This site has been created with the help of many different people and companies.This site was built on a powerful, Inspirations based web builder called BoldGrid. It is running on WordPress, the most popular content management software online today. Web...
Brendon Urie: Voice Profile and Vocal Range (2022)
Vocal Range: D2 – C5 – F#6 (4 octaves and a major third)[ref]https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/275/brendon-urie[/ref]
Vocal Fach: Light Lyric Tenor
Vocal Rating: Vocalist
Analysis: With a career spanning nearly two decades at the top of the rock music industry, Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco is admired as one of the finest vocalists in his field. His brash, fearless vocal performances and expansive vocal range are supported by a strong technical and pedagogical foundation that exceeds that of his contemporaries. Given his rock and musical theatre work, he is a versatile and certainly talented vocalist.
Urie is undoubtedly a tenor, given his bright, boyish tone and natural comfort in the tenor tessitura. While he performs intense vocal work like that of Freddie Mercury, his voice is relatively light and picks up distortion easily, which suggests that he is of the light lyric tenor fach. Still, Urie gets considerable power and projection from his voice and has a lower register that’s more expansive than that of the typical pop tenor.
Urie has excellent diction, not only clearly articulating his lyrics but also using technically informed vowel choices to maintain strong breath support and ease. He also demonstrates knowledge of the position of his larynx, being conscious of keeping it in a more neutral setting to prevent excess tension.[ref]Sam Johnson, Voice Teacher Reacts to Panic! At The Disco – Bohemian Rhapsody[/ref] Urie does notably use his jaw when executing his vibrato, which adds a small but unnecessary degree of tension to his voice.[ref]Sam Johnson, Panic! At The Disco – “Say It Ain’t So” (Weezer Cover) | Voice Teacher Reacts[/ref]
His bright, clear voice pierces through his often heavy instrumentation. The lower register is dark and gravelly, reaching down to F#2 with ease and phonating down to D2. As he ascends, he quickly gathers a bright, piercing and peppy tone. His voice is seamlessly blended across his passagi, which allows for an extensive and resonant belting range (“This is Gospel”). His voice can even soar into the sixth octave with a surprising degree of freedom. However, the demanding nature of his songs can sometimes cause his voice to sound tired and strained, especially above G5, with some notes having resonance and others sounding pinched and tired.
Overall, Urie is a technically strong vocalist who could hold his own against other professionals outside of the pop field. His years of training and discipline have delivered tangible results, making Brendon Urie’s voice and confidence deserving of envy.
Brendon Urie’s vocal range is approximately four octaves and a major third, spanning D2 to F#6.
Brendon Urie’s highest note is an F#6, the first F# above soprano c (C6).
Brendon Urie is a light lyric tenor.
Brendon Urie’s lowest note is a D2.
Ed Sheeran: Voice Profile and Vocal Range (2022)
Vocal Range: E2 – A4 – Bb5 (3 octaves and a diminished fifth)[ref]https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/1641/ed-sheeran[/ref]
Vocal Fach: Light Lyric Tenor
Vocal Rating: Singer
Analysis: Since his debut in 2013, Ed Sheeran has grown from a modest singer-songwriter to one of the most successful recording artists in the world. While he is best known for his songwriting, his voice has garnered significant admiration and praise for its passion and range. Sheeran began his musical career as a singer in the church choir at age four and began playing guitar by eleven, helping to develop his musical ear at an early age.
Like many men in Pop, Sheeran is a lyric tenor, but with a slightly lower tessitura than some of his contemporaries. While he is sometimes identified as a baritone, he seemingly lacks the belting technique that would clearly reveal him to many as a tenor. Sheeran has a natural ease that carries him up to his first bridge around F4 and beyond, along with the youthful, boyish timbre indicative of the fach (“Shivers”). While other Pop tenors like Justin Bieber or Shawn Mendes have a brighter sound and the capacity to belt up to C5, Sheeran’s peak is around A4, but with a stronger lower register. Given that his voice picks up distortion with push, his vocal output and weight are equivalent to that of a light lyric tenor.
