Hello!
My name is Søren and I'm 20 years old and from Denmark.
I'm new to this forum and only discovered its existence, when I was searching for tips on how to expand your range.

I'm a natural baritone somewhat similar to the following vocalists: Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation), Dan Swanö (Nightingale) and Mike Patton.

I used to do death metal vocals in a band called Afskum, but I increasingly got more and more interested in progressive rock/metal and not so much extreme genres.
So I took a year with a cheap vocal coach, which I regret looking back, since she was very musical/pop-oriented and didn't go beyond my comfortable range and didn't give me much to work with.
This Sunday I'm going to what we here in Denmark call a "Musikhøjskole" (which basically means Music High School).

My current range is a comfortable G2-G4 and I've been able to hit A4 and even a B4 every once in awhile, although I'm sure the way I did it, isn't very good for my voice in the long run
What I wish is obviously to expand my range. I know I will never be able to pull off tenor-vocals 100% of the time, but any progress would be nice. I'd also love to hear tips about strengthening my "high" notes and how to hit them without damaging my throat

So I'd basically love to hear warm-up advices and lesson tips from anyone with knowledge in this area.
I'm hoping that this'll help me improve on my own, but also give me enough knowledge to avoid picking a wrong vocal coach again.

With high regards
Søren

Hello, first of all

I'm not a vocalist, but just wanted to ask, wheter you have a proper breathing technique or not. From what I know, this is one of the most important things (especially for clear singing). Anyway, I'm not sure, wheter anyone in this forum could help you, cause you should probably get some professional vocal coach - maybe someone, who usually does classical music (my music teacher in school was doning classical music and therefor she'd also know most techniques for good popular music singing)

Your range depends upon what kind of vocal chords your genetics saw fit to equip you with. We are a few freaks around who can go all the way from 2nd bass to 1st tenor, but not without the proper technique and control of the airflow.
Optimal control of the airflow is found by using the pyramidalis, a muscle about ten centimeters below the navel. Once you gain control of it, the "belt muscles" as well as the diaphragm will start working automatically, basically making a bellow out of you.
To avoid damage to your throat you must relaxe it and make sure that you're only using it to make sounds. As soon as your're using your throat for strength - as most people do when screaming - you're hurting it, because everything inside it is weak and fragile. And to relax the throat means opening it: Gently place a finger on your adam's apple and jawn, you'll want it to sink a bit since when it does your throat opens up and relaxes.
As for straigthening the tones, it's a holy trinity of good air flow technique, placement of the tone and practicing scales.

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As I said I've already some semi-classical coaching where she actually complimented me for my breathing technique, so I don't think that's the area that's lacking.