Does my voice really fit anywhere?
03 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
This is definitely a topic that has come up an extreme amount of times! Ever since I was a little girl, I never really had a great singing voice, but I loved to sing. I was always kind of overshadowed by my sister. She just had “it”, ya know? She was chosen for solos, and for a prestigious children’s choir in Pittsburgh, while I was rejected twice…I guess they figured if she had such a great voice, so would I, yeah….okay, that would have been nice.
I was always instantly attracted to musical theatre. My first experience was in seventh grade, my school was doing the musical Annie, which was a great opportunity for girls my age. I didn’t know why I liked it, but I just did. I went to all the pre-audition rehersals, but then ended up being too shy to audition (it was also my first year at a new school, so i was even doubly shy…) My sister ended up being in it, so i’d stay after school and just watch, and help. My eighth grade year came, and i was more familiar with everything, I had auditioned, and made it into the chorus, it was fantastic………okay, I need to stop with this story, because it’s not what i wanted to talk about. My voice….
Okay, let’s do this. I’ve always been very self conscious about my singing voice. I hardly ever sing in front of people, especially boys…bahaha! unless i have to. Even in college, my nickname around the music department was “man voice”….yeah, not kidding. I never really felt like my voice was completely right for musical theatre, which really made me frustrated, because that’s the kind of singing i wanted to do! Everything was always too high….or a struggle, and it just seemed like no matter how hard i worked on it, it just never sounded right, or fit right, so I was immediately discouraged. My speaking voice is very low, and has a natural smokiness/rasp to it. I should mention that in my journey of trying to “find my voice”, I’ve had five different teachers, each saying different things. My first teacher in college trained me strictly as a soprano, and wouldn’t let me use the lower end of my voice….well, that wasn’t right. So i switched to another teacher who was a mezzo soprano, she told me i was a mezzo, and had the biggest range out of anyone she’s ever trained, and she was in her mid 60′s…yes, this may all sound good, but! what is the use of all that range when i can’t do anything with it! Therein, lies my dilemma. That strong middle range that i need for musical theatre i don’t have, that strong upper range i do have, works for opera, and the rich low end, i have works great for jazz. I just don’t know where to go from here. I would love to pursue opera more, but for now, just pursue that dream in the shower, or car. I just wish I knew what to do with all my voice…..more to come.
I’ll leave you with these parting words, My voice, is an anomaly.
