How should I manipulate my voice to sing softly on high notes,
any physical pointers would be great
I’m not talking about pop, but opera/classical for songs such as amarilli, mia bella where you must sing a high e in ppp,
i have no problems hitting the notes, I just have a problem as to how to sing softly here
I’m a classically-trained Coloratura Soprano, so I am required to sing high notes at any volume. Certain high notes will not flow out unless they are loud, others soft. What I do to control this is modify my vowels. This is done by lifting the soft palet, so there’s an arch where the pitch can be heard. Once a typical Soprano reaches the top line on the staff (F), she must discard the "ah" vowel for the upper extention of her range. It sounds like we’re choking if we try to sing that vowel with that pitch. It should feel like a smile. Think Lucia Popp. She has a tiny voice, so it seems as if all of her high notes are piano or pianissimo. If you have an agile Lyric voice like mine, this shouldn’t be a problem. I suggest exercising this with another legit song. While writing this answer, I’m singing "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from "Phantom of the Opera". As you probably know, that song is supposed to be sung very quietly. Sometimes is necessary to sing operatic music in the front of your nasal cavity by the teeth so the sound is high, but not loud. Don’t practice in the bathroom because the acoustics will throw you off so you don’t know what your actual volume is. For a warm up, try these techniques, I use them every day in choir and voice lessons.
Sing Mee-meh-maw-moh-moo in ascending and descending octaves to a piano.
Sing any pitch, then hold it out with an increasing crescendo. You should get louder. Then decrescendo, get softer. Make the sound travel. While doing this you should be holding out the same pitch with lots of breath. Let me know if that confuses you. Go up a note and repeat the same thing. This will help you with volume control.
Remember to warm up!