• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Sing Without Limits

Vocal Coaching

  • Home
  • Vocal Coaching
  • Vocal Health
  • About
    • Katti Power
    • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Free Resources
  • Contact
  • Sign In

September 30, 2022 by [post_author_posts_link_outside_loop] Leave a Comment

The Truth About High Notes (This Makes Them Easy)

Do you pull back the volume or intensity on your high notes because you’re afraid they might hurt your voice?

So many singers believe this myth that pulling back on your high notes will help preserve your voice. But in today’s post, we’re busting this myth.

The truth is that pulling back on your high notes in an attempt to “save” your voice is actually causing you bigger vocal problems than it is solving. 

If you’re more of a visual learner, check out the video below!

Your Fear of High Notes Is Understandable (But Irrational)

You’re not alone in your fear of belting high notes. So many singers find high notes scary. But being afraid is actually worse for your voice. 

When our fear response is triggered, we tend to tighten our throat muscles on our high notes. We’ll pull back on volume out of fear that producing that high note will somehow hurt us. But actually, it’s doing these things that can cause it to hurt. So it’s understandable that you would have that fear. 

If you’re brand new to singing high notes

High notes, particularly when you aren’t accustomed to singing them, require you to make more sound for those pitches to come out—which is the opposite of what it feels like we should do.

When you’re first learning how to belt, your instinct will be to make less sound on the high notes. Belting is naturally loud, which can feel strange when many of us are taught that being loud is inappropriate. 

But the secret is to not hold back. High notes require two things:

Volume and space.

(I want to be abundantly clear that I do not mean the open space like in classical singing. To learn about the myth of singing with an open sound, check out this blog post).

When volume and space are missing from your high notes, it can make your vocal cords feel like there’s pinching or scratching happening in your throat. 

Even if you’re doing everything else technically correctly, if you hold back on volume and space, it will hurt your voice. 

An Easy Exercise To Belt Beautifully

Here’s an exercise for you to try to sing those high notes with ease: 

Imagine you have a water balloon in your hand and you need to throw it to another person on the other side of the room.

You want to throw that water balloon as hard as you can so that it actually reaches the other person. 

What does your throw look like? 

If you don’t put any power into it, that water balloon probably isn’t going to reach the other person.

But if you picture what a major league baseball player looks like throwing out a pitch and emulating that kind of power, then the water balloon will reach the other person with no problem. 

Put your whole body into your imaginary water balloon throw. Putting your whole body into it will get the ball to your target. 

Now sing that high note while throwing the imaginary water balloon, and put that same energy into it as you did when emulating the baseball pitcher. Your goal is to get your sound to land across the room, and that powerful throw can help you get there. 

I first came up with this exercise while teaching a room full of singers. Upon throwing those imaginary water balloons, those singers discovered that the high note was a breeze. Also, that it didn’t hurt at all. The looks on their faces was that of astonishment.

Don’t pull back

This is just a simple exercise that can help you get out of your head when it comes to singing a high note if you’re someone who tends to pull back out of fear. 

High notes are surprisingly quite effortless once you can get over the fear of them, and sing them with proper technique. 

What if your high notes were powerful, and beautiful, and gave your audience—and even yourself—goosebumps? This is more than possible for you. 

Take Your Singing To The Next Level

Join No Limits Academy for $75 per month.

Learn More

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Technique, Video, Vocal Myths

Reader Interactions

Have a question or something to say? You'll hear back from me right away! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

Katti is BRILLIANT!!! I never thought I would be able to belt, but I was definitely proven wrong! Thanks to my ONE LESSON with Katti I have just landed a role in “Shout! The Mod Musical” and will be healthily belting my face off!

Chelsea A.
Singer

Thank you so much for believing in me and for helping me become who I am today… You changed my life Katti.

Mikko B.
2018 World Champion

I’m most excited to know the difference between legit and belt voice and practice choosing how to sing and speak intentionally in a way that is healthiest for me.

Renana
Singer

I’m so excited – I got the role I told you I was called back for (the initial audition consisted of a monologue and my singing “That’s Rich,” which I had worked with you in my VIP session)! Thank you so much, Katti, for your training! I’m thrilled, and will continue to make the efforts to sing without fear and apply the proper technique so I can sing without getting fatigued.

Nancy B.
Opera Singer & Actress

I had the honor of working with Katti right before the Talent Quest National Competition. In only a few short lessons she had me miles above where I started out. Her methods help you stretch your range while keeping your vocal health. She continuously helped me get better each time we met.

Kristen H.
Competitive Singer

I believe you can always improve your craft, so for the past few years I’ve been working with internationally acclaimed vocal teacher Katti Power.

Beth B.
2019 KWC World Champion

Katti…helped me realize that my voice will always be there, and I just need to trust that it knows what to do. The biggest change was our work with how forward my belt is going. I had learned how to do it before, but something wasn’t clicking for me to keep it forward. Katti listened to my fear about having true power in my voice and allowed me to have a safe place to start the work to let myself be heard. I ended up belting a note I had tried to… belt for 10 years!

Elyza B.
Actress

Thank you, Katti. I’ve learned so much from you; no words can express my gratitude!

Alfreda
4th Place National Competitor

No joke, Katti Power is a complete and utter bad ass. She’ll turn you into one as well if you give her the chance.

Steve A.
Competitive Singer

I can sing higher again and I’m more confident in my belting abilities, as well as my breath support!

Nikki S.
WKT World Champion

I feel like I finally learned the secret of singing I’ve been looking for all my life! I always felt like my teachers didn’t quite “get” my voice and there was something either I really wasn’t getting or they really were not teaching. Now I know what it is! Thank you Katti!!

Sheri P.
Singer

I’m really not sure where I would be without you. You have given me such confidence in so many areas and have given me the skills to take my performing to the next level.

Julie R.
Actress & Singer

I’m singing songs I did not think I would ever be able to sing!

Kate
Singer

Now that I have had that hour session I know how to overcome my straining and relax my throat when singing up high. The way Katti teaches, the illustrations she gives, and the exercises she uses help me to understand in a way I’d never thought about before…Knowing how quickly she fixed my problem, I feel extremely confident that she would be able to help anyone else…

Jack S.
Singer

Katti Power is bar-none, hands-down, one of the very best voice teachers out there. I’ve been singing for 23 years, and have had several teachers over the years, from NYC to LA. Many of my teachers have been good, but I learned more in one lesson with Katti than I did several months with other teachers.

Jennnifer B.
Singer & Actress

[Katti] is the best singing coach I've ever had. I love working with her because she's so supportive, she has such a great ear, and she can get to the heart of any of my problems right away. She's positive, very knowledgeable, and most of all - one of the biggest reasons I would highly recommend Katti is that she's a great human being.

Mike J.
Singer & Actor

Katti is an unforgettable voice instructor. I came to Katti when I was 18 years old because I wanted to improve my musical theatre sound. I had absolutely no clue how to belt before beginning [Unlimited Vocal Health™] and when I graduated from Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City four years later, I was the top belter in my class. The more lessons I took the more my confidence as a singer and an all around performer grew.

Joanna
Actress

I use to think my voice just couldn’t sing certain notes in certain ways, but that is completely false! I wish I had known these techniques back when I was struggling and performing every day. And knowing how to sing in my uncomfortable areas without hurting my voice is amazing. I feel like I could sing almost anything now!!

Garie Jean
Singer & Actress
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Copyright © 2009–2023 Sing Without Limits