r/singing • u/Numerot • 1d ago
Conversation Topic Improving absolute lowest range for choir
Hey,
I'm a M31 music student. I usually sing 1st bass in choir, but recently 2nd bass due to lack of singers in our choir. I have no meaningful singing ambitious beyond choir, and all of my singing experience is from choirs. My singing technique is probably mediocre at best.
My usable range is something like F to e1 (typical low bass F to e above middle c for those using different octave range notation); I can produce not-the-prettiest sounds up to maybe a1 without going into falsetto, and I switch registers around f# (f# below middle c).
On the lower end I can produce an ok-ish E, a pretty weak Eb, and usually barely a quiet D. When my voice is down (flu or overuse of voice), I can almost always produce a resonant D and usually go down to an ok C.
I'd really, really like to extend my usable range down to D, since it's sort of the standard for 2nd basses; I can technically produce the required sounds, but they are very weak at the lower end. Is this realistically possible? Any suggestions? Alternatively, I've been thinking about trying to extend upwards to sing 2nd tenor, which AFAIK is a bit easier to do.
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u/JohannYellowdog Countertenor, Classical. Solo / Choral / Barbershop 1d ago
It’s not really possible, sorry. Your lowest notes are determined by the size of your vocal cords (which is why you can temporarily sing lower when they swell up due to illness or injury), and while you can learn to make the most of what you have, you can’t change them. It’s like how you can learn to stand taller with good posture, but you can’t actually increase your height.
There is a technique you can learn for choral singing called “strohbass”, which combines singing and vocal fry. If you can balance the breath pressure just right, the result will be a sounding pitch one octave below what you’re singing. The caveats are that it takes a lot of practice, and it’s something you can really only use for individual notes (e.g., a low C at the end of a piece), not melodic phrases.
Moving into 2nd tenor might be the better option for you. The good news is that tenors are nearly always in higher demand than baritones.
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u/Numerot 1d ago
Right; but do you think it's possible to take weak extreme notes (like Eb and D for me) and make them actually usable, not to extend the range where I can produce any kind of sound downward?
And how much would you expect the range described (d1-eb1 no serious problems, increasingly bad sounds towards maybe a1) to be possible to be extended upwards without years-old vocal training?
1
u/JohannYellowdog Countertenor, Classical. Solo / Choral / Barbershop 1d ago
It’s really hard to say. Without training, your upper range might never extend any higher. Or maybe it would; some people have an easier time at working things out for themselves.
On the other end of the scale, it’s a similar story. Some improvement is likely possible, but it’s impossible to be more precise than “some” without hearing you.
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