christine wrote:
<< Geez, not me. If I were to try to push that much chest/speaking voice up there, I would hurt myself. I cannot go above F above middle C without switching. (I just tried. Ouch.) So in order to avoid a big "Clunk" at F#, I start with a mix at middle C. I use chest voice when needed but otherwise, I mix. One of my strengths is an even and full sound all the way up and down my range. I would not be able to say that if I tried to push up chest. This is the whole reason why I thought I had a limited range ... my chest voice ended at G tops, well before I ever even knew people took voice lessons, and I thought that was it. >>
christine,
if you are increasing pressure, or volume, as you try to take chest higher, you will have problems. the idea is to allow the folds to be stretched by demanding an increase in pitch at a constant volume. the folds, contolled largely by sub-proprioceptive muscles will respond better to 'what' you tell them to do not 'how' you tell them to do it. to tell the folds to increase pitch by telling them to 'get louder' is not how they work.
even if you are 'shoving' your chest voice, it is odd that you should bail out at G above middle C. most guys i know can do that much while 'shoving' their voices up. did it actually hurt before you bailed or, did you bail before it 'seemed' like it would hurt (that would make the most sense)? maybe you're trying it in 'foot' voice (you didn't swim for the east germans in the 76 olympics, did you)?
seriously, i think a lot of the limitations in our voices are there because we expect them to be there. the more you accept 'likely' limitations, the more difficult it is to challenge those limits without feeling you are breaking a taboo. and, of course, sometimes those limits are there for good reason.
mike
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