7 Tips to Sing Better High Notes at Your Next Show

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Singing better high notes is the aim of every singer on stage and in the studio. To sing better high notes with power, fullness —and with consistency has a lot to do with how you approach those notes. The set up, the technique and control of the breath all weave together to execute those notes with precision and consistency.

Here are my top 7 tips for how to sing better high notes and ace your next performance or recording.

1. Keep your chin down

One of the biggest mistakes singers make when singing high notes is lifting the chin. When the chin lifts the back of the neck is shortened and the soft palate, which needs to lift, instead moves downward creating less space for the high note. Both of these movements restrict high notes.?

Keeping the neck lengthened and the chin slightly downward provides room inside the mouth, and keeps the soft palate lifted where the higher note can resonate more fully.?

Try this to improve your high notes:?

• Keep the neck long and lengthened with the oxaput area lengthened up towards the ceiling.
• Balance the head over the spine instead of forward
• Tip the chin slightly downward in a neutral elevation, don’t lift the chin for high notes

When you can accomplish this position your high notes will come out easier and more effortlessly!

2. Get control over your tongue

The tongue, as a small muscle, also tends toward tension. Tension in the tongue can cause all kinds of problems including nasality, cracking and breaking on notes, going too early into head voice, lack of power or belt, and difficulty with high notes. In vocal technique , we stretch the tongue to lengthen it reducing tension which helps produce more sound and smoother, more consistent high notes.?

In my Singers Gift Vocal Warmups, I show you how to decrease tension in the tongue and how to get control over your tongue. As you practice these techniques the tongue will start to relax and you will get control of the back which helps with high notes.

Try this to start stretching the tongue to help improve high notes:?

• Take a washcloth or paper towel wetted with a little water and pull the tongue straight forward.
• Stick the tongue out and downward towards the floor. Inhale and exhale reaching the tongue down toward the floor to stretch it out.?

Try this for high notes:

• Hold the jaw slightly downward and sing “Ah”.
• Look in the mirror as you sing “Ah”.
• Can you see the uvula (a little bit of skin that hangs down from the roof of the mouth)? Or is the tongue high in the back covering it up
• Now hold your jaw and mouth open and yawn at the back of your throat. Do you see the tongue move downward revealing the uvula?
• Now sing the “ah” again and see if you can get the tongue to move downward?
• Keep practicing this. The tongue will start responding.
• Some people have a super high tongue and need a little more help. Grab a set of my Singers Gift Warmups which help you get control over your tongue!?

3. Laryngeal resistance + opening your throat before high notes

In vocal technique, we use the term “laryngeal resistance” to identify the motion of keeping the laryngeal muscles in a lower position during singing. This is tricky because this is a motion that needs to be programmed into the voice and can’t be forced.?

But this motion is imperative to sing strong and full high notes —and consistent high notes that don’t crack or break.

Try this.?

• Yawn with your finger horizontal at the top of the throat. Try to yawn more with the back of your throat vs. your jaw. A little of both is good.
• Watch in the mirror. Do you see your finger and throat slip downward as you yawn?
• Another trick is to bring an imaginary cup of water to your mouth to drink. As you drink do you notice your throat slip downward? This is a movement we do throughout the day and is easy to identify.
• This is a motion you want to get on auto-pilot to use before you sing high notes. Once it is programmed into the body it becomes a natural movement. Don’t overdo it. Everything with the voice is best experienced as small and subtle movements as tense movements will tighten the instrument.

Warning: You can’t force these muscles down. They need to be gently and correctly trained to sit in the right position. Start with my Singers Gift Vocal Warmups that come with full demonstrations. When the larynx sits in a deeper bed (which comes from training) you have more control over your voice and high notes.

Getting control of your instrument is achieved by practicing The Cole Vocal Method 5 days a week for 20 minutes a day. Start with my Singers Gift Vocal Warmups to get these motions programmed into your voice!?

4. Pectoral support

The pectoral muscles are the first muscles that anchor the larynx to the trunk of the body. When the laryngeal muscles are anchored you’ll have more control over your high notes and will avoid cracking, breaking or having a “thin” sound to your high notes.

