# I Love Singing Classical/Opera - Is there any chance of voice deepening? (24 yrs old)



## yk1900 (Dec 10, 2017)

Hi, I've been lurking these forums for a couple of weeks, and I see that many of you know a lot about the voice, so I thought I would ask my question here if that's okay! 

In high school, I definitely had a soprano range, and I think weight. My range at the end of high school was D#3-F6#. I would usually need to warm down to the D#3, though, although I never needed to warm up something as high as F6. During that time, I was all about singing the highest out of everybody, so my lower register (chest) was very weak and underdeveloped while my highest notes were naturally booming and bell-like, more like a dramatic soprano than a coloratura. I lacked the agility and comfort STAYING on top. Curiously enough, my speaking voice was also higher then and I would be able to sing A4 without it sounding like I was transitioning into head voice.

Now, I gained some low notes. If warmed up shortly, I can sing down to D3, even with some vibrato in it, and I can sing C#3 (not strong though). At night, after talking awhile (I'm odd in the sense that my voice is relaxed at night rather than early morning), I can go as low as a C3, but honestly it's very airy and short-lived (I tested it with a pitch detector). My lowest ever was an airy B2, once again after a long night of speaking, but I'll count that as a fluke. I still have a F6, and even a staccato F#6, although I now have to warm up to these notes. I can't just hit them randomly. More so than the extra added lower range, it seems that the weight of my voice shifted significantly. I used to be able to hit D6 and E6 in full head voice, but now my voice transitions to a lighter whistle-like quality, and I now have to transition to full head voice to hit A4. My voice quality on A4 sounds like what my voice quality was an C5 in high school. Even though I didn't gain a lot of new lower notes, my voice is much stronger in the third octave and low fourth octave though, and of course, my speaking voice is deeper. Whether that's due to maturity, favoring my chest voice now, or both, I don't know.

My question is, at 24 years old, can I expect to gain more low notes and an even darker voice with age? I'm all about extremes. In high school, I aspired to be like the highest sopranos, but now I'm fascinated with and have a deep appreciation for contralto voices. I love listening to Dame Clara Butt, Eva Podles, and Marian Anderson. 

Could I reasonably gain lower notes with ongoing maturity, or is my voice considered fully developed now? I would love to be able to sing as low as A2, but I would be happy just if I can at least sing a sturdy C3 and be able to go down to B2 reliably. 

With my limited knowledge, my head is saying I'm probably a mezzo, but my heart is saying I could develop into a contralto. Based on where my voice is now and my age, what do you think?

(My apologizes for the long post! I tried to be thorough enough, but also reasonably brief. Sorry if I dragged on.)


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

A voice's range can expand, and its comfortable tessitura can change over time, either as a result of technical work or maturity. This can happen gradually over years, and I doubt that anyone here could predict whether this will be true for you. Whether you're a mezzo or a contralto will depend on your timbre and your comfortable range more than on your absolute range, and you don't even have to be either/or; those are just labels of convenience. You really have to feel out your comfort zone, and have a good teacher guiding the process. It's fine to be inspired by other singers and learn from them (whether what to do or what not to do), but your voice is the one you have and you have to listen to its needs and make it happy if it's going to return the favor. Good luck.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

My wife had an opposite experience. She started off as an alto in choirs that sang early music, but in her twenties had some lessons from a good teacher who told her she was actually a soprano and developed that part of the voice. She can even sing soprano today (40+ years later) with all the top notes!

PS her husband only sings when a room needs emptying of people!


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