I am a 56 year old male with a Baritone voice. I have heard that as you grow older your voice changes. Many of those changes are not controllable. Could you provide some insight into this stereo type and advise me of your insight on this subject. In other words, at my age is there any use getting serious with vocals? I started singing in the Praise and Worship group at church several years ago, but am not thrilled with my solo voice…blending is good, but for some reason, on the mic…it just doesn’t cut it for me.
Thanks,
Tim Smith
2 Comments
Your voice can often change as you mature in years, and some of the changes as you say come as a bit of a shock! You just get used to being Baritone and then you realise that you’re more comfortable as a tenor! I don’t know a whole lot about why those changes occur, so it may be worth doing a bit of research! I do know though, that it is NEVER a waste of time to work on the things that you love, and if you love singing then you must not give up!
The most important thing in my eyes is to develop good vocal technique because this is not dependent on your range at all! Good vocal technique will help you travel through any changes that your voice goes though without damaging your voice! So technique technique technique. People who start to develop good technique are blown away by how quickly they improve.
Secondly, it might be worth considering doing the things that make singing easier for you. Maybe old repertoirs or singing solo is not the place to start. You’re good at blending! Do you know how much people struggle with that? Enjoy being good at it and stick with the programme! Hearing yourself on the mic can be a shock at first so getting used to it is a major thing. As I said to the young lady who has suffered with nerves..(http://www.musicademy.com/2008/11/25/how-to-become-a-confident-singer/#comment-234) you will get used to hearing yourself and then you can work on improving and changing small things as you go! Then you can purposefully listen out to what has improved.
Don’t give up! Find a great teacher, get back in the choir and be nice to yourself!
So - does the same thing hold true with women’s voices as we travel through various stages of life? We hear all about how young men’s voices change, but very little about women. In my journey, I’ve gone from second soprano to second alto to alto. I seem to have lost some of my lower range with age, but now find I can to do some nice falsetto high fills.
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