This week I’m going to be talking about vocal fachs and why they are mostly bad. With this having to do with range, this is going to tie back into some things I’ve said previously about teachers and different vocal registers and whatnot.
For those of you that don’t even know what a vocal fach, it obviously hasn’t affected your life thus far and so you probably shouldn’t start worrying about it now, however, if you must know, it is essentially a voice classification. If you’ve ever heard the terms “tenor” or “baritone” or “bass”, these are just a few of dozens of different classifications.
First, I’ll talk about the reason they exist. Essentially, this classification began a long time ago when different parts and harmonies of music were written and musicians needed a way to denote what range the part consisted of. This is why most school choirs consist of a soprano, alto, tenor, and bass part. Each of these indicated a different harmony, each of which is catered to a different range. People also began to identify with these classifications, so rather than just thinking to oneself “I sing the tenor part”, you would think “I am a tenor”. People also began to train with the idea of being one particular part. Just the other day I was singing with a friend, and I asked him to sing a note that was a bit high, and he responded by laughing and saying “that note’s too high, I trained as a baritone”. This type of response, though, is why vocal classifications are so bad.
I used to be incredibly concerned about my “fach” because of a common misconception that many classical teachers still believe; your voice is largely unchangeable. Any teacher that still believes in the use of classifying voice types is also going to believe that this classification is a part of your being and simply who you are. If you have the range of a baritone, you will forever have that range and while you may not currently have access to some of the upper baritone notes (up to a G above middle C on the piano), this is simply due to a lack of technique. However, you will never reach higher than that G because you are a baritone and you were born this way and that’s just how it is. My friend who told me he couldn’t sing that note because he “trained as a baritone” was under this assumption.
A few years ago, I found this idea extremely troublesome because the notes I wanted to be singing were above this “G above middle C”, the highest baritone note, and I was being told repeatedly that if I ever sang higher, it wouldn’t be more than an additional note or two. I was told this by three different teachers. I wanted so badly to have naturally been born a tenor, the next highest male voice after baritone, who could sing a whole octave above middle C. At one point, I literally cried at the thought that I would never be able to do this by no fault of my own, but simply because I was naturally impaired. However, I didn’t want to give up. Me being the skeptic that I was, I decided that my teachers had no idea what they were talking about, and through doing a lot of research, it turned out I was right in coming to this conclusion. I subsequently was able to achieve this tenor range after repeatedly being told I was a baritone.
This is why this method of classification is no longer viable. It’s based completely off of old teachings that simply haven’t been updated to more recent discoveries about the voice. Many modern (not classical) vocal teachers also don’t believe in fachs because not only do they provide a mental handicap to range, but there is also no anatomical reason for them. While everyone’s vocal cords are slightly different in size, there is no definitive distinction between a baritones vocal cords or a tenors vocal cords or any other fach’s. While larger cords indicate a deeper voice, there is more to take into consideration than simply the cords. Your voice is also changed by the shape of a person’s different resonance chambers such as the shape of the space within their mouth and nasal cavity. Something else that effects the sound and range of one’s voice in a very significant way is technique. With so many different things having an effect on the sound of one’s voice, its impossible for a teacher to simply listen to you and tell you that you’re a baritone or any other voice type.
To conclude, don’t listen to a teacher who feels the need to label your voice.