Lesson 7 Vocal Ranges

[@psandwith]

If I could get my money back from all the other singing teachers who have set me on a wrong path for YEARS! What he says makes so much sense. From my first lesson I was told to do lots of exercises at the top of my range, leaving me with a sore throat and confused feelings.

[@ellastar6356]

Thank You for your knowledge. I deeply appreciate it.

[@ChrisTondreau]

+R asraster - Yes, the set of exercises can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/0BwMDmdm6wl4wT2VBeG1rQlZXeTg/edit?usp=sharing

[@invisiblediv]

Chris Tondreau I tried to download but wont is there any other way to get the excersises?

[@thelucidrose]

+Chris Tondreau he says to start with the lower part of the range is that why in the exercices each exercise is in fifth and third ? and also which one is considered the one that works the low voice ?

[@thelucidrose]

+Kayhla rocks please try to answer me for i really wanna know

[@malou1563]

they’re private

[@carliiuxiiz]

They're not available anymore :( is there a way we can access them? 🙏🏻

[@rasraster]

Thanks very much for posting these videos, Chris. Is his set of exercises still available?

[@chrislestermusic]

Rock the Stage NYC. Thank you for your reply and I appreciate your intentions. I can imagine that it is frustrating to see antiquated techniques taught in a way that can harm a new singer. Thanks for clearing up my misunderstanding.

[@s.ocurlschristieokosun9565]

where is the audio for the vocal exercise???

[@akosinelz3277]

requested at the gdrive for the exercises, please check, thank you

[@lionelrobson1476]

All makes a lot of sense

[@Nalstubble]

Chris, Thanks for uploading these videos. Mr Johnson seems to mention about a tape for the vocal exercises. Any ideas where I could obtain one? Or even see what these vocal exercises are? Thanks.

[@leninvalladares7530]

Hello, Where are those exercises that he mention in the video. Do you have the tapes to do the exercises? Thank you, Lenin

[@Endrit719]

anyone know where the rest of the content is?

[@letBIGGIErest]

wasn't maria Callas a natural contralto who trained to become a dramatic soprano?

[@markwong85]

Hi Chris - are these videos available in DVD format?

[@chrislestermusic]

Rock the Stage NYC while I applaud your obvious dedication to the craft of singing I find it bad form to go to someone else's page and ridicule the subject of the video. I have seen you do this on other singing videos as well. I understand your passion for the art form of singing but it has put you in a poor light, in my eyes at least. There are different trains of thought about correct singing technique and these differences can often get a bit snippy. I have seen it on the forums (which you also participate in). Unless you see something that could cause someone irreperable harm to their voice, then it seems that maybe a lighter approach of criticism would go a long way. There are a couple of voice teachers that have KZbin pages that I would NEVER study with due to their arrogance and single mindedness.

[@TotalSinging]

I'm not trying to ridicule but I will try to correct things that may confuse or do some harm to novice singers. I agree, there are different trains of thought in regards to voice training, but the voice only works one way and that should be universal among all teachings. If you see me on other channels commenting this way, it's because I do not see that. There are too many people on YT claiming to be voice teachers who are blatantly scams or in the least, very bad teachers. Just because someone is a singer doesn't mean they can teach - there is a certain level of education on the given subject one MUST possess to teach others. These are usually the people I have issues with. I'm looking out for the public, because these people can do more harm than good. I don't want to see singers taken down the wrong path by people who are not educated enough on the subject to be a truly effective teacher. I'm looking out for them because I truly care about teaching voice.

[@TotalSinging]

Just to be clear - I comment all over KZbin because I care about singers getting information on training that isn't obsolete, overly pretentious and/or simply wrong. It's NOT out of ego or arrogance, it's out of respect for the people trying to learn. There are WAY too many people on YT doling out advice on singing who are clueless to how the voice works properly or are just spouting very old technique advice that has been either disproven or modified over the years for modern standards. There has been a lot of advancement in the science of singing in just the last 10 years alone.

[@Rosannasfriend]

Criticizing is NOT ridiculing . You may not like what he's doing, but at least accuse him of what he's actually doing!

[@chrislestermusic]

Good point.

[@seanodonnell429]

It's really funny that this guy said that your voice type is determined by the timbre of your speaking voice. He said he is a tenor and tenors have high speaking voices, yet his speaking voice sounds like a baritone. He basically negated everything he taught in this episode.

[@BrettOwen71]

+Sean O'Donnell Most men, not all, but most speak normally in the baritone range.

