Music help please

[Samantha_Peterson]

Well, I'm in a choir and have thought that singing to music would help me with developing a more feminine voice. The only bad part is, all the music that I listen to with female singers has vocal parts too high for me. Does anyone know any good songs to sing to for a Bass/Baritone range voice?

[rejennyrated]

Samantha - I don't think singing bass will help. You really need to work on extending your upper register.

I was exceptionally lucky that my voice never properly broke and, I suppose that as a male I was technically a counter-tenor, although once the hormones kicked in and changed the timbre of the voice that morphed graciously into an easy contralto.

I have a pretty good vocal range but irritatingly am just about half an octave short of being able to tackle soprano. It's a real shame because I perform in amateur opera and all the contralto parts are always the fat old birds! So even when I was in my twenties if I ever got a major part I always ended up being made up to look about 103 years old and playing the part of dowager duchess something or other - who was some mad old granny! - not exactly every girls dream - but I shouldn't grumble I suppose because at least I have a normal female singing voice.

Anyway to return to your problem, most bass voices have a mode called falsetto - which involves closing off part of the throat, my singing teacher used to describe it as feeling like singing down a constricted drain pipe! Using falsetto may help you, because I think some of the MtF's learn how to make a falsetto speaking voice sound natuaral, and thus become able to make a reasonably good facsimilie of a female sound.

I think you should practice finding and using your falsetto range - using it you may find that you can sing a contralto part. Actually most female pop singers seem to sing within the contralto range - for example KT Tunstall and Amy Macdonald to name but two off the top of my head. In addition lots of musicals have parts which are performable by the contralto female voice - I have personally sung the part of Eliza in "My Fair Lady" for example.

So practice your falsetto because merely usinsg and strengthening your bass register is not really going to help much.

I don't know if any of that is helpful - but I hope so 🙂

[Samantha_Peterson]

I guess I didn't really explain myself.

I am already working on my falsetto range but I was wondering what sons to practice singing to if my original voice is bass/baritone in order for me to become more comfortable with a higher range.

[rejennyrated]

Ok what sort of music are you into?

I can think of several in all sorts of different genres from Opera through pop and folk and jazz...

It's obviously best if you sing something you like so what is your style?

When I'm not doing opera and/or musical theatre I tend to sing a very wide range of folk and some pop, Maddy Prior, Joan Baez and Judith Durham all have a vocal range which is well within my ability, as do K.D Lang, Amy Macdonald, KT Tunstall, Katie Meluah, Blondie and Lily Allen. La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine and Ellie Goulding are also all possible.

It just depends what sort of music you like singing?

[Samantha_Peterson]

I'm into rock, alternative rock, metal, heavy metal, and others in that catergory.

[rejennyrated]

In which case a few obvious ones right off the top of my head are Susie Quatro, Lily Allen, Blondie, Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Ani Difranco, Alanis Morrisette

I'm not too good on the metal aspects, I'm more into what you might call rather girly pop folk but I'm sure others can and will suggest a few from that genre.

[Metamorph]

I try to sing along to garbage, paramore and nightwish as well as a few one hit wonders scattered on my mp3 player. I listen to all sorts of stuff but those are the most alternative / rock types that i can think of quickly. Metal has alot of growling and probably wouldnt help you a great deal

[Samantha_Peterson]

I try to sing along to garbage, paramore and nightwish as well as a few one hit wonders scattered on my mp3 player. I listen to all sorts of stuff but those are the most alternative / rock types that i can think of quickly. Metal has alot of growling and probably wouldnt help you a great deal

I already listen to nightwish but I can't reach her range and it sounds weird to me if I try to sing it an octave lower....I can do the growling very well though