His signature style is created with tight vocal fold compression, a buzzy or “squeaky” sound, and a closed, perhaps tense, jaw.[ref]Sam Johnson, Amateur vs Pro: Ed Sheeran – Perfect[/ref] Sheeran’s lower register is strong and masculine, reaching well into the second octave with ease. As he ascends, his voice picks up his characteristic wispy timbre, maintaining this throughout the rest of his voice but also picking up a slight grit approaching his first bridge around F4. This delicate and balanced sound pairs well with both his intimate songwriting style and his falsetto in his upper register.
Notably, Sheeran gives his voice a more nasal placement as he reaches the top of his chest voice, which helps release some tension but also gives him a more polarizing timbre. This, along with his more narrow and closed vowel choices,[ref]Adam Mishan, VOCAL COACH reacts to ED SHEERAN singing PERFECT[/ref] suggest some degree of tension that could likely be mitigated by blending his chest voice with his head voice. As he reaches at or above F4 with his belts, the shortcomings of this approach begin to show, as he loses clarity and picks up distortion, although he’s shown that he can repeatedly ascend up to A4 with his natural ease in “Thinking Out Loud.”
Overall, Sheeran is a storyteller who values the emotional impact of his (self-written) songs over technical perfection. While he certainly has room for vocal improvement like most, he’s rightfully respected as a multi-talented musician and singer.
What do you think of Ed Sheeran’s voice? Would you add anything to our analysis? Let us know by commenting below!
Ed Sheeran’s vocal range is approximately three octaves and a diminished fifth, spanning E2 – A4 – Bb5.
Ed Sheeran is a light lyric tenor.
Ed Sheeran’s highest note is a Bb5 in his “Give Me Love” performance at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2011 or an A5 in the recording of “Castle On The Hill.”
Yes, Ed Sheeran is a light lyric tenor.
Ellie Goulding: Voice Profile and Vocal Range (2022)
Vocal Range: C3 – F5 – G6 (3 Octaves and a perfect fifth)[ref]https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/664/ellie-goulding[/ref]
Vocal Fach: Light Lyric Soprano
Vocal Rating: Singer-Songwriter
Analysis: Perhaps the leading woman in EDM music, Ellie Goulding has been a pioneer of the male-dominated genre since debuting in the early 2010s. While her style was initially more in-line with her inspirations like Joni Mitchell, she subsequently shifted her artistry more towards acts like Björk and Kate Bush. Goulding’s voice is instantly recognizable, given its child-like brightness, nasal placement, rasp, and pseudo-operatic stylings. Her voice tends to polarize because of its unique blend of qualities and some inconsistent live performances, but at her best, Goulding is a respectable vocalist.
Goulding is easily identifiable as a soprano, given her bright, girlish, timbre. She excels in the soprano tessitura, and although sparingly, she surpasses soprano C with relative ease. There is an understandable debate as to whether Goulding is best identified as a soubrette or a light lyric soprano. Soubrettes lack a significant upper extension, which along with physical attributes, separate the fach from the light lyric soprano.[ref]For more, visit our Vocal Classifications and Fachs page.[/ref] Given Goulding’s ability to ascend up to G6, she best fits the lyric soprano fach, though again, this upper extension isn’t fully developed. Given her small vocal weight and output, she fits into the light lyric category.
Goulding’s voice carries a sweet and wispy timbre throughout all registers, giving it an ethereal quality ideal for electronic music. Her lower register is reasonably strong for a soprano, maintaining tonality down to around E3 while phonating down to C3. As she ascends her voice picks up clarity until around A4 when a coarse rasp starts to set in. While her natural ease allows her to ascend up to her second bridge around C5 repeatedly, she pulls her chest voice up to do so, when it would best serve her to blend her chest and head voice. To compensate for this, Goulding uses a variety of tactics like giving her voice a more nasal placement or tilting her head back which is a less admirable technique. Belts at D5 and above are thin and pinched (see the F5 in “Salt Skin”). This area of her voice is easily the one with the most room for development – given her soprano fach and strong head voice, she could build an impressive mixed voice with training.
