u/GermanRockFan

Don‘t spend days on end using pitch apps to practice. The apps help but becoming addicted to them is all too easy. Just relax. Breathe. Get a physical feel for your lows. Listen to recordings of yourself every once in awhile. Don‘t be like I was (still am too often) and obsess over a certain note/notes you „need“. That‘s not how it works. Your body decides. You can‘t will anything into existence. As male singers who have been practicing for some time now, as most here are, you don‘t need to ask about the quality of your notes or whether or not you are a bass. You already know. Or have a good idea of where you are range and timbre wise. You can, with training, strengthen what you have now and perhaps gain a semitone or two.

But constantly dipping down into the first octave in chest-fry or full on fry isn‘t going to develop your chest range. Not in any meaningful way. It doesn‘t hurt you to do so…but in many cases I‘ve seen it lead to an over-reliance on that particular technique in semi-professional settings. In choral settings and in the Rock, Country, and Gospel genres, it is seen all over the place. Sometimes it works out musically…other times it sounds like a loud, choppy growl. And those who hear the choppy growls emulate it and attempt to surpass it by going even lower. Imo, going below C2 is entirely pointless unless you are an octavist. It isn’t going to sound good, no matter how talented you are. What will always be reliable and sound good is a relaxed throat, neck, tongue + support.

So yeah, Puccinni and Mozart are interesting, but what about those of us who wish to one day grace the stage as Wagnerian Heldenbaritones or Dramatic Baritones? Should we focus on the non-classical world instead? I don’t see too many opportunities out there for people in the classical world in general…but it seems especially bleak for low-voiced males.

I really would love to try out for dramatic Wagnerian roles. Alberich sounds like a very interesting character. He is meant to be a dwarf-sized character…but I tend to see guys taller than me on stage in the videos I see. I know I can‘t perform that role at the moment, as I am a beginner…but such roles are what I ultimately desire in the end.

Willing to wear 3“ elevator shoes, lose weight and slap on a fake beard, if necessary lol

I prefer singing primarily in the D2-G4 range. The notes feel much more natural to me and are full and resonant. There used to be a niche for us in Rock (see Mark Lanegan, Brad Roberts, Leonard Cohen, etc.) but I can‘t think of any very popular low singers outside of Country and Opera in the last two decades. Why is singing high (I‘m talking super high such as C5 or D5 for men) so highly prized today and low singing less widely admired?

There is room enough for all of us. Bring back rich baritone and bass voices!

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