Communing with my inner tenor

Part of the problem with being a baritenor is that it makes classification difficult--and can lead to some odd situations. For example, in the group I'm singing with right now, I'm principally singing tenor II. In one passage, though, I join the basses for a few bars before going back to the tenor line, and then swinging the other way and helping out the sopranos for a few bars. [Yes, that's right, sopranos. Apparently the B-flat above middle C is too low for them to sing effectively--even though they're the largest section in the chorus, by far.]

Lately, though, I've been studying with a teacher who's been helping me to find the tenor range that I always suspected was there but could never quite get into. It's been a lot of work, but it's paying off in some ways I hadn't quite expected. In particular, notes that I used to think were "high" in the sense of requiring adjustments (think E flats and E's above middle C) no longer feel quite so enormous. On the other hand, it now feels like an astronomical leap between an F sharp and a G. So it's slow, but steady progress. Where this leads to, we'll see. Maybe I'll have to shed the "bari" part of the description. [Just kidding--I'd hate to have to relocate my blog just because my part designation changed.]