Increasing my range?

[UberlittleSister]

Hi! Im a soon to be 20 year old girl, and I still sound like a little girl. I don't mind it very much, but it also means that elder womens voices (25+) are very hard for me to do. I have a veeery tiny range. I've tried imitating voice actresses with more adult sounding voices, but I can only practice for about ten minutes at a time before my thoath starts to hurt, so I'm pretty darn certain I'm doing something wrong and that I'll damage my vocal cords in the long run.

So I'm wondering what way is best to increase my range without damaging my voice?

[~ChibiSammii]

Not everyone has the ability to sound mature, just like how some mature-sounding women can't sound young. I say try NOT to imitate others and instead just explore your voice on your own. I know my answer sounds kind of vague/confusing, but all I have to say imitation is not always the way to go.

If you need help, you can always add me on Skype or email me and I can try to help you to the best of my ability (:

[meowool]

If your throat starts to hurt stop for the day and rest it till the next day so you don't damage it.

[UberlittleSister]

Thanks for the help I'll keep working at it

[Sarge Ray]

Drinking water also helps to freshen your throat. The trick is that the water has to be lukewarm: too cold and it will tighten your vocal chords, too hot and it'll...well, you know.

[jpoopdog]

The main one that comes to mind is accents. different accents and different characters. actual different tones arent always needed to make a different character. i mean look at captain jack sparrow, thats almost johnny deps natural voice with a piraty twist. then look at willy wonka, also natural voice, but with a differnt american accent.
the actual differences in tone arent that strong, but the accent and character being played completely compensates for that. give a scottish accent a try, or accents of certain subcultures (aka not just accents of different countries), though no examples really come to mind.

word of advice, if your voice acting ever causes a constant irritation in your throat, causing you do cough allot. DO NOT COUGH!!!
it will get worse the more you do that, and as a result ruin your voice too.

Lastly, dont worry about sounding immature. that sort of voice makes you perfect for children roles, male and female if its for anime.

[rachaelacting]

Ive taken singing lessons and all my teachers go on about my range, and now that Im voice acting, a lot of people respond about how I have a nice range, but I remember when I was 15, I couldnt do much other than my speaking voice (which was a rather high voice). I got more into music and I loved singing along with guys, even though I couldnt hit the notes, I still tried. Over time, I realized songs that used to be very hard for me to match, werent trouble at all any more. Then I moved on to girls who sang high and had the same problem and couldnt hit the notes, but still tried and it got better. I've taken a bunch of voice lessons, and as a theatre major, about half my classes are about how to use ones voice and not cause vocal damage. I cant say my way will work for everyone, but it worked for me. It was hard at times, but I agree with the other post DRINK A LOT OF WATER! If your going out of your range, try something with syrup in it to coat your throat. I have to do this to do guy voices. For me, if drink something that coats my throat and if it still hurts, then it may be causing vocal damage and nodes are something you REALLY dont want. Take your time and dont push yourself, it took me years to expand my range, and if your voice starts to hurt, stop. You dont want to tear up your vocals and really mess yourself up. Some vocal damage can be lifelong. (I only go on about this because all my voice and dictions teachers are nuts about it)
Hope this helps! Even though its long and redundant