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Many singers are too conscious of their high notes that they work feverishly to reach those high notes. But they often fail to work on their low notes. Hence, sometimes, you will notice that they failed miserably with their low notes. Yet, if you want to be a good singer, you should work on both your low and high notes.
Why Is It So Important To Master The Lower Notes That Are Under Your Vocal Range?
Sadly, most trained singers tend to neglect the importance of mastering the lower notes in singing. Many singers, including me, especially at the initial stage of my singing career, always tend to focus on strengthening the upper region of the vocal range and were finding ways to improve vocal skills to hit the high notes effectively.
I’m sure you noticed that a lot of singers work very hard to reach high notes as strongly as they can. However, when it comes to singing the low notes, they usually go out of their tune. Moreover, their voices become weak, hoarse and bad to the ears. A good singer must have the capability to handle high or low notes with ease.
When you aim to sing your high or low notes, you should relax and loosen your cords. But when you do it, you should be able to hold singing the tone, and not going out of your way. The fact is that you may not have practiced the right way to do it that is why your voice is not steady. But if you have a strong determination to do it, you can achieve your goal in no time. All you have to do is practice lowering your larynx or pursuing your lips to reach a lower tone and a lower pitch.
In fact, the lower vocal range is equally important as the upper vocal range. Many popular songs use very low notes in some parts of the song. Thus, you really need to train yourself to be able to sing in lower notes if you want to become a professional singer that is very flexible and capable of performing different kinds of songs perfectly, not manner high or low.
The weak low notes will be resulting in a forceful voice, breaking notes, inconsistent vibrato and an uneven singing voice that sounded like you were out of breath while singing the lower parts of the song.
In Singing Low Notes, There Are Physical Limitations
The length of your cords is a determining factor in this case. A long-scale bass can sustain a note by doing a lower tone, just like in a Bass guitar. But even in the case of a bass guitar, it starts to make an irritating sound if the string becomes too loose.
You may have noticed that usually, those male singers who have the deepest voices have ENORMOUS NECKS. It’s amazing to see that their Adam’s apples are so big just like the size of a fist, and their trachea is huge. You can imagine that their vocal cords have a larger diameter. However, female singers have a smaller larynx as compared to male singers. Therefore, they have shorter vocal cords just like the length of a long-scale bass guitar. Here, the law of physics has something to do with the physical limitations of human beings.
As a rule, Baritones can reach lower notes as compared to Tenors. Therefore, a baritone can sing well as a tenor or even a soprano if he trains. But a tenor will have a hard time training to sing lower baritone or hitting bass notes.
Exercises & Techniques To Strengthen Your Low Notes
Do you know that it is possible to train yourself in sustaining better-quality notes at the bottom of your range?
The lower notes are equally as important as the upper notes. Thus, you should not neglect the lower notes. Moreover, you should also work on your lower vocal range to further polish your vocal. So, if you really want to be a good singer, you should check out these simple tips to strengthen your lower notes:
1) Resonance Techniques
Remember to relax your vocal cords as the notes become lower in pitch. But if you relax them too much, then, you take the risk of losing control of your sound. So, if you want to control your low notes, you should feel the vibration in your face or resonance when you sing low notes. You’ll find this something difficult because you cannot sing low notes in a loud voice, and louder notes usually vibrate more. If you aim to hit low notes, you should have presence and clarity, and not volume. This is where you’ll realize the use of the microphone. Therefore, you should put it closer to your mouth to amplify the low notes.
The way to put resonance in your face when you sing low notes is by starting to hum. But when you try it, and you don’t feel anything, shake your head slowly side by side and relax your throat. If you want to feel any vibration or resonance in your face, you should practice this daily exercise for a week. Tip your head a bit toward the floor to get more resonance. It’s important to have resonance when you’re singing low notes. You can do it correctly by having it in your face and not in your throat.
If you can feel facial resonance now while humming, try singing a “Mee” note, hold it, and pick a note while singing in your range. Sing it without using vibrato and make a clean, non-airy tone. Here, you should shake your head slowly from side to side if you don’t feel any resonance. But if you do, sing lower one-note “Mee’s” gradually and make it continuous. While doing this, your volume will become lower as you descend. Feel that vibration and ensure that your tone remains clean.
