterproductive for singing. Keeping the larynx from excessive lifting and squeezing produces the best sounding high notes, but our intuition yells at us to "reach, reach"! What's a budding singer to do?

Approaches which work well for high-note singing are those which emphasize lowering of the larynx or at least reduction of raising and tightening. There are several tricks which I can recommend to help keep your larynx down. If you've read my articles, you'll know that I'm a big fan of correct abdominal support. Well again, belly action (described below) comes to the rescue for the common problem of "straining" and can help stabilize the larynx for open-throated, full, rich high notes.

High Note Tips

Here is a short list of tricks you can try which can be counted on to help you sound your best:

1) Keep upper belly gently firmed OUT for singing. For every note including the ones at the end of the phrase. Place hand on upper belly and see what it does when you sing. Keep it spongy firmed out, not rock hard.

2) Lower belly should clutch gradually IN for singing. The higher the note, the more the lower belly should go in, with a bearing down inside feeling. I believe that this lower belly action is one of the keys to non-strainy high notes, in fact it has a name: the ‘lower belly boost’.

3) In addition, try a little sitting motion. The higher the note, the more the sit. You can think of it as a pelvic tilt, with the lower belly crunching slightly. You might need to bend your knees a bit for the full effect. This action helps keep the larynx down.

4) Don't lift head for high notes. Keep face vertical.

5) Drop lower jaw dramatically, so that for your highest notes you could put 3 fingers between your top and bottom teeth. Don't worry if the vowel sounds a bit weird. That's normal in high note singing.

6) Try putting something on the floor about 1' in front of your feet. Lean over a bit and sing downwards to the item on the floor. This can relieve shoulder and neck tension for practicing.

7) The higher the note, the more DOWN you should feel. Imagine pulling down on a train whistle or a church bell rope for every note which goes higher.

8) The higher you sing, the more you gotta blow. So don’t hold your breath for high notes, blow more air through your cords and I promise your high note will be easier and nicer-sounding.

9) Gently place your fingers above your voice-box (larynx). As you open your mouth more for a high note, suggest lightly to your larynx that it NOT lift. Try to actively anchor your larynx down to reduce the sound of straining.

The goal is to keep your larynx (voice-box) from overlifting for high notes. Though it’s natural to ‘reach’ for high notes and many famous pop singers do just that, you’ll be a better technical singer if you ‘anchor’ your larynx down as you sing higher.

Although at first you may think the sitting action looks funny, notice how many great singers do "the sit" without us really even noticing. I have a great photo of George Michael standing next to Bob Geldof, both singing the same high note. What a difference in the look and I'm sure in the sound as well. George Michael is doing the sit and Bobby is reaching and straining to the heavens. Try these techniques and see if you don't notice an immediate improvement in your high notes. Remember, high notes are the money notes and you want to have them feel as good as they sound.