Hi all,
A newbie question...

Was reading about the Tenor C and how its this elusive note that not all opera tenors can hit, and how it made Pavarotti famous:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/weekinreview/09wakin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

However, it seems like almost all heavy metal singers can scream into it and above.

What's the difference between an opera singer hitting the note versus a metal singer? Is it harder for tenor opera singers to hit it because its a fuller sound vs. a metal singer who screams it?

Just kinda confused since people make a big deal of it in opera but I hear metal singers hit it all the time.

Thanks for any clarification.

The classical Tenor C is very round and robost but CAN be accomplished if you wish to have that tone. Yes the metal type sound is usually thinner or grittier or more abrasive. But bottom line, if you can hit it one way, then you can work to hit it the other way too;)

Honestly, I don't like the way the high C sounds coming out of an opera singer. Pavarotti always sounded like the tone was stuck in his throat whereas Steve Perry had an open, chesty sound.

My singing teacher is a classical trained first tenor
He can sing up to D-E above high C in an operatic matter after that he states it's realy hard to get higher.Altough when he sings pop/rock He can go beyond That D-E border. Ive heard him hit a F or G in fullvoice.

Ive seen alot of clips and ive never seen an F5 in fullvoice operastyle

I've seen/heard opera singers hit an f5, but like Jaime says there's a triangle effect with the voice, and in fact with any instrument the higher you go, the thinner the sound. Even in opera.

I would say that the main reason why it's hard to sing a high operatic C, is because the sound must be as dark and full/round as possible. And that's very difficult the higher you get in your range because of the thinning as Tim also mentioned

Yeah dark is a good way to describe it;)

Yeah the darkening of the timbre is usually why some tenors can't hit the high C, because they have been taught to darken the sound by lowering the larynx. But if you keep you larynx too low it's not possible to reach the higher notes! Instead you should focus on darkening the timbre by compressing the tounge, lifting the soft palate and only lower the larynx SLIGHTLY so it doesn't affect the pitch

What would be the exact difference between the opera sound and the rock sound?

yeh i agree, its just because of the colour that an opera singer needs involves keeping a lowered larynx, and its very hard to do if you wanna hit a tenor C.

As to operasingers question, its mainly the larynx position, resonance, openess and 'blend' that make the difference between rock and opera. A rock singer has a slightly raised larynx in the tenor c position, it includes a slight bit of the nasal sound and where as a rock tenor will have a good blend of head voice and reinforced falsetto, a classical singer doesnt blend into anything else past headvoice, because it will just add too much twang and he will no longer have an opera sound, and its very hard to sing those highs with just pure head voice...

I wish I could remember the clip, and the aria, but I'm pretty sure I remember a clip of some operatic tenor nailing a G5 in some military-style aria. He had an abnormally high voice as I recall, but it wasn't in the 'natural alto' range.

I'm still not a huge tenor fan. Sorry. :p

maybe you've forgot the volume of this kind of notes. Good opera singers get those high C really loud and resonating. If you are in the same room, it really amazing. All those opera singers are taught to sing without amplification while most of the best rock singers keep the volume at a speach level ( Dio for exemple).

I was watching this thing a while back with David Phelps who if you've heard him has one of the most amazing High C's and above notes that still sound very operatic. It was something along of lines of its impossible to hit up into the high C with a lowered larynx, infact the larynx should naturally raise a bit the higher you go. However it shoudn't be shooting up. If you don't get that larynx up you won't reach the pitches you desire.

Infact once you can hit the note sharply with the larynx naturall raised and energy, you can then mold it into a more operatic sound with the tongue and high soft pallate. Many times if you try to reach up there with an operatic tone chances are you'll not raise the larynx enough and end up pulling chest.