Last time I wrote about how some songs are more favourable than others to sing. I also mentioned the three I suggest the most for clients to help begin to figure their voice out.
I’ve also written previously about unsingable songs. But this time I thought it might be helpful to give some examples of songs that may well be singable, but are really not that helpful for developing and figuring out your voice.
One way to categorise such songs are as wide-range songs, narrow-range songs, and sudden range-jump songs.
Wide-range songs – All I Want For Christmas
Now, I have clients who sing this song, and sing it well… but I also meet a lot of singers who attempt this way too early in their development, and to say they butcher it is an understatement.
This song is tricky for many, many reasons. Not only do you need to be able to hit relatively low notes in the opening verse, but you have to be able to sing progressively higher with ease, and deliver the top style notes come the final sections.
In addition, Mariah recorded this when she was at the height of her ability. Her voice in younger years was a lot lighter and more nimble than most singers’ voices, but in turn she was capable of dialling in some real power when she wanted. Most singers tend to lean towards one or the other, rarely both.
My point is, this is the kind of song that is a test of your technical facility ONCE you have built your voice… not something that is good to use as a way to level your voice. It will generally lead singers to strain or flip excessively, and adopt weird inconsistent approaches to operating the voice that are not helpful in the long run.
Other songs that do this are a lot of old-school RnB, Whitney Houston/diva ballads, etc. Any songs that have large range requirements that explore the very bottom and the very top of someone’s voice, and expect them to sound like it’s super-easy to do so.
Narrow-range songs – Higher Ground
This is another song that some clients do, and I do a version also. But what makes this song tricky is it’s highly repetitious nature and exceedingly narrow range.
The verse and the choruses live in almost the same range. You have to hammer more or less the same notes over and over again throughout the whole song, with very little respite.
If you try lowering the song to make it more manageable, the whole piece takes on a lack-lustre quality. If you try to keep it in a higher key to maintain it’s impact, your technique better be already impeccable, or you’re going to be straining your voice very quickly.
Where Mariah’s song creates demand through extremes of range, this one does the opposite. You don’t get the chance to use a lot of range, but it sure as heck sits high! Most male singers tend to just yell the top notes, and resort to letting the backing singers carry the song as they fatigue.
The highly repetitious nature of the melody in this song means it’s not one to figure your voice out on – get your voice together with more helpful songs first.
Hard rock songs behave in a very similar way, as do a lot of indie and brit-pop songs. That’s why these songs can feel very wearing to sing for long periods regardless of their range.
Sudden range-jump songs
Both of these songs “constrain” the singer to one portion of their voice for the majority of the song, then require the singer to EXPLODE out of that restricted range into another higher range.
This is particularly tricky for the voice to handle and do it justice. Being stuck in the bottom end of your voice for several minutes, then expect to land a spectacular and balanced high note out of nowhere is no easy feat.
This require the singer to know their voice intimately well. It requires the singer to do the first part of the song justice, but without overcommitting their voice such that they can’t get out of the bottom end come the dynamic climax.
If someone is still figuring out their voice, songs “asking such questions” of your voice will typically only end in heart-break.
Conclusion
Not all notes are created equal. The difficulty of phrases in song are so highly nuanced and contextual, that every song must be taken on a case by case basis. If you find yourself beating your head off a brick wall over a particular song, or more likely, just a certain phrase in that song, then it’s likely the melody and lyrics need some breaking apart to figure it out.
If that’s something you’d like help with exploring in your voice, you can book in via my booking form right here.