Singing provides a true sense of lightheartedness. If I sing when I am alone, I feel wonderful. It's freedom.
Andrea Bocelli
Whether you’re a singer or just dream of being one, you need to work on your singing, often with the help of a vocal coach or teacher, to get better at it. Of course, you may also want to work on your singing when your teacher isn’t there.
There are exercises that you can do to help.
Most people will have some experience singing, even if it was just at school when they were younger. Most of us love a bit of a sing-song.
However, when it comes to hitting those low notes, things can get a little tricky. In some cases, trickier than hitting those high notes. There are different voice types so how we reach those low notes will be different for each singer. Singing low notes may seem difficult, but it’s not impossible.
In this article, we'll look at low notes, how to use your chest voice to reach them, how you should warm up before singing low notes, and how you can use vocal fry to sing lower.
Low Notes: The Foundation of Singing
It should be noted that the low notes make up the foundation of our voice. The longer a vocal cord, the higher the note it produces through the tension in it. Make sure not to overdo it when trying to hit any notes.
To hit the high notes, you have to be able to hit the low notes.
How so?
By knowing where you are, you can know where you’re going.
It’s a good idea to work out your voice type before attempting to broaden your vocal range. Deeper voices are more common in a larger vocal tract and can be made by vibrating the vocal cords more slowly. Of course, you can also work on this.
Again, it’s important to work out the kind of voice that you have. A vocal coach can help you with this. Before you start singing, you need to know which notes are in your range. However, as strange as it may seem, it can be harder to hit lower notes than higher notes.
Learn more about how to increase your vocal range.
Using Your Chest Voice to Hit Low Notes
When singing low notes, you should be using your chest voice. You just need to know-how.
The main difference between producing your head voice and your chest voice is how you breathe. Your chest voice is closer to your natural voice. It also restricts the airflow less as it passes from the lungs and out your mouth whereas a head voice is achieved through restricting the airflow.
The chest voice will resonate in your whole body. Of course, with a chest voice, it’s far more difficult to reach the higher notes. To reach lower notes, some people will use the mixed voice.
Do you find it easier to sing low notes in your chest voice?
Warming Up to Sing Low Notes
Like most strenuous activities, you need to warm up first. If you don’t, you run the risk of injury or feeling sore afterwards. Warming up can also reduce stress and relax the muscles involved in singing.
Stand up straight, take a deep breath, and repeat a few times. This will also prepare your voice and whether you’re an experienced singer or a novice, you should have a rigorous warm-up routine.
Once you’re warmed up, you can start working on your voice, your vocal cords, and reaching lower notes. Focus on practicing with scales. Recite your scales from the high notes to the lowest notes you can manage.
This action will help relax your vocal cords and get you used to downward runs. Warming up doesn’t just involve working on scales.
You can also warm up with your mouth closed and humming until you reach the lowest note in your range. Go chromatically and you’ll get there.
Reaching Low Notes with Vocal Fry
Vocal fry is a curious phenomenon. It can help you reach lower notes, too.
It involves tensing the vocal cords which will make your voice crackle when singing lower notes. Vocal fry usually occurs around two octaves lower than your speaking voice.
Check out our tips for singing high notes.
Tips for Singing Low Notes
Whether you’re an experienced singer or just starting out, singing low notes is something that every singer has to manage.
Don’t forget that low notes can be more difficult to produce than high notes. Don’t get discouraged and always work within your vocal range and according to your voice type.
Relax your throat and sing with your throat open. The larynx controls our voice so take care of it. You can also massage your throat (and, by extension, your larynx) to aid relaxation. Don’t forget to listen to your body, too!
Check out some of our favorite singers with impressive vocal ranges.
Listening to Your Body
This might be the least technical of our tips but it’s also the most important. To learn how to sing low notes better, you need to listen to your body. We all have our limits and we have to respect them. Every voice is different, especially when it comes to hitting the lowest notes.
Make sure that you take breaks, especially if your throat feels sore. Not everyone has the physiology to reach certain low notes, but everyone has a lower limit that they can reach with a bit of work. Through warming up, breathing exercises, and practise, you can reach your limit.
Good luck!
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