When the chest is in a high position for singing, the pectorals are more active in providing support for the voice, helping to anchor the laryngeal muscles, provide better breath support and control over high notes.

Try this:

• Tip the chin slightly downward.
• Lengthen the back of your neck up towards the ceiling.
• Grab the hair at the top of your spine and pull upward lengthening and straightening your neck.
• Balance the head over the body.
• Lift the chest upwards toward your chin.
• Now press on the chest with your fingers keeping the backs of your hands together. Use 3 lbs of pressure. Position for your fingers is about 4-5″ down from the collarbone.
• Sing “ah”. As you sing apply 5-7 lbs of pressure while keeping your neck relaxed.
• This is an effective technique used to stimulate the use of the pectoral muscles in singing to support high notes and strengthen the sound and volume of the overall singing voice.

5. Breath into the upper back and ribs to support high notes

To sing freer and stronger high notes breathing into your ribs and upper back will provide the support you need. The lungs are shaped like triangles. To get down into the lower portion of the triangle is where you will get more breath support. This is the starting point. Then by adding an extra bit of air by expanding your breath into the upper back you’ll open up that extra shot of breath support for singing high notes.

Try this:

• Put your hands on your ribcage.
• Exhale and squeeze your ribs together.
• Now slowly inhale and focus on expanding the ribs out gently sideways.
• See if you can also move your stomach and abdomen gently outwards with this movement.
• Try this a few times. Breathing slowly will help to expand the ribs more fully.
• Then at the end of the inhale add an extra shot of air by breathing into the upper back.
• This will support singing your high note with more power and ease.

6. Open your mouth more (Oval Shape)

As you sing higher and louder you send more air velocity (speed) that hits the vocal mechanism (larynx). This can push the laryngeal muscles upwards choking and straining the throat. In #3 above we talked about the important of executing laryngeal resistance, particularly on high notes. Another way to get laryngeal resistance is to open your jaw and mouth lengthwise in an oval position on your vowels. In my Cole Vocal Method and Singers Gift Vocal Warmups , we use a particular position that sets this up in your voice so you can naturally open your jaw on auto-pilot when you are singing.?

Try this:?

• Place your fingers at the tip of your chin.
• Watch your mouth position in the mirror.
• Sing “ah” and pull the jaw down slightly into an egg size oval shape (vertical)
• Place one finger at the top of the throat and repeat.
• Do you see how opening the mouth in a downward motion drops the larynx?
• In technique we practice positions that keep the jaw and mouth in this shape improving laryngeal resistance and singing stronger high notes.
• As you are singing a high note, try opening your mouth more on the vowel.
• This improves laryngeal resistance and singing stronger high notes. Don’t overdo the position.

Note: On some vowels the mouth will open less i.e: “ee”, “oo”. Don’t force it! Just open a little more than you usually might. You’ll hear more sound and hit those high notes with more ease!

7. Chest position and breath control for high notes

As I mentioned above in #5 breathing into the ribs and upper back will help provide the extra breath you need to support your high note. In addition you’ll want to keep the chest raised and avoid collapsing the chest to support the note fully.?

When the chest maintains a high position and does not drop at all during singing, the air stays in the lungs as a source of support for the singing voice.?

Try this:?

• Place your fingers at the point on your chest about 4″ below the collarbone in the center. I call this the “chest press”.
• Lift the chest up towards the chin in an elevated position (don’t overdo it though).
• Apply 3 lbs of pressure on the chest.
• Exhale your air keeping the chest lifted up against this pressure—do not allow it to drop at all.
• Repeat several times. This teaches the body to keep the chest lifted during

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To work on your belt and sing with more power, start by practicing my Singers Gift Vocal Warmups (see below). These are the starting point for my technique. These exercises will open and free your voice while developing vocal tone and the right alignment that leads to power. To sing with power, your voice needs to be free of tension, have good alignment practices (long neck and a raised chest), as well as have great breath control by breathing diaphragmatically to support a powerful sound.