Most new singers and many experienced singers are most concerned about how to sing high notes. It sounds amazing when singers are performing and they hit that note that seems to reach the stars. What most people don’t realize is that it’s actually very attainable for most people to accomplish. All they need is a little help to understand how to get there. 

I talk about it elsewhere on this site but I’ll repeat it here again. The key to singing high notes is the ability for a singer to learn how to use their head voice. Using the head voice is the single most effective way to accomplish high register singing.

It’s been my observation that the easiest way to learn how to use the head voice is to first learn how to do lip roll exercises. Lip roll exercises accomplish a couple of things for a singer. The first thing they do is make you feel silly. You’re sitting there humming all these silly scales, blowing air through your lips like they’re a couple of loose flags. Who wouldn’t feel silly huh? Well the good news is that in spite of looking and feeling ridiculous, lip rolls will actually help you learn how to sing high notes. In my opinion they work better than anything. It might not be readily apparent to you when you do them but it’s really a super helpful tool.

Here’s how it helped me. I started trying to sing scales, singing from my throat the whole time. I always liked singing from my throat as I’m primarily a rock singer and I think there’s a certain amount of power in a person’s voice when their singing comes from the throat. I soon learned however that using the head voice accomplished the high notes and when properly mixed with the chest voice it had all the power I ever needed.

For me it was a fairly natural conclusion. When I sang the notes using the lip roll exercises I was able to hit the notes with considerable ease. I paid attention to the way my throat felt during these exercises one note at a time. I would hit a high note using the lip roll method and I paid special attention to the way my throat felt while doing it. I realized that this was the only way I was going to learn how to sing high notes consistently. I then tried to sing the note without blowing air past my lips (without doing the lip roll), at the same time trying to achieve the same feeling in my throat. It took a little bit of practice but I finally got it. I then realized as well that I could sing (using my head voice) from different places in my throat. Some would allow me to sing higher so I encourage you to experiment with different feelings in your own throat to see how your range is affected by it. Remember though, at no time should it cause you pain or strain. Head voice singing is very easy on the body so keep that in mind while you experiment with different things.