One of the most difficult hurdles for a singer to tackle, is learning how to sing the high notes. This can be a daunting task, given that we don't often use this area of our voices during everyday speech. However, one of the most common reasons that singing the high notes can be challenging, is due to tension in the larynx and lack of focus in the resonators.

So, here a few tips and tricks that will help you release tension, make a more resonant sound and access your upper register with more ease than you thought possible!

1) Before you do any form of singing, it's really important, and of great benefit, to WARM UP THE VOICE. Much like an athlete needs to stretch and warm up their muscles in order for them to perform at their best, so too a singer needs to stretch and warm up the muscles that are used for vocalising.

Most of us can relate to that 'stiffness' in your legs when you go out for your morning walk. You've probably also noticed that as you walk, you seem to walk more briskly and 'freely' than when you first set out that day. This is because your muscles have begun to warm up and so, they are able to extend and contract more easily. Singing without warming can lead to a feeling of 'heaviness' in the voice and body, and amongst other side-effects, can cause vocal damage.

Simple warm ups such as HUMMING or SIRENING, can warm up the voice gently and effectively and also prepare you for those higher notes by encouraging you to 'ckeck in' with your 'head register' as you do so.

2) In order to provide adequate support for the voice and the energy required to sing higher notes especially, a good foundation in CORRECT BREATHING TECHNIQUE is essential.

Make sure that you are breathing low and expanding the abdomen and and lower rib cage. Imagine a tire tube around your middle and inflate it 360* with your breath. Aim to lift your chest off the abdomen with a feeling of 'buoyancy' rather than pull it up 'military' style. This will enable your ribs and abdomen to expand more fully and your lungs to inhale with greater efficiency.

Make sure you are standing in an aligned position. If your chest is 'collapsed' or your chin is jutting forward or your shoulders are rounded for instance, this is going to hinder your ability to breathe efficiently. Good breathing technique is where good singing emerges from. If your breathing is no good, everything from that point on will suffer.

3) Make sure your throat is relaxed and open as you prepare to sing. Very often, too much energy or trying too hard, causes singers to tense up and force the tone from their throat in order to 'push' the notes upwards from the throat area. This causes your larynx (voice box) to rise inside your throat as the 'swallow' muscles that surround them engage as a result of the force. Singing high notes should be as easy on the vocal muscles and cords, as singing in the lower range.

In order to open the throat and relax the larynx, imagine you are just about to yawn. If you look in the mirror when you yawn, you will notice that the sheath of 'muscle' that hoods the top of your throat, contracts upwards. This is your 'soft palate', and raising it will help you access the resonating cavities in your face and head, more easily.

Now, place your index and middle finger across the middle of your neck and swallow. That 'bumpy thing' moving up and down in the front of your throat is your larynx.
This time, with your fingers still on the front of your throat, try to yawn. Notice how your larynx moves downwards?
This is a dramatization of the placement of the larynx and soft palate, that you should be looking for when approaching singing.

4) OK, choose a scale or exercise you already know or make a 'sirening' sound from the bottom of your range, to the top and back down again.

Be careful not to put too much effort into producing the notes in your chest voice. Too much emphasis on this area of the voice or weight on the chest resonance, will only encourage you to engage those swallow muscles mentioned earlier, as you rise in pitch.

Does your larynx rise in your throat? OR, does it feel somewhat easier to reach those higher notes that were a little strained before?

Hopefully, the latter.......

Singing high notes takes practice, co-ordination and control. A few practice sessions over a couple of weeks will not 'banish' bad habits nor will it transform your voice from amateur to professional quality. There are many aspects and elements to singing well and only with consistent and regular practice to implement the techniques required to develop the WHOLE voice, will you see dramatic changes in your vocal production.

Next time you are practicing or even singing along with a familiar song, try to implement the above technique. Try to work on material that is not OVERLY challenging - something you can memorize quickly, that has a reasonable range of pitches.

You will notice that over time, that your voice becomes less 'strained' and more 'even' across your registers.

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