Test whether I sing well. How to develop a voice for singing; How do you know if you have a voice? How to correctly determine your voice type

You might be singing like a rock star in the shower or in the car, but sometimes it's hard to objectively evaluate your own vocal abilities. It turns out that it’s quite possible to evaluate yourself if you learn to listen and hear correctly. Record yourself and pay attention to tone, pitch, and ability to control your voice. The good news is that almost anyone can learn to sing well. Follow simple guidelines to develop your vocal abilities.

Steps

Part 1

How to Assess Your Vocal Abilities

    Assess the overall tone and timbre of your voice. Timbre is a general characteristic of the sound of a voice. If you hit all the notes but the tone or timbre doesn't match the song, the performance won't sound its best. Pay attention to how clearly and consistently you emphasize vowel sounds, how fully you use your vocal register, and how you reproduce rhythmic nuances (adapt your voice to different performance styles).

    • When assessing timbre, pay attention to the softness or hardness, harshness or smoothness, strength or weakness of the voice.

    Part 2

    How to learn to sing better
    1. Use listening. Listen to a short melody or sound, then mentally imagine that melody or sound in complete silence. Next, imagine yourself singing this melody without making a sound. Finally, sing the melody or sound out loud.

      Private music teacher

      Annabeth Nowitzki is a private music teacher from Texas. She received her bachelor's degree in music from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004 and her master's degree in vocal music from the University of Memphis in 2012.

      Private music teacher

      Annabeth Nowicki, private vocal teacher:“Even though some people are naturally better singers than others, it is a skill that can be developed and improved. If you really love singing, then approach it wisely and work on yourself regularly.”

      Use your range and technique daily. Some people are naturally better at controlling their voices than others, but every singer benefits from practice. Continue to learn to control your breathing, develop your voice and ear, and find the style of music that best suits your tone.

      • Musical talent often develops parallel to musical talent. Get to know vocal techniques and learn to use your voice as an instrument. The more you know about the different components of proper execution, the more effective your practice will be.
    2. Take vocal lessons. If you find someone who can teach you how to use your voice as an instrument, your singing will improve significantly. Choose a tutor who will not only teach you how to hit the notes correctly, but will also be able to develop your overall performance technique. A good teacher will tell you how to stand, breathe, move and read notes correctly while performing vocal parts.

      • If you have friends taking vocal lessons, ask them for recommendations. You can also rely on feedback from the choir director, local groups and ensembles.
      • Many teachers offer a trial lesson for free or at a reduced price. Take trial lessons from several teachers to choose the best option. Did the teacher inspire you? Did you talk most of the class? Did you focus only on the voice or also pay attention to the technique?
    3. Learn to accept constructive criticism. If you have a wonderful singing voice, you will already know this, as well as the reverse situation. Just as a beginner guitarist has to go through an awkward stage when he is still not very good at playing the instrument and does not always hit the strings, singers should work hard to improve their voice. Such skills are not given to a person from birth, but are acquired through hard work.

      • If someone told you that you can't sing, but you have a strong desire to learn, then continue to work hard on your voice. Don't listen to ill-wishers. There are people who will never learn to sing, no matter how hard they try. If this is the case, then you will already know about it.
    4. Join a music school or local choir to practice singing and develop your voice. Joining a choir is a great way to improve your vocal skills. You will be given the opinion of the choir director and other members about your abilities, and you will also have the chance to work in a team. Often, inexperienced performers are more comfortable singing with other people and not becoming the center of attention from critics.

      Continue to study and practice regularly to improve your technique. If you decide that you don't have natural ability, but you love to sing, then keep working. Your teacher will help you get the most out of your abilities. The joy of singing is available to everyone.

    Part 3

    How to test your innate abilities
    1. Take a music deafness test. Musical deafness is the inability to correctly perceive the pitch of sounds. You can find several tests on the Internet that will allow you to identify the presence of such a problem. Find out if you can distinguish between high and low notes, or if you are part of the 1.5% of the population who suffer from “amusia” and cannot recognize pitch, tone and even rhythm.

      • Most online tests consist of several short excerpts of famous songs and tunes. Listen to the passage and then indicate whether it was performed correctly.
      • Musical deafness does not mean you have a bad voice, but it does limit your ability to tune your voice to a specific song or tune.
      • Likewise, having difficulty controlling your singing voice does not mean you have music deafness. Good execution depends on many factors. It's possible that you just need to work harder.
    2. Find out the opinions of people you trust. Just like singing in front of friends and family, play a recording of your voice to those closest to you to get their opinions. If your friend sings well, then ask him about the technical aspects. If the listener is not familiar with vocal techniques, then find out the first reaction.

