This is a silly question, of course! But that doesn't stop your answers being helpful.

Essentially when choosing between piano or singing lessons, I decided to go for piano. I think I made the right choice, as I am slowly developing my "internal ear", or whatever that is called (audiation according to Wikipedia). Learning to read music, the theory, and how to practice, first, without having to have a strong ear. I'm sure some singing teachers would tell me I have it the wrong way around though... ;-)

I'm guessing I should be able to manage grade 1-2 with relative ease, looking at the range requirements. At the moment I can't get below the F below middle C, and I have no/poor control in my middle voice, let alone my head voice! (However I can manage some quite high notes if I go into falsetto).

Obviously a singing teacher could give me a much better idea or appraisal. Or if I'm being cheap, my friend who is a choral scholar and does lots of dep. work around London (though I think she may decline and tell me to go to a proper teacher).

Okay, I'm a big enough person to admit... really I'm looking for encouragement, that with practice and dedication it's doable, worthwhile and fun. Or maybe someone to tell me if I don't care for classical singing, then don't bother! In reality, I'd like to get to the point where I could tunefully sing almost any song I've heard a few times, in the correct register for my voice.

Cheers!

Swannie.

Yes, with practice and dedication, it is doable, worthwhile and fun; however, it is difficult to make any judgments or give any firm advice without hearing you. In the end, lots of people can give you advice, but a singing teacher is what you need.

Hi new friend! Welcome!

I just started studying with a singing teacher, and we are both preparing for my first ABRSM exam next year.
From f' to c', I sort of fall back to my throaty voice, which is not really suitable for classical legit singing. So I am training hard too!

I understand your financial concerns. It is not cheap to find a singing teacher. If you want to have some informal fun while figuring out what range is comfortable for you, maybe you would like to join a choir?
I have heard of some pop singing classes, which might be interesting for you too. Some pop singing instructors teach good techniques too.

But if you really want to find out how far you can go, I also think it is best to engage a teacher.

Do you enjoy classical singing? Just a small litmus test: How do you find the songs Pavarotti/Cecilia Bartoli sing? (I don't know many singers yet, so those are the two I think are pretty famous)

Let me give you a few useful things to bear in mind : The terms head voice, chest voice and falsetto are of no practical use whatever - they're anatomically inaccurate (your chest doesn't resonate, nor does your head) and they give the idea that the student somehow has several voices to link up, which isn't the case.

A much more helpful way to view things is based on the anatomical reality of what actually happens when you sing - therefore, we will talk of the state of your vocal cords (they can be thick, thin, slack or stiff) and the position of the cartilages in your throat (principally the thyroid and cricoid, although the arytenoids come into play too) - thus what you need to know is that at the bottom of your range, you will usually sing with a neutral larynx position and with relative thick folds, whereas at the top of your range, you will usually sing with a tilted thyroid cartilage (to extend the cords and make them vibrate faster with less air - yup singing high and loudly requires less air than singing low and softly if you're doing it properly) and with relatively thin folds.

What you're describing as falsetto is simply the passage into stiff folds (the arytenoids pull back in an attempt to achieve the same state as the tilted thyroid - i.e. longer folds, but also, due to their shape, pull apart) - this is quite easy to correct if you think anatomically rather than in terms of head and chest - any note you can sing in stiff folds, you can sing in thin folds too if the thyroid is tilted. Thus, learn how to tilt your thyroid and you'll learn how to turn your 'falsetto' into 'head-voice'.

The best way to learn how to do this is with a good teacher, but essentially it's the crying muscles that will tilt the thyroid, so if you remember to cry into the sound as you approach the breaking point (or from the outset if you want an easy life!), instead of passing into falsetto you'll carry on in pure voice. Takes a bit of practise and is much better shown than read from a message, but give it a go (remember to reduce air pressure as you go up otherwise your cords will want to stay thick, which is possible but much harder to achieve. Never increase air pressure for higher or louder notes).

Anyhow, hopefully that will help you with your falsetto issue.

As for starting to learn to sing, I'd say go for it! You'll have a ball and why not take the exams too if that's what you like.

Allan

Quick post script edit - without hearing you it's hard to be certain, but the lack of control in the middle voice is probably down to false vocal fold constriction and a lack of support in the back of the neck. I won't say any more than that without hearing you first, though!

Wow, great. Far more than I needed to know.

Yes, I have considered joining a choir, but I think singing lessons would be much more beneficial.

Are there any decent resources that explain the vocal anatomy? Preferably online and free. Otherwise a decent book that, if I embark on singing, will prove useful for a long time.

Almost all the resources I can find online are pretty naff, and really appear as if the author is just cobbling together some text to go with some stolen diagrams (Wikipedia appears the best, but who knows who contributed what!)

I realise chest/middle/head are non-classical terms. I almost wrote lower/middle/top register instead, but I'm less sure about what I mean when using them :-) Ultimately it seems to me that the language for describing voice is not widely transmitted (it must exist within musical academia... right?).

I should just bite the bullet and book a trial lesson... just need to wait for the right time :-) (And the right teacher. I think I've been convinced by the Kodaly klan that it is a good way to go.)

Yup, get yourself a trial lesson and try to aim for a teacher who knows about how the voice actually works, rather than one who tells you to imagine eggs or potatoes in your throat (I'm serious, there are voice teachers who couldn't label the parts of a larynx or explain their function in producing sound...) - you may need to try several teachers until you find one you get on with and who gets results. As a rule of thumb, I always tell people they should feel something unblock at each lesson and go away knowing how to do something they didn't know how to do when they arrived.

As for Kodaly - I think it's fantastic! I'm taking lessons with our own Rilla D (international Rap star, or Cyrilla as she pretends to be called on here). Bear in mind, though, that what it will teach you is how to sing musically and in tune - it will NOT correct any anatomical mistakes you make, nor increase your range or teach you how to master your voice correctly. You'll need a vocal technique teacher for that. I'd think classes in both would be absolutely excellent.

Enjoy yourself !

Allan