Her head voice is where her voice finds its best qualities; in that register, the voice is nimble and agile enough to move through melismas with ease, while even demonstrating pseudo-operatic qualities (see “Explosions” and “Intro [Delirium]”). This register is where her voice finds its “ring,” and seems to be where Goulding is the most confident. She can slide into her flageolet up to G6 but hasn’t completely mastered this region of her voice. Her chest-to-head voice transitions are executed well, demonstrating some control of her passagio, but the two registers seem disconnected as Goulding typically flips between them rather than blending them (“Only You”).
Overall Goulding is an above-average singer-songwriter voice but exemplifies some of the technical shortcomings typical of the group. Given how she’s been able to develop strong qualities of her voice without vocal training, she could certainly become a stronger one with it.[ref]As Goulding told Carson daily: “I think sometimes it sounds like my voice is like, out of control… I have to really control it because it just kind of goes everywhere. Like, sometimes stuff comes out that I don’t expect. A lot, actually […] It’s so funny because my favorite thing to do is imitate opera singers, but I’ve never had a singing lesson. Oh, I had a lesson just to teach me how to breathe better, but I never really had a singing lesson.”[/ref]
What do you think of Ellie Goulding’s voice? Would you add anything to our analysis? Let us know by commenting below!
Ellie Goulding’s vocal range is approximately three octaves and a perfect fifth, spanning C3 – F5 – G6.
Ellie Goulding is a Light Lyric Soprano. She possesses a very light and agile voice along with the weight and tessitura of a lyric soprano.
Ellie Goulding can slide up to at least G6, the first G above soprano C (C6).
Jazmine Sullivan: Voice Profile and Vocal Range (2022)
Vocal Range: Gb2 – G#5 – Bb5 (3 octaves and a major third)
Vocal Fach: Lyric Mezzo-Soprano
Vocal Rating: Vocalist
Analysis: With an illustrious career spanning nearly two decades, Jazmine Sullivan has steadily emerged as a premier name in the music industry. While most often labeled as an R&B singer, Sullivan seemingly draws stronger influences from jazz and neo-soul, displaying greater musical intelligence than her pop peers. Sullivan embodies virtually all of the traits necessary to justify classification as a vocalist and not merely a singer.
Sullivan is easily identifiable as a mezzo-soprano, although she notably sang as an alto in her children’s choir.[ref]https://web.archive.org/web/20080827141000/http://www.vibe.com/music/next/2008/06/jazmine_sullivan/[/ref] Her rich, womanly tone and strong lower register are good indicators of her fach.[ref]Dilessa Archer, Jazmine Sullivan Vocal Analysis[/ref] While Sullivan has incredible agility and dexterity to her voice, she wouldn’t be considered a coloratura due to the heavier weight of her voice and its lack of a significant upper extension. Sullivan’s vocal onset is often vocal fry, which helps to color her sound, while she’s able to retain that gritty quality throughout different registers of her voice.[ref]Sam Johnson, Voice Teacher Reacts to Jazmine Sullivan – Pick Up Your Feelings (Official Acoustic Live Video)[/ref]
As mentioned above, Sullivan’s lower register is strong, descending down to F#2 and lingering around C3 with ease. While she may choose to drop her larynx as a stylistic choice – in a similar vein to other R&B vocalists like Erykah Badu – it doesn’t pose a significant threat to the health of her voice, and she’s (generally) also able to sing these notes without doing so. As she leaves the lower register, her voice becomes more feminine, displaying the rich, fuller tone expected of a mezzo from approximately Eb3 to C5. As she enters the fifth octave in her mixed voice, she begins giving her voice a more nasal placement, which may be perceived as “whiny,” but is characteristic of her musical style. This “nastier” sound is in fact a safer way to create vocal distortion.[ref]Supra, Sam Johnson.[/ref]
The highlight of her voice inarguably is her agility. Sullivan is able to embellish phrases in all parts of her range with swift, deft melisma in ascending and descending forms with pearl-like clarity, evenness, and crisp intonation on each note. This work wouldn’t be possible without a strong, internal sense of rhythm, which Sullivan displays consistently live and in the studio. Her agility and rhythm work seemingly autonomically, allowing Sullivan to focus more on her storytelling and phrasing to deliver powerful musical performances.