      • Choose people who will give you an honest answer and whose opinions you trust. It is better not to contact a person who will either praise or criticize you.

Each voice is unique and inimitable in its sound. Thanks to these features, we can easily recognize the voices of our friends even over the phone. Singing voices differ not only in timbre, but also in pitch, range, and individual coloring. And in this article you will learn how to correctly determine the voice type of a child or an adult. And also how to determine your comfortable range.

Singing voices always fit one of the vocal characteristics that were invented in the Italian opera school. Their sound was compared to the musical instruments of a string quartet. As a rule, the sound of the violin was compared to the female voice of a soprano, and the viola - with a mezzo. The lowest voices - the contralto - were compared to the sound of the horn (as was the timbre of the tenor), and the low bass timbres - to the double bass.

This is how a classification of voices appeared, close to the choral one. Unlike, in which only men sang, the Italian opera school expanded the possibilities of singing and made it possible to create a classification of female and male voices. After all, in the church choir, women's parts were performed by treble (soprano) or tenor-altino. This characteristic of voices has been preserved today not only in opera, but also in pop singing, although in the stage the presentation of sound is different. Some criteria:

4 criteria for determining voice

Professional singing has its own definition criteria. While listening, the teacher pays attention to:

  1. Voice timbre . This is the name for the unique coloring of the voice, which can be light and dark, rich and soft, lyrically tender. Timbre consists of the individual voice color that each person has. One's voice sounds soft, subtle, even a little childish, while another's has a rich, chesty tone even in his early years. There are head, chest and mixed timbres, soft and sharp. It is the main characteristic of color. There are voices whose harsh timbre sounds very repulsive and unpleasant to such an extent that it is not recommended for them to practice vocals. Timbre, like range, is a distinctive feature of a singer, and the voice of outstanding singers is distinguished by its bright individuality and recognition. In vocals, a soft, beautiful and pleasant to the ear timbre is valued.
  2. Range. Each voice type has not only its own characteristic sound, but also a range. It can be determined during chanting or by asking a person to sing a song in a key that is convenient for him. Typically, singing voices have a certain range, which allows one to accurately determine its type. There is a distinction between working and non-working voice ranges. Professional singers have a wide working range, which allows them not only to replace colleagues with other voices, but also to beautifully perform opera arias for other parts.
  3. Key . Any voice has its own key in which it is convenient for the performer to sing. It will be different for each type.
  4. Tessitura. This is the name of a certain part of the range in which it is convenient for the performer to sing. There is one for each voice. The wider this area, the better. It is often said that there is a comfortable and uncomfortable tessitura for a voice or performer. This means that a song or part in a choir can be comfortable for one performer to sing and uncomfortable for another, although their ranges may be the same. This way you can determine the characteristics of your voice.

Howcorrectly determine the voice type in children

Children's voices do not yet have a formed timbre, but already at this time it is possible to determine their type in adulthood. They are usually divided into high and short, for both boys and girls. In the choir they are called soprano and alto or treble and bass. Mixed choirs have 1st and 2nd sopranos, and 1st and 2nd altos. After adolescence, they will acquire a brighter color and after 16-18 years it will be possible to determine the adult voice type.

Most often, trebles produce tenors and baritones, and altos produce dramatic baritones and basses.. The low voices of girls can turn into mezzo-soprano or contralto, and the soprano can become a little higher and lower and acquire its own unique timbre. But it happens that low voices become high and vice versa.

The treble is well recognizable by its ringing high sound. Some of them can even sing parts for girls. They have a well-developed high register and range.

Both boys and girls violas have a chest sound. Their low notes sound more beautiful than their high notes. Sopranos - the highest voices in girls - sound better at high notes, starting from G of the first octave, than at low ones. If you determine their tessitura, you can understand how it will develop. That is, how to determine the range of this voice as an adult.

Howcorrectly determine your voice type

There are currently 3 types of female and male voices. Each type has its own differences.

Soprano is the most sonorous, light high female voice. It has a bright feminine timbre and can sound high, ringing and shrill. He is more comfortable singing at the end of the first octave and in the second, and some coloratura sopranos easily sing high notes in the third. In men, the tenor has a similar sound.

Mezzo-soprano is a rich and rich average female voice. Most often, it has a beautiful deep timbre and range that opens beautifully in the first octave and at the beginning of the second. The low notes of this voice sound full, juicy, with a beautiful chesty sound. It is similar to the sound of a baritone.

Contralto is a deep, sensual, velvety and the lowest voice in women. It has a cello-like sound and can play low notes of a small octave. And the lowest male voice is the bass profundo, which is very rare in nature. Most often, the lowest parts in the choir are sung by the basses.

