I play guitar and sing in what is basically a garage band with two friends. We do small gigs occasionally.
Myself on vocals and acoustic guitar, one friend on electric guitar and the other friend on bass.
My vocal range is basically at baritone/bass. We of course try to keep the vocals within my range but sometimes it gets difficult. On certain songs I find myself not being able to hit the high notes. When I feel that coming on mid-song I will just drop down to what I guess is an octave below but it sounds to me like it’s a bit awkward and sudden. This may be only for one line or even one word in a vocal. Or it could stay there for an entire chorus.
Any singers have any advice on how to smoothly get through that part without sounding strained?
I’m calling it modulating but I’m not sure if that’s the right term. Just looking for smooth.
I think the only good solution is to transpose the song to a key where you can hit the highest note without straining. Jumping octaves is probably never going to sound ‘smooth’.
An anecdote. Some years ago I was playing bass in a band with a female lead singer. We had a guitarist who was pretty good on his instrument but hadn’t been singing at all.. One day he said he’d like to try a vocal, so we said, OK, we’ll learn the song.
At the next rehearsal we gave it a go, and discovered that he was singing it an octave low, which didn’t work at all. We had to gently tell him: er, Skip, that’s not how it actually goes…
It depends very much on the style of the song. If it’s fairly laid back or ballad-ish, it’s hard to take your top end higher smoothly if you’re a baritone (as I am too).
On the other hand if it’s a full-out rock belter and when well warmed up, I can stretch a few semitones higher. For that sort of thing, a certain amount of ‘rasp’ may even be appropriate…!
To be honest I can’t even remember what the song was now, but it was a fairly high-energy rock thing which needed a strong tenor vocal. We had never played it as a band, so the first time we tried it was at that rehearsal.
We were a cover band, playing clubs and functions, expected to play songs the audience recognize. In earlier days as aspiring musicians we might have tried to reinterpret it, but that wouldn’t have worked then and there…
Have you ever worked with a vocal / singing coach on that part? I’m just an amateur, but I found it helpful especially for learning how to use the different body parts and voices to hit different notes, and to transition between them. It’s certainly not easy, still, but it is slightly more doable than before.
I also recommend a voice coach. Hope you find a good one.
Mine wasn’t a singer, but an actor… it worked because on occasion he had to project an accent or higher tone (his “tenor notes”).
And do practice your head voice and falsetto and how to slide into them and back out without an obvious “switching gears”.
One of the more helpful ones I’ve encountered was the local community college voice teacher. At least they get a lot of students and thus have the experience and some level of vetting from other faculty and staff.
Some of the freelancers I’ve found on Google were good too, but it’s much more hit and miss, and the reviews aren’t always helpful. Nobody is going to talk smack about their personal tutor unless things were horrifically bad or abusive…
Voice teacher here. Where are you located? I might be able to help finding someone that can help you out. It’s always a good first step to look around at local colleges and universities.
Pretty offensive saying, incidentally. (Not directed at you specifically; as you note, it’s a common saying. But please don’t use it.)
I’m not familiar with the area, so I can’t give specific recommendations. Local colleges and performing art institutions are a good contact point for recommendations. They’ll have a better network of contacts for local teachers.
In general you’re better off with direct references than trying to sort through the mass of crap on the Internet.
If you’re willing to do remote lessons (the technology has improved immensely in the last few years), that opens up your options considerably.
