Posted by Ian Easton on November 25, 2001 at 02:27:30:
In Reply to: Re: Range, yes posted by Joseph on November 24, 2001 at 11:50:29:
"The high notes will come naturally and really aren't of much practical use anyhow."
I wish that were true for me! I agree with your point about spending time in the cash register, but I don't agree that high notes will subsequently improve, unless you stretch the statement to "any practice is better than no practice".
I also believe that high notes are of practical use in most forms/styles of music. Sure, you don't often get above middle C in band repertoire, but I'd love to be more secure on high notes in orchestral/jazz/quintet/solo repertoire.
Many posts have written advice for improving high range (and many books explore the topic), but I digress from the original post...
Biggest improvement in my low range: playing several 5 hour October fest gigs (most notes forte 2 - 3 octaves below middle C) whilst practicing up orch excerpts such as Romeo/Juliet,Symphonic Metamorphosis, Jupiter, etc all on an EE flat. That is , I agree with Joseph on that point: you've got to spend the time down there.
Ian