My voice ranges from high bass to high baritone.....and in certain keys the very lowest parts of the tenor range. As I move higher past these areas my voice gets way raspier, less powerful and I have a very low threshold before I have to shift into a really crumby falsetto.
I recently started experimenting with tuning down for my voice. 1/2 step isn't enough........1 step really opens up my options....1&1/2 step leaves me able to sing almost anything.
My concerns/questions are these:
1) can I increase my range by starting at down 1&1/2 and slowly over a year or so creaping my tuning back up to maybe down only 1/2 half step?
2) If not and I am just genetically stuck with this range, will audiences react negatively to such low tunings? I doubt audiences will notice a half step.....but 1&1/2 will be fairly obviously......different.
3) Any tips on tightening up the sound of being down that far.....aside from the obvious of heavier string gauges?
sort of in the same boat, interested to hear the responses
Singing well is really about being uninhibited--it's also a very subjective thing. In other words, you are your biggest critic. Different people like to hear different things from vocalists. I'm sure everyone can agree that there are some very successful people in music who can't sing a lick.
A couple of pointers I've gotten over the years are:
1) Perfect practice makes for a perfect performance--make sure you're singing the note you think you're singing. Use your (tuned) guitar as a reference. Sing your scales!
2) Warm up before performances! It doesn't matter what you do to warm up, just do it. You will sound better.
3) Push air from your diaphragm--otherwise your voice will be thin, with no projection.
4) When going high, it helps to relax the soft pallate, which many people "clinch up" while singing falsetto.
Your vocal cords are muscles; the more you use them the stronger they'll be, and the more you'll be able to do with them. Confidence will improve as your singing improves. Once you realize you can hit the note you want to hit at will, you'll sing with more authority. My advice would be to learn to sing harmony to develop your ear, especially since your range is decently wide. It's just like memorizing chord shapes and scales for guitar, once it's muscle memory, it's effortless to do what you want.
...says the guy with no formal training who isn't a music teacher or even much of a singer. :D