After listening to outstanding singers of your gender, you will easily understand how to determine your type by color.

How to accurately determine the tone of a voice? You can do this at home if you have a musical instrument. Choose a song that you like and sing it in a comfortable key. It should have a wide range to cover at least one and a half octaves. Then try to match its melody. In what range do you feel comfortable singing it? Then lift it higher and lower.

Where does your voice shine best? This is the most convenient part of your operating range. The soprano will sing comfortably at the end of the first and beginning of the second octave and above, the mezzo in the first, and the contralto sounds most clearly in the last tetrachord of the small octave and in the first sixth of the first. This is a good way to correctly determine the tone of your voice.

Here's another way, how to determine what your natural voice is. You need to take a chant in the octave range (for example, do - mi - la - do (up) do - mi - la (down), and sing it in different keys, which will differ for a second. If the voice opens up when you sing up, This means that his type is soprano. And if it fades and loses expressiveness, it is mezzo or contralto.

Now do the same from top to bottom. In what key did you become most comfortable singing? Has your voice begun to lose its timbre and become dull? When moving down, sopranos lose their timbre on low notes; they are uncomfortable singing them, unlike mezzo and contralto. This way you can determine not only the timbre of your voice, but also the most convenient area for singing, that is, the working range.

How to determine what kind of voice you have in the studio? Select several soundtracks of your favorite song in different keys and sing them. Where the voice reveals itself best is where it is worth singing in the future. Well, at the same time, you will know how to determine your timbre by listening to the recording several times. And, although you may not recognize your voice out of habit, sometimes a recording can most accurately determine its sound. So, if you want to define your voice and understand how to work with it, go to the studio. Good luck!

As I understand it, since you came to read this article, you are specifically concerned with determining your voice or determining the voice of your student. This topic, as you understand, is very long and I will not now delve into the differences between voices according to their spin or size, which I already wrote about in the article “”. I think you are interested in the definition of voice by type, i.e.: , etc. By the way, no matter what you write here about the characteristics of various voices, you can familiarize yourself with them in detail in the “” section; I hope that information will also help you. I think it’s generally difficult to overestimate.

I’ll say right away that it’s impossible to read the text and get up from your computer desk or remove the phone from which you’re reading it from your field of view and find out how, without having a vocal school, you can simply go and determine your voice type. I can only help those who are at least somewhat educated, who have guesses, etc. In general, no matter how disingenuous, I will simply explain the ways in which teachers determine the student’s voice, and you decide for yourself, and if after this information you remain unsure, then the road to a music school or to a private singing teacher is closed to you.


So. Now the actual set of signs by which the voice type is determined:

  1. 1. Timbre. Well, of course, the first thing they look at is the sound, color, density of the chest and head registers of the voice, what can I say, if Magomaev, for example, was a baritone, then this purely baritone timbre cannot be confused with anything, of course, some tenors can portray low baritone notes, but it will be compressed, little sonorous, not colored. And vice versa, a baritone will not be able to portray the lightness and flight of the upper formant that a tenor will demonstrate. It’s the same story with soprano and mezzo, and in principle with any voices. In general, experienced teachers determine the timbre of a student’s voice simply by internal sensations and intuition, because they have already heard so many voices throughout their lives that it is almost impossible to deceive their ears.
  2. 2. Transitional notes. Each voice has transitional notes, “bridges” between the registers, head and chest. There is also a theory that each voice has 3 registers and debates on this topic still drag on for centuries, but this is not about that now. One way or another, these adapters exist and by feeling them, it is also possible, although not with 100% certainty, to still determine the type of voice, for example, a tenor has transition notes E-F # of the first octave, a baritone has D-E flat of the first octaves, mezzo transition notes: D-E flat of the second octave, soprano E-F# of the second octave, etc. So I found a good idea for the next article about transitional tones. But it should be remembered that experienced singers do not feel transitional tones and simply forget about them.
  3. 3. Range. This is probably the most flexible criterion on this list. At the initial stage of learning to sing, the range is mostly small for everyone and does not mean anything to anyone, and as for opera singers, their ranges are often 2.5 - 3 octaves, and therefore this is not a criterion. Many mezzos sing in the Soprano tessitura, and vice versa, contraltos can reach the top notes of a mezzo, tenors can reach the notes of baritones, basses can sing in the tessitura of baritones, etc. Of course, not everyone has these abilities, but they still exist. Good singers always have a wide range and there’s no getting around it.
  4. The structure of the larynx and ligaments. There were once rumors that phoniatrics could supposedly predict a singer’s voice by looking at the ligaments or do the same by looking at the size and shape of the Adam’s apple. Allegedly, in tenors, the Adam's apple is small and barely noticeable, while in basses it is large, etc. But after examining at least a couple of dozen singers, you will immediately realize that this is far from the case and the type of voice does not depend on the structure of the larynx, and as for the ligaments, this criterion cannot mean anything either. Ultimately, if the structure of the ligaments plays a role, then their size, thickness, strength, elasticity, mobility, etc. must be assessed.
  5. Body type. The myth that mezzo-sopranos and tenors are necessarily plump, and basses and coloraturas are necessarily skinny, just as has no place as a well-founded and proven theory of voice determination, because according to statistics, there will be more than half of the exceptions in this theory, which means that the theory does not makes sense.
  6. Ability to withstand tessitura. As for this ability, everything is clear here; it means the singer’s ability to sing for a long time in a uniformly high or low tessitura.

