How to Sing High Notes

Hitting high notes can be a nervewracking prospect for a singer. You must remember not to overreach or strain and to stay within your natural register. You can attain high notes with practice and patience.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Warm up your vocal cords for at least 10 minutes with scales and other vocal exercises. Don't attempt any high notes until you're warmed up.
2. Let out a loud shout, like you would use if you were stopping a child from running across a busy street. Now shout again, but this time hold the tone. Now extend it into a note. The shouting mechanism is the same mechanism you use for singing.
3. Practice at different times of the day. The morning may actually be the worst time to practice your vocal music. Instead, try practicing in the evening, after you've warmed up your voice simply by talking all day.
4. Lay down on the floor and sing, even if you feel silly. The purpose of this exercise is to help you feel the abdominal support you need for singing. You can also practice this exercise by standing with your back to a wall.
5. Try some psychology on yourself. Visualize that yourself standing on a ladder and looking down at the note, or picture yourself riding up an elevator and each note of scale is a "floor." Or distract yourself from the fear of the high note by doing something else while singing, like reading or playing a sport.
6. Pay attention to what you drink before voice lessons or a performance. Cold beverages can tighten up your vocal cords, causing cracking of the voice. Drink only room temperature beverages no more than a half-hour before a performance.