You’ll experience that it’s easier to have control and resonance when you’re singing “closed” vowels like “ee“. Do this sound for a few minutes and find a part of a song that requires a fairly small range. Now, try singing the “Mee” on the chorus at a low range. Here, you should sing with a clear tone and without vibrato. This sounds a bit difficult for you, but it will enable you to strengthen your low notes in the end. Sing the whole chorus with resonance and practice it in a lower key. Do it again and again until you can hit the lowest section of your range. Sometimes you lost control of the note or feel the sound in your throat. In this case, shift your voice to a higher key.
2) Vocal Fold Thickness Shifting Exercise
You can sing low notes stronger and easier when you have thicker vocal folds.
Classical singers train their voices to shift gradually from thin vocal folds to thicker ones. They are doing this because they try to avoid the sudden shifting of the sound.
You can train your voice to shift gradually from thin vocal folds to thick ones by singing sirens softly on ‘ng‘. In this process, you have to begin with a high note and go down to a lower note. When you do this, your voice will thicken gradually while the position of your larynx will become neutral!
As you go along, your voice will become more powerful in the lower regions.
Many singers focus on resonance at their chests when they sing low notes.
Also, make sure that you sing the lowest notes with breath support.
3) Sing with a Relaxed Larynx
Any tension in your throat is gauged by the position of your larynx. You should, therefore, keep your larynx low and relaxed if you want to maintain optimum vocal quality and to produce deeper and richer notes. To keep your larynx relaxed and low, you should always engage in deep breathing. You can do this by slowly inhaling and exhaling while you try to feel your larynx with the palm of your hand.
Try to figure out the muscles that move when your larynx is low. Afterward, you should replicate the movement of these muscles when you sing. It may take more practice to replicate these muscle movements. But over time, you will be able to master these movements.
If you sing with a high larynx, chances are, your voice will become thinner and childlike. Hence, you need to learn how to maintain your larynx in a low position. After continuous practice, you will make the process of lowering your larynx a habit for you. If that happens, you will no longer have a problem singing your lower notes.
To do this, you should lower your larynx, extend your lips, and get strong breath support. Here, you have to open your throat a bit wider and be careful in positioning your tongue and jaw.
4) Try to Correct Your Breathing
When you sing the lower notes, your voice becomes deep because you are using your diaphragm to sing low notes. Thus, you should work out your diaphragm so that it can readily expand. Engage in deep breathing to fully expand your lung capacity and your diaphragm. Deep inhalation will help you take in the maximum amount of air in each breath.
You need to control your breathing while at the same time, you should reach your maximum lung capacity. As you gain perfect control of your breathing, you also improve on your low notes, and you make your low notes stronger.
5) Sing Deeply
Your voice is practically determined by how well you manage your breath. So, always practice singing and breathing exercises so that you can sing deeper. It will also help you deepen and enhance the richness of your voice. As you harness well your breathing, your voice will fully mature, and you will be able to sing lower notes without a hitch.
Daily practice can help you relax while singing. Your vocal cords will not hurt if you do your singing routine regularly. As you always try to sing deeply, you will be on your way to developing your singing skills.
Your vocal range, of course, is predetermined. You can’t expand it, but you can maximize your singing by using all the notes that are within your vocal range. So, if you’re not a bass 2 singer, for example, you should not try to act like one. But you can improve the depth of your voice by singing deeper.
People who would listen to you would hear your voice deeply if you have mastered the art of singing deeper. You can never push your vocal cords to produce notes that are way below your vocal range. But you can always learn how to sound more mature and deeper through constant practice.
6) Enhance Your Chest Voice
There are different ways to sing. You can sing using your head tone. You can also sing using your chest tone. However, if you want to deepen and strengthen your lower notes, you should figure out a way to enhance your chest voice.
Your lower notes usually come from your chest voice, so you need to figure out a way on how to perfectly utilize your chest voice. This requires practice. So, you should practice the scales and intervals daily. Go lower each day with your vocal exercise. In this way, you can maximize the use of your chest voice.
