What do I sing?

I am a classically trained vocalist. =D

I had my doubts before, but now I am positive.  I had a phenomenal vocal session last night and was singing up to a high F!  We did some really crazy (obnoxious?) exercises and had a couple of breakthrough (eliminate bad habits?) moments.

Fearless Leader is going hate it, because I see a scenario playing out something like this:

We’re singing through a phrase, and when I reach for the higher notes, I feel a little strained, and the sound is coming out thin and not quite on key…  I will recognize that this is because I have reverted back to ‘choir girl mode’ and tried to reach it with everything in my head wide open with my voice in the back of my mouth.  I will need to resituate and bring my voice forward into my nose.  So, I’ll need to take a break from the phrase and do a few scales in “nya-nya”.  This sounds something like the meow mix commercial… (Meow-meow-meow-meow / Meow-meow-meow-meow  / Meow-meow-meow-meow - meow-meow-meow-meow) …only much more nasal and offensive!  Then, to return to the phrase, singing not-the-words, but “nya”.  Are you hearing obnoxious-nasal-new-york-accent?  Because you should be!  Then, finally, returning to the correct words and actually making the sounds I intended to in the first place.  Fearless Leader is really going to hate listening to the raucous honking that it takes to get me up into my nose in my upper ranges…

Seriously.  Anyone would be offended by the nya-nyas.  It’s worse than singing ‘ah’s with my tongue lolling out of my mouth.

And this is classical!

I am now empowered, though, because I know what it should feel like and can now recognize when it doesn’t feel like that – which means my voice will do MORE and last so much LONGER.

Yes.  Apparently, I am a classically trained metal singer.  Who knew?

I guess Fearless Leader did...