Stevie's Vocal Range

WarmSir3 · #1 10-30-2009, 04:00 PM

Hello!!
For a few years I've been collecting vocal range info on a lot of singers, and at the moment am trying to get a good estimate for Stevie's recorded range.

So far, I've arrived at D3, the third D on the piano, to C5, the fifth C on the piano, which is a vocal range of 1 octave and 10 semitones. To give you an idea, there are a few D3s in Landslide (the final note on the vocal run on the word "life"), and there are head voice C5s on Dreams (it's only ri-ight), and the full Sara (before the "said Sara" verse/chorus), and a full voice C5 on Rhiannon on "life"!

I was wondering if any of you could help me out by pointing out some of Stevie's most impressive vocal performances. I'm such she can go a lot lower and higher, I really love her voice!

Thanks!

Edit: We have arrived at Bb2-E5! Two-and-a-half octaves exactly! Here is the video:

vivfox · #2 10-30-2009, 05:03 PM

Check out Whenever I Call You Friend by Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks. Many of us fans are amazed at the vocal he got out of her for this recording.

WarmSir3 · #3 10-30-2009, 05:40 PM

Thanks, that was great, I'm a big Kenny Loggins fan. Is the high part at the beginning really Stevie?! If so it goes up to G5! As for the rest of the song, it really was a great performance, a few Bb4s and a C#5! So that's at least D3-C#5! Do you know any more about the high notes at the beginning? Sounded like a man for the first 20 seconds, a bit harder to tell after that...

nailatixela · #4 10-30-2009, 06:10 PM

Could you tell us a bit about stevie's vocal range changing throughout the years? I'm not sure if you are a big fan who can go into depth, or if you are just here for our imput.

Anyway, I really don't know anything about the letters and numbers of vocal ranges. However I am curious to know how you think it's changed over the years.

Sanne2 · #5 10-30-2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarmSir3

Thanks, that was great, I'm a big Kenny Loggins fan. Is the high part at the beginning really Stevie?! If so it goes up to G5! As for the rest of the song, it really was a great performance, a few Bb4s and a C#5! So that's at least D3-C#5! Do you know any more about the high notes at the beginning? Sounded like a man for the first 20 seconds, a bit harder to tell after that...

The high notes in the beginning are not Stevie's, pretty sure that's Kenny Loggins.
Listen to the piano demo of Sisters Of The Moon, one of her best vocals in my opinion, and she gets pretty high:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3TJ9XJ0Z

nailatixela · #6 10-30-2009, 06:21 PM

I thought of a demo version too. I really hope this is the right version where she hits the really high note in on The Highwayman.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mznot22ikme

WarmSir3 · #7 10-30-2009, 06:32 PM

I am a fan! Can't go into too much depth I'm afraid. Her voice was consistently good for a long time, but quite hard to tell just how good live. On record at least, she was consistent, and for a long time too.
I'm not sure how much the cocaine affected her voice, but I don't think it was much, have never heard a bad performance from her up to 1987. I don't know much about her early-mid 90's material though. She was definitely in good form on The Dance, and wasn't bad when I saw Fleetwood Mac at the NEC Arena in Birmingham in 2003. Some of the higher notes she didn't quite hit. I'm sure she can still hit them but maybe doesn't want to tax her vocal cords too much at her age, considering the length of the tours.
What has baffled me is how she would miss a short high note on one song, and then sustain the exact same note later on!

Edit: Thanks for the links, I'll have a listen now!
Edit 2: Was that really Kenny Loggins? Pretty impressive.
The Sisters of the Moon demo was fantastic! Great singing, and lots of strong A4s! The Highwayman demo was great aswell! From F#3 to C#5 in falsetto. Thanks again!

strandinthewind · #8 10-30-2009, 06:53 PM

China Doll and the demo of Leather and Lace and After the Glitter fades -- she is very high on those.

Also - how high is she (musically) on the album cut of Beautiful child (esp on the "love" in "fell in love when I was only 10).

I think she does this thing where her voice sounds way higher than it really is.

WarmSir3 · #9 10-31-2009, 07:01 AM

The "love" in Beautiful Child is a G4, but is in falsetto. It gives a thinner, higher sound. Compare it to the "so" in "so little time". Same note but in full voice. Lovely song, I'll listen to the others you mentioned shortly. Falsetto is used to hit notes that are outside a singer's natural range. Only the edge of the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to the whole cord, which gives it a softer sound. One could consider it an artificial raising of the voice.
The entire vocal cord vibrates when singing full voice, hence the, um, full sound. It will sound very much like the singer's natural voice. Most people prefer the sound of full voiced notes (also refered to as chest, mixed, and head voice), but falsetto notes have an airey, softer quality, where as full voiced notes have more power. On the downside, some higher full voiced notes can be taxing for the vocal cords. For some examples, see the C5s I pointed out in my first post and the Beautiful Child G4s at the top of this post. Here's a very informative/entertaining video aswell!.

I'll also explain the notes and numbers a bit more. The number refers to the octave in which the note is sung. A5 would be A in the fifth octave, for example. Each octave begins on C and ends on B, so B4 is higher than C4. For those who don't know, the chromatic scale starting on C has these notes: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, Bb, B.

Stevie rarely strays above her favourite high note, B4. It is the same note as the classic "niiight" in Don't Stop Believin' by Journey! She sings it in a lot of songs, Stop Dragging My Heart Around, Edge of Seventeen, The Chain, Silver Springs.

Edit: China Doll was amazing, did she really not release it on an album? Up to A4 in falsetto. I prefered the Leather and Lace demo to the final version, a few falsetto C5s! I love After The Glitter Fades! Up to A4 in full voice a few times.
Edit 2: Long post! I had another listen to the Rumours album, as she was very much in her prime here. Second Hand News' harmony goes up to C#5, could be full voice. Go Your Own Way goes up to C5 in the harmony I think. The final "I don't wanna kno-ow" in I Don't Want To Know is a C#5 in full voice! A lot stronger and sustained than the Whenever I Call You Friend C#5!

AgeOldDesire · #10 10-31-2009, 09:49 AM

I can't cite specific performances; because my brain doesn't work like that; but some of the Rumours Tour GDW endings had some impressive high notes. Flip it and some of the Unleashed Tour GDW endings had some of the lowest notes. Go figure.

WarmSir3 · #11 10-31-2009, 09:55 AM

Ha, I'll have to check them out.

Also, I have found a new highest note for Stevie, in both full and falsetto! In the studio version of Sisters of the Moon she sings up to E5 in falsetto, and on the live Mirage tour version, she sings up to D5 in full voice. Which means her range now without falsetto is D3-D5, 2 octaves!

Edit: Up to C5 on a live GDW from 1977, I'm sure there are versions that go higher!

AgeOldDesire · #12 10-31-2009, 10:25 AM

Oh yeah and Call On Me For Magic has a few high notes, too. FWIW.

WarmSir3 · #13 10-31-2009, 10:35 AM

That was a nice song. A few Bb4s in falsetto.

Once I've amassed a few more great performances, and/or find some lower/higher notes, I'll have to make a video for Youtube.

strandinthewind · #14 10-31-2009, 10:37 AM

^^^

Thanks for that explanation!

Interestingly, I believe she is not singing the lead on the chorus of Dreams. I think she sings the fifth and the seventh, with LB and CM taking the first and third of the harmony. Do you hear that?

WarmSir3 · #15 10-31-2009, 11:02 AM

I'm not sure, Stevie definitely overdubbed a harmony. Have a listen to the first chorus, on "players only love you when they're playing". Stevie takes the third of the harmony there, up to C5 in falsetto. It's harder to tell on the other choruses, however! On that first one at least I can't hear Christine at all. I hear Lindsey singing the fifth, but in a lower octave.

Edit: I think I hear Christine singing the third on the second chorus! Can't hear a seventh though...