Hey!
I'm the lead role in a musical, & have a really high solo - NOOOOOO! I am a boy of 13, & think my voice will break pretty soon!
I try to sing the solo, but sound weak & like I'm really scared & nervy. Any warm up tips or tips - I dont want to go into opera style!
I've never had a singing lesson, but can sing pretty well - I've had loads of solos before - any tips!!!

song? note?

Tell the Musical Director your problem. Either transpose it down or substitute alternatives for the high notes - quite acceptable practice in a musical.

Your voice is too valuable to wreck. If it is on the point of breaking, you may be pushing your luck too! Think about taking a break for a while.

I've already pleeded to get it transopsed, but he can't (STUPID *&^&%*). I don't want to wreck my voice, the rest of the chorus numbers are hard enough. Are there any excerises to warm up in higher notes?????

You could try to find your falsetto voice?

Which musical and which song?
David

its a home made musical ( I dont like iot, but HARD CHEESE to me!) - are there any warm up techniques you guys know for getting high notes??

how do you find a falsetto voice?

Each voice is individual - only someone who has actually heard you sing can really suggest suitable exercises. If the part is too high for you to sing and they are not prepared to transpose it down, then I would question why you were given the part in the first place.
David

This actually has nothing to do with the topic, but if you have a really high voice, keep it high. I'm not sure how you do this, but in some schools they force the boys to sing high so that when they break it they still sound like a fresh young boy. You have to do this while your voice breaks so that it adapts to being high.
You're probably already doing this, but if you're not, then do it. I think the music industry need more of this kind of voice.

In all my years I never heard of such a thing. Is this what Michael Jackson did?

All boys are trebles. I have never heard that you can tell from a particular treble voice whether you are going to end up with a tenor or a bass!

Which "music industry" is it that needs this kind of voice? Why?

Tenors are popular. But then Bryn Terfel is a baritone who must be one of the most in-demand of all for both operatic and recital performances.

If it is light music we are talking about, again I believe that a GOOD singer of any range is in with a chance.

Well you can't tell. I think ALMOST all boys turn to bass. But, in some schools, they do what I'm talking about, boys secondary school. They do this at the school I'm going to. They take potential candidates at year 7 and train them to stay high. At this school, they have a special choir for this and won't let any of the girls join (they have a mixed 6th form) because the quality of girls and boys voices are different and they want to preserve 'the pure sounds of boys' voices'.
In the past there are loads of songs written for men with high voices and these songs are getting lost beacsue no one or hardly anyone can sing them. Also, the quality of boys voices are different, so its good to have this sound heard more often as I heard its very beautiful.

You could really do with some advice from somebody who is experienced in young male voices. I'm a soprano so not really qualified, but here are a couple of practical tips that might make you feel a bit better about it:

Warming up:
Find a comfortable low-medium note to start on (an octave below the highest note you have to sing plus a couple more for good measure). Sing up and down 5 notes (doh re mi fa soh fa mi re doh) on a sound like "Ah". Concentrate on getting it really smooth all the way up & down. This should be easy for you. Then add a note to make it 6 up and down (doh re mi fa soh la soh fa mi re doh). Then a seventh note, and finally up the octave and back down. If all this goes smoothly, start again a note up, doing 5, then 6, then 7, then the octave again. Continue until the top note matches the highest one you'll be singing. You should be well warmed up by then. If at any point it isn't smooth or you crack on the top note, go back to the scale below. This should be a gentle way of warming up your voice without tiring it.

The actual performance:
See if there are any notes or phrases that you could substitute with a lower one. You needn't actually sing them on the day, but knowing you have an escape route will lessen your stress.
If you have to do any singing along with the chorus, fade it out and mime for the high notes. No point in tiring your voice if there are others making the same sound.
If you have amplification, let the sound man turn the volume up - you can float the top notes quietly then.

General:
Avoid dairy products on the day of the show. They'll make your voice claggy and it'll be harder to sing high. Drink lots of water (not soft drinks), and try the banana trick for those natural beta-blockers.

Good luck!

That sounds like a load of bull to me. Why bother even trying to change someone's natural voice? Sure, manipulate it so that they can get the best out of it but I can't see how any singing teachers in their right mind would want to effectively create manufactured voices for a purpose. I've heard of Eunuchs in ancient Greece or whatever it was, but seriously?



Not me, baritone

Hey, its not be who's doing it and I don't particularly like the school, I'm just going to it.



I know, hence I said ALMOST

Try going up the scale by octaves. Start on a C and jump up an octave and stay on the note for a while until you aprove of how it sounds. Then go to the D, E, F and so on. Keep going up until you are past your highest note. If you do this often, those higher notes will eventually get stronger and stronger and sound better. Good luck. E-mail me if you have any more questions.