I’ve spoken about my thoughts on tone in blogs gone by but I’ve always been curious about what other people think is more important for a vocalist. The reason why I got thinking is because a vocal student brought me a singing program by a guy named Brett Manning from the US. Nothing wrong with the course at all other than it possibly being too advanced for people ordering it over the internet. What did bother me was the massive focus on range. Yes it is important but in my opinion not as important as tone quality. I’d go as far as saying they go hand in hand but what good is a singer with 7 octaves if they sound like “crap”?
I started researching singers with large ranges & it’s quite amazing how high some women & men have gone! Off the piano in fact, wow! But looking at some of the greatest recording artists they certainly don’t have the biggest ranges of all time. For the most part 3, pushing 4 octaves. The odd few aka the Mariah’s have 5 I would hazard to guess but when last did you hear Mariah going that high…or low?
So my question to you is what do you think is more important for a singer, a big range or great tone? If you’re unclear on what tone is it’s simply the sound quality of the voice.
Tone tone tone is way way way more important. There are a great many singers who didn't/don't really have the most amazing range, yet their tone, presence, authority over a limited range has served them very very well in the industry.Madonna, early Miley Cyrus, Frank Sinatra, Lana Del Rey... the lst goes on.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great piece.