[@seanodonnell429]

I know, but to say your voice type is determined by your speaking voice is inaccurate. If this guy is truly a tenor, than he proves that point due to his lower speaking voice.

[@joaquimcevallosmorales8944]

Most baritones are actually tenors!

[@osasereenodolomwanyi9241]

His speaking voice certainly doesn't sound like a baritone

[@TheeJordanRossi]

@@osasereenodolomwanyi9241 His speaking pitch is between G2-A2.

[@TotalSinging]

Oh Lord, this is what is so wrong with voice training today. Even though this video was obviously shot many years ago, this kind of thinking & teaching still permeates voice training studios today. We are all born with the same equipment - therefore what one person can do, another can do. It's all down to a matter of training and discipline. NOBODY is born with the ability to sing 4 or 5 octaves - the average untrained vocal range is less than 2 octaves. Every voice that can sing 4-5 octaves has been trained to do so. The issue of timbre ONLY determines your natural, untrained singing voice but not it's overall potential to sing. God I hate that people actually taught and still teach this self-defeatist way of voice training.

[@obsessinging]

I 100% agree with you. It really bothers me that things can be based on tradition or myth still rather than medical fact. People seem to often define a voice as a tenor/ baritone/ bass by notes eg "Oh you sing high C that means you're a tenor" rather than timbre eg dark to light. I am determined to base all teaching on medical fact rather than tradition and myth. All the best and big fan of your program

[@obsessinging]

"stay within two octaves"!!!! haahhahahahha God almighty where would we be in the singing world if that was the rule!

[@TotalSinging]

Curtis .Skinner Yes unfortunately classical dogma like this still permeates vocal studios and university voice programs. Its 2014 people - join in the 21st century of voice pedagogy and stop living in the "flat Earth" period.

[@justinchew1173]

Not necessarily, Axl Rose had no training but his range is 5+ octaves. However, his control and technique is terrible and thus why he can't be considered a vocalist

[@ChrisTondreau]

Justin Chew Nobody's range is five+ octaves. The lowest E string on a guitar to the 24th fret on the top E string (assuming a 24 fret guitar) is four octaves. I don't think I've heard Axl sing anything lower than around a G above that low E on the guitar, and he sure as heck has never sang anything beyond the high E string at the 24th fret. No man ever has, I don't expect. The high note at the end of Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden is a high G at the 15th fret. Even at that note, that would put Axl at three octaves. Mitigate that with how we define what notes count and which don't. Generally, we don't count falsetto when calculating range, for much the same reason we don't include harmonics, or those notes that can be achieved with a slide well past the end of the frets when we talk about the range of a guitar. Those notes are "artificially" produced. Now let's say that brings him up to the D above tenor C (which very, very few men have in full voice.... I'll go back to Bruce Dickenson from Iron Maiden. That puts Axl at about 2.5 octaves.

[@TotalSinging]

He's actually wrong here about his own voice - he is not a tenor. Based on the timbre of his speaking voice he's a baritone.

[@ChrisTondreau]

Yeah, those fools at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC obviously don't know anything either. They hired him as a tenor. Same with Opera Canada, CBC Opera Company, etc. They all hired him as a tenor. They should have consulted with someone like you first.

[@TotalSinging]

Chris Tondreau Try laying off the classical snobbery and sly insults for a minute and discuss facts. He may have trained to become a tenor (most tenors are trained baritones) but his voice is definitely a baritone. FACT. That being said your attempt at a reply is non-sequitor and insulting. Really? His singing for the Met has no bearing on what he's teaching. I never mentioned his ability to sing or doubted his resume - he simply misdiagnosed (or his teachers did) his own voice type. Ability to sing does not equal ability to teach. The rest of the clips from this video are fairly spot on in regards to Bel Canto training. There are a few exceptions where he is teaching obsolete observations about phonation and resonance, but that can be excused because of how old this video is (VHS era). The science of voice production has improved and been updated in the last 20 years.

[@lightbulbrld]

Rock the Stage NYC i truly think he's a tenor. His speaking voice is quite low which i think could be the effect of age. He could have had a slightly higher and brighter speaking voice at his prime. He might have a dramatic tenor voice. e.g. Listen to Jonas Kauffmann's speaking voice..

[@TotalSinging]

lightbulbrld Fair enough. But I am listening to the inflections and they go quite low - tenors don't go that low. His timbre is heavy unlike a tenor. But I could see him being a dramatic tenor - a thick, heavy one.

[@ChrisTondreau]

Would the proof be in the application? Here is a clip of him singing: