What Are the Best Songs to Sing to Show Off Your Vocal Range

What Are the Best Songs to Sing to Show Off Your Vocal Range Sign up successful Good exercises to extend your vocal range include humming gently through a fifth, then extending the scale up to the sixth before descending. Also practice this on open vowel sounds. Make sure you dont stop the air as you sing, or strain for high notes if you feel any tension or discomfort, stop! For more on determining your range, check out the video below. Finding the Best Songs to Sing Women Why limit your vocal development to singing in English? If you know other languages, you might want to explore song repertoire in French, German, or even Czech or Russian.  Composers to look out for are Schubert, Wolf, and Schumann for German songs (or lieder); Fauré, Hahn, and Chausson for French songs (or chanson); and Rachmaninoff  and Tchaikovsky  for Russian songs. A fairly simple choice in the French repertoire is Le Secret by Gabriel Fauré. Although not exclusively the preserve of female singers, it suits a high-lying voice with bright colors beautifully. Robert Schumanns Du Ring an meinem Finger, from his song cycle Frauenliebe und -Leben, is another song suited to a medium-high female voice, as heard in this performance by the great English contralto Kathleen Ferrier. Finding the Best Songs to Sing Men Although the great German song cycles may seem daunting, its worth it for aspiring male singers to choose the musically less complex numbers, as they encourage your safe vocal development without you feeling like youre in singing kindergarten. Some of the best songs to sing for a young male singer, however, are back in the English repertoire.  Ralph Vaughan-Williams glorious Silent Noon will test your skills at changing keys, and hearing what may seem to you to be strange harmonies at first.  This wonderful 1976 recording by British baritone John Shirley-Quirk with Martin Isepp at the piano may tempt you into the right kind of pushing your abilities. An often-unexplored area of vocal repertoire for men is Neapolitan song.  Leoncavallos wonderful Mattinata should be in the repertoire of every keen tenor. The Best Songs to Sing A Checklist for Beginners Choosing the best songs to sing can be something of a minefield, and when youre starting to move into more demanding repertoire, the guidance of a good teacher and regular voice lessons is essential.  However, singing through lots of repertoire is the most fun you can ever have with your voice, so when armed with books full of beautiful songs, bear these tips in mind when youre putting together a recital program, or even just some fun pieces to sing: Is it available in the right key for me? You will notice if you listen to other recordings of some of the YouTube links above that they may be in different keys; if a song feels too high, or too low, check to see whether its available in a key thats more comfortable for you to sing in. Is it comfortable? Even if youve found the right key, you still may find the song stretches you uncomfortably, and in a way that even with practice, you arent going to be able to overcome.  Put it aside for a few months, then come back to it. It can be very tempting to sing pieces that dont quite fit your voice, so keep all the above advice in mind.  Exploring the wealth of vocal repertoire out there can be a lifelong quest.  Good teaching, steady development, and the right repertoire are the essentials for any singer to make the most of their vocal abilities! Want more ideas for songs to help you with your technique? Check out our list of 400+ songs to sing for every occasion! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by David Martyn Hunt