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Countertenor exercises

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Note - This page is distinctly lacking any musical notation, because I am a lazy.

Disclaimer

I am not a singing teacher! These are just some notes I've taken from my own singing lessons, so they may be completely useless to you.

Countertenor voices are very diverse, so different exercises may work better for different people. In particular, my singing teacher has found that "aah" and "eee" work well for me as "focussing vowels" that are used to extend the range, but for other voices different vowels may work better.

Goals

Aim to make all the notes in the octave from B♭ to B♭ around middle C strong on all vowels. If you focus on making these notes strong, then the other notes either side will naturally improve too.

Things to remember

All countertenor voices are unique!

If you perceive a harshness in your voice as the sound gets louder/stronger, don't let it scare you! Sound waves change as they travel, so the harshnesses will likely not be noticed by other people.

Vibrato really helps!

Resist the trumpet! It's very tempting to sing out really loud like a trumpet, but that's not actually very good practice and can wear the voice out. It's better to get a strong sound that doesn't feel forced.

Some exercises

• "ng-eee" /ŋi/: an exercise for positioning your tongue to make a really good "eee" sound. Your tongue should be high and forward, with the tip just behind the bottom teeth. This "eee" vowel is really good for focussing the voice, something to do with it being narrow. If you use this vowel in the semitone extension exercise and your sound is getting weak, try this exercise to refresh the vowel before continuing.
• semitone extension: an exercise for extending the range down. Start on a note X that is comfortable in your range on a focussing vowel (e.g. "eee" or "aah") and do X-X♭-X-X♭-X♭♭-X♭-X. Move down a semitone and repeat. As you move down, the "eee" vowel can easily change towards an "uh", so you will need to compensate for this.
• "Behind me, Be-ha-ha-hind me!": an exercise in keeping vowels strong when there are consonants in between. Pick a note, and sing "Be-hind me!" (make each syllable about the same length and long enough to properly pronounce the vowel). Now sing "Be-ha-ha-hind me!" and with each "h", the vowel afterwards should be stronger. Imagine that the "eee" vowel is continuing throughout, and that will make the other vowels easier.
• wide vibrato: an exercise for easing vibrato, particularly on the lower notes. Pick a note (e.g. E♭) and oscillate between it and the note about a third below. Move to a lower note and repeat. This will help to loosen the voice and make regular vibrato easier.
• "lee-lae-lah": The tune is as follows: mi, re, fa, mi, sol, fa, mi, re, do - on each note of the sequence, sing "lee-lay-lah".
• something something la voce: in the lower part of the voice, on an "aah" vowel, do a little crescendo from nothing to full and then back to nothing. Go up and down the semitones doing this exercise. At first it will feel really weak and you won't be able to make a lot of sound, but with time it will get stronger.