Robh,

Singing lessons definitely do help. I ordered a course many years ago from Homespun and the lady teaching the course had some pretty unique, (I think), exercises that were part of the course.

The exercises were intended to eliminate cracks in your voice and to increase your range on both ends of the spectrum. They were:

1. Howling like a wolf from as low as you could start to as high as you could go.
2. Making siren noises from low to high and then back to low.
3. Laughing like a witch!

You felt and sounded like a lunatic while doing these, but they really did help. The only time I’d do these was while I was driving alone so no one else could hear me, although there may have been more than one person go home and tell their spouse they heard some nut job driving down the road making siren sounds!

Bob
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http://soundcloud.com/bobcflatpicke/music-in-the-mountains