Overall, Sullivan is an immensely talented vocalist with a skillset inarguably exceeding that of most pop singers. She was gifted with both a naturally athletic instrument and the discipline to harness it.
What do you think of Jazmine Sullivan’s voice? Would you add anything to our analysis? Let us know by commenting below!
Jazmine Sullivan’s vocal range is approximately three octaves and a major third spanning F#2 to Bb5.
Jazmine Sullivan’s highest note is a Bb5.
Jazmine Sullivan is a mezzo-soprano.
Britney Spears: Voice Profile and Vocal Range (2022)
Vocal Range: B2 – F#5 – C#6[ref]https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/345/britney-spears[/ref]
Vocal Fach: Lyric Mezzo-Soprano
Vocal Rating: Singer-Songwriter
Analysis: It’s Britney, bitch. The Pop titan is one of the most recognizable names in the music industry, with hundreds of millions of records sold, and a lasting impression on pop culture. While she has solidified a place in the Pop pantheon, Spears has a controversial reputation as a vocalist. She is widely viewed as a lackluster singer due partly to her reliance on lip-syncing and her processed studio vocals, but also due to factors outside of her control. Spears, like other pop women, had her voice damaged by industry practices and aesthetics. Told to sing in a more nasally, baby placement to produce a sultry effect, this has left a lasting impression on her voice and its legacy. Still, her voice is instantly recognizable due to her nasally, babyish coo, heavy use of vocal fry, and wobbly vibrato.
Spears’ vocal fach is somewhat difficult to pinpoint given the variety of techniques and timbres that she applies inconsistently. Due to this, she’s been labeled a soprano, a mezzo-soprano, and a contralto by various sources. Most of her Pop work certainly sounds like that of a soprano – her bright, babyish coo is indicative of the fach, in combination with her voice’s natural warmth and youthful timbre. However, when Spears is singing at her healthiest, she displays the traits of a mezzo-soprano. A darker, more womanly timbre and lower tessitura paired with natural ease in the lower register that resists soprano classification. As such, she’s best identified as a mezzo for the purposes of this analysis, even though most of her work purposefully sounds like a soprano’s.
Spears possesses a considerable lower register, extending down to a tenor’s B2, and is perhaps where she is most comfortable. Her voice naturally picks up bass and strength approaching G3, and is reliable down to around Eb3, while past this point it becomes more inconsistent. Still, it’s an underrated strength of her voice that suggests that her soprano vocal performances aren’t her natural inclination. As she ascends, her nasal placement and timbre become more apparent. Her lower mid-belts around G4 – C5 are fuller and heavier than the rest of her voice, while she can stretch above this point by relying on more nasal resonance. Her head voice is warm and feminine, in contrast to her her lower register.
Spears’ lack of consistent live vocal performances has caused those moments to have inconsistent and uncentered intonation. This was also true even in her youth before she began altering her singing approach, which suggests a technical shortcoming of either breath support or an internal sense of pitch. While Spears is capable of singing simple melisma, they are more often than not unpolished, lacking clear direction and evenness. It’s yet another example of the untapped potential of Britney Spears’ voice.
Ultimately, Spears is a singer who never was allowed to harness all of her vocal prowess. She is a great representation of what Popstars and singers are – brands. While her voice is not the most technically proficient, it is undoubtedly also one of the most instantly recognizable and iconic, which is an achievement of its own. Her success as an entertainer has relied largely on her capabilities as a Pop performer, not as a vocalist, and her legacy should be judged more on those merits.
What do you think of Britney Spears’ voice? Would you add anything to our analysis? Let us know by commenting below!
Britney Spears has a vocal range of approximately three octaves and a minor third, spanning B2 to C#6.
Britney Spears is a lyric mezzo-soprano, although she purposefully sang like a soprano for most of her career.