For example, if a baritone is capable of playing tenor notes, and even has a timbre similar to a dramatic tenor, this does not mean that he is a tenor, because whatever you say. But for a tenor, sometimes the tessitura of the entire work is so high that the ability to hit a high note just once will not save you, but the tenor is designed in such a way that he is able to maintain a high tessitura throughout the entire opera, etc. Although of course, I already wrote about the singer , who could give odds to many tenors and he reached up to # 2 octaves, which seems incredibly simple.

Should we conclude from the above that each person makes his own voice from scratch? - "No! Certainly". Because even despite the fact that individually all these factors are not significant, together they give rise to the whole science of “voice determination.” Nature, after all, has invested in each of us a special list of abilities, and it is best to reveal what we already have, and even life may not be enough for this, let alone transforming ourselves.

Surely most people who decide to take up singing have the same question, how to test their voice. In general, a lot is known about the voice; just look through the relevant literature or use the Internet. However, any person who is interested in vocals is naturally interested in his native voice. That's what we'll talk about.

How to check for voice

First of all, you need to sing and record a simple melody or a simple scale on a tape recorder. It may happen that you won't succeed the first time. This is because, most likely, your hearing is still underdeveloped, and your voice is not coordinated with it.

The first time you listen to the recording, you probably won’t recognize your voice. This happens because in reality a person hears himself through the bone, but others easily recognize the performer.

If, after listening to the recording, you managed to hear false notes that you did not feel during the performance, then you can safely count on the fact that you still have hearing. If there was no falsehood, then you have natural developed coordination of voice and hearing.

You can turn to friends who play music. They will certainly help you with the question of how to check if there is a voice. To do this, you need to practice with a musician and try to repeat the notes played with your voice.

In addition to friends, you can always contact a singing teacher at school, or a vocal coach at a music school. A professional vocalist will help you understand the capabilities of your voice and change it for the better. If you have a question about how to test your voice, it is also advisable to consult a phoniatrist. Most of these specialists collaborate privately with music educational institutions.

Even if you do not naturally have a strong voice, this will not prevent you from practicing singing. Voice parameters can be easily corrected and developed during training. The reason why you will not be able to learn vocals may be a pathology of the hearing organs, which are responsible for the formation of the voice.

Uv. Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome to the site for creating the most interesting, funniest, most original free voice cards, congratulations and invitations -

website!

Right here, on our website, you can make a personal, original, voice e-card, or record an audio greeting for a Happy Birthday or Happy Paratroopers' Day! In short, a Postcard or Congratulations on any day - even on the Day of the Manufacturing Industry Worker or on the Day of the Vegetarian!

  • You will be able to write downvoice greeting IN YOUR OWN, or maybe not your VOICE and send it to friends and loved ones.
  • You can choose one of our free animated cards - a Happy Birthday Card or a Happy New Year Card.
  • And the avatar you choose will read to them your tender | condescending | love | caring | funny, etc. Congratulations are no longer IN YOUR VOICE. Write down your Congratulations, choose a Postcard and your gift will not go unnoticed! .

Our funny avatars and the ability to change your voice when creating audio Congratulations or Postcards will help you make an unforgettable and cool gift to your family, friends and loved ones! Our electronic voice cards are free, original, funny and unique. Either Happy New Year card or with Happy Angel, Valentine, or Happy Birthday; for both men and women.
Choose avatars, record your congratulations and send your own, personal, funny, original, audio congratulations and e-cards!!

Voka-Loka will also help you make the most unusual invitation for a birthday, anniversary or other event!

All VOKALOKA cards and congratulations are completely free, and of course they will become the most vivid and memorable a gift for your friends and family

By the way, talking avatars on the pages of your website or LiveJournal can live forever...

(If you register )

Welcome, we kindly ask, welcome. VokaLoka is with you and good mood!