Okkkk so I’ve read through and studied Jamie’s “RYV” as well as Thomas Appell’s “High C” multiple times (been about a couple yrs since I began training w/ those methods – and about 4 yrs total I’ve been singing seriously)… but I wanted to know if there’s anyone else out there running into the same struggle as me and/or if there’s anyone in the same position? I’ll explain further below – but by struggle I mean being able to gain REAL weight to full voice notes so as to carry one’s chest voice sound up into their higher register and by position I mean anyone else who’s a low bass.

To explain the struggle I’m referring to I’ll provide some context 1st… I’m a bass and I’ve gone from only being able to sing about a ‘D’ above middle C to an ‘F5’ in full voice and I’ve also extended my lower range to ‘B1’ (can keep going but it’s more of a fry after that point). As for my falsetto I’ve gone from about only being able to sing a ‘C5’ to an ‘F#5’ (so a semitone above what my highest full voice tone is so far).

But here’s the thing - this all sounds great but when it comes to USABLE range I can only go up to about an ‘F4’… in other words – just above my passagio – which for me is around ‘E4-F4’, I can only really hit those notes on open vowels and also its much less of a chest voice sound… but then when I get to about ‘B4’ I regain control as far as being able to sing even closed vowels on those notes. So even though I can physically produce the majority of notes in the tenor range - I still cannot really sing any tenor song/piece in its entirety… by this I mean even if I can manage to sing part of a phrase alright and get through the changing vowel shapes ok without cracking its like right after that I’ve spent all my energy and have no endurance left and would not be able to reproduce the phrase I had just sung through. So while I would agree this part I’ve just mentioned is prolly more an issue of endurance that will take time my main frustration really lies more in the paragraph below.

Something I’ve noticed is that even though I can sing in full voice up to an ‘F5’ I can only carry a chest voice sound to about an F4 and after that (anything above my passagio of E4-F4) I can only produce in a witche’s cackle sound (think like hair metal band) – like it’s definitely full voice I’m not unsure about that and I actually think after about tenor high C its inevitable (for males at least) to sing and get anything out but that kind’ve tone (like not as heavy/chest voice-like due to the natural limitations of the human voice, for males at least again)… but if you listen to like the majority of pop/rock songs out there where guy singers are primarily using a range between middle C and tenor high C at most – the high notes they sing there (high as in G4-C5) all sound very natural and in a lot of instances – actually low! Think for example groups like Disturbed, Three Days Grace, Creed, Skillet, Hinder, Godsmack, Nickleback, Chris Daughtry, ect – the singers in those groups all sound like they’re baritones and sing with this real heavy weight and grit, but when you actually plunk out the notes they’re singing on these tracks it’s all actually unbelievably high! Like take the song “Home” by Three Days Grace as an example – in the choruses he’s singing primarily between G4 and Bb4 – and makes those notes sound like they’re around middle C. Like when you hear AC/DC or Led Zeppelin the vox sound clearly high pitched – but in these other modern bands I’ve listed – the singers seemingly carry their chest voice way up past their passagios.

It’s weird – like I can belt a D5 in a high gritty AC/DC kinda tone… but couldn’t for the life of me sing like a Creed song for instance that would incorporate making a G4 sound chesty n low. I just can’t seem to carry that chest voice sound up any higher than an F4. If anyone out there is familiar at all with classical/opera styles I’m kind’ve referring to when a bass/baritone sings anything between an E4-G4 (think like the bass/baritone solos in Carmina Burana) and retains that chest voice sound where they sound like a freight train blowing through!! It’s a very heavy/dark sound - and I just can’t seem to get that past my passagio :(

So how does one do this?? Am I just not being patient enough? Perhaps I’m getting too anxious b/c I made such fast progress initially in gaining full voice range while singing scale-like stuff on open vowels… but now actually taming and training that range to become usable will take much more time??? Does this sound familiar to anyone? I’ve heard a few testimonies - I think the one that comes to mind especially is in “High C” that says a dude went from singing Bass2 in choir to Tenor1!!!. But honestly… I feel ready to give up. I feel like with my particular voice and being a bass - with this much muscle tissue in my cords it just restricts the flexibility too much… it just feels impossible to carry my chest voice sound any higher – and frankly, if I can’t do that there’s almost no place for my kinda voice in the current music industry (like EVERY guy singer on the radio is singing in the tenor range).

So I guess maybe an easier way to get feedback from ppl would be to ask for those of you who have fully mastered - or are close enough there to mastering your voice (in terms of range, control, endurance, ect) did you go through this same experience of slowly gaining usable chest voice-like tones in your upper range? Or for some of you basses did it just never come at all???

I remember gaining my range and than struggling with that chest voice sound, I still do from time to time. I'm not really sure exactly what you've been doing, so here is a list of things I perfer do(when I am not lazy) and my experience. In no particuler order.

- Sirens and Transending tone over the passiggio and entire range. This is very important as it will bridge the chest and head voice. Making it easier to carry the sound into the head voice.

- Bullfrogs, Bullfrogs, Bullfrogs, tongue push ups, tongue push ups, tongue push ups. This will help strengthen the muscles that control the larynx and everything else. When I first start these non-vocal exersizes, I actually started getting worse at control and my voice thinned out. This was because I was over working the muscles. Once I realized this I rested for a few days and my voice sounded much better and I had better control.

- Warm up first!!

- Lip bubbles and humming. Do scales and mimic songs. One issue with these I ran into was, I was doing them too light. Yes light lip bubbles and humming are excellent warm up tools. But I found myself not putting any effort or focus behind them. When trying to get that note add support behind it and perform them as if you were singing a vowel. Hum AAH EE OO OH and so forth.

- Sing anything and everything. For instance I am male, so I typically sing songs by male singers. Well recently I have been attempting to sing songs by females. The opposite sex have different vocal strengths and weakness'. I can sing Judas Priest, Queensryche or Dream Theater much easier than Heart or Alanis Morsette.

Hope this helps.