Hitting the high notes is something that every singer wishes they could do. If you want to be singing high C, you need to be patient, and persistent. With a little bit of practice and the right techniques, practically anyone can add a few extra notes on top of their range.
The biggest obstacle preventing singers from being able to sing strong high notes is psychological. You THINK you can’t sing high notes, and it ends up affecting your performance. Perhaps you were told once that you couldn’t sing high enough, or maybe you compared your voice with other professional singers and thought “I can’t sing that high”. Having the right mental attitude and confidence is important when learning how to sing high notes.
There are several things you need to have when you start developing your upper range. You will need proper breathing support, as well as the ability to relax your jaw and throat. A good exercise to achieve relaxation is to move your job and hum at the same time. Try moving your jaw as if you were chewing, while making a hum and relax your throat while doing so.
Good posture is also important. Remember to always stand with your feet about the width of your hips apart. One foot slightly forward, with your chest up right and shoulders back. Not too much, you don’t want to be too rigid. You can watch your self do this in the mirror or record yourself on video to analyze later. Remember to relax your throat and jaw.
Using your ‘head voice’ is required to sing the high notes. The head voice refers to the sound that resonates in your frontal sinuses. The best way to visualize it is to think of it as coming from the triangle between your eyes and the bridge of your nose. Try not to force the sound if you are just beginning. A good exercise is to try to inhale and open your mouth as if you were about to yawn. When exhaling, make the syllable ‘hoo’ or ‘hee’ at the highest pitch of your range sliding down to the lowest quickly. These are called yawn slides. You should feel your sinuses vibrate along with the top of your mouth. Do several yawn slides, with each one at a higher pitch than the previous
Another good exercise is to sing arpeggios. Which is to sing do-mi-so-do-so-mi-do in a certain pitch on an ‘ah’ or ‘oo’. Again, start light and take in a good full breath. Remember to keep a good posture and relax while doing so.
After you are comfortable with the exercises, begin with a song that you can sing high pitch notes. Choose a song that doesn’t have too many high notes and aren’t sustained. The song should be mostly in a comfortable mid-range. You can later work on songs in the higher range that includes sustained notes.
Being able to sing strong high notes won’t happen overnight. If you work at it consistently, setting aside a couple of hours every other day to do vocal exercises, you will definitely be happy with the results.
The two exercises above are a couple of basic routines to help get you started. There are more great vocal exercises you can find online that will add extra notes on top of your range. Take the time to look into singing lessons offered by great coaches online and practice, soon you will be singing the high notes easily.
