Stevie's Current Vocal Range

[David]

I just watched the video for Stand Back that Chris from the UK linked to & I got to thinking about Stevie's vocal range in the here & now. I know we sometimes mention her range in discussions, usually in relation to its having shrunk in middle age (common for most of us).

Based on the Stand Back video, Stevie's range is A4 to A5, or A 220Hz to A 440Hz in the following diagram:

http://www.josef-k.net/mim/ThePianoKeyboard.gif

Based on Stand Back video, Stevie could be considered a contralto: Although she doesn't demonstrate the extremes of that classification, the bulk of her range falls within those bounds. I'm not as familiar with her other current performances, so I'd like to know whether she extends that specific range for other material, either in one direction or the other. I'm trying to get a more exact notion of Stevie's vocal range in the here & now. I'm not as interested in value judgments. This is an attempt to pinpoint her range to satisfy curiosity. My hunch is that Stevie currently has a "comfortable" one-octave range.

I'd like to do the same for Christine on her most recent solo album, but I can't because I don't own it. What makes me curious about Chris is that her singing career has seemed to me to be a more haphazard ebb & flow, rather than a solid progression in one direction or the other. In the early 1970s, Chris sounded low-contralto; in the late 1970s & early 1980s, sounded high-contralto, & with the tracks I heard of her 2005 solo album, sounded low-contralto again. Chris seems all over the map, taking it year by year.

[LiamMcConville]

I think Stevie is a comfortable one-octave zone, but I think her normal singing voice probably would be at its maximum at two and a half/three octaves. I know she can hit the higher notes, but she can't sing up the scale to hit it. She has to "jump" with her voice to get up-range, because I don't believe she can hit all the notes inbetween.

What I mean is, she has her normal singing voice (the one in the Stand Back video) you're talking about, and then she has this voice, the "high-note" voice.

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She can sing this high, but she can't sing down the octaves to her normal singing voice. If that makes any sense. I could explain this a lot better if I had a broader knowledge of Musical Theory. :shrug:

[carrie721]

i think A440 is her limit for singing live. it's certainly the highest note i've heard her hit and even that was a struggle at times on the SYW tour. in the studio, we know she can reach C above that. on the opposite side of her range, i believe that A4 is the lowest she normally goes, although with that smoking habit she had i'm sure she can grumble lower than that.

[markolas]

I know she can hit the higher notes, but she can't sing up the scale to hit it. She has to "jump" with her voice to get up-range, because I don't believe she can hit all the notes inbetween.

I don't understand all the technical terms, but could this be what I'm hearing and describing as "bellowing"?

[carrie721]

She can sing this high, but she can't sing down the octaves to her normal singing voice. If that makes any sense. I could explain this a lot better if I had a broader knowledge of Musical Theory. :shrug:

actually, in that video you posted she's singing within that a4-a5 range david mentioned, so she can sing up the scale to those notes. she's actually not singing all that high - she hits those notes in almost all her other songs, she just doesn't sustain them for as long as she does for insider.

[LiamMcConville]

actually, in that video you posted she's singing within that a4-a5 range david mentioned, so she can sing up the scale to those notes. she's actually not singing all that high - she hits those notes in almost all her other songs, she just doesn't sustain them for as long as she does for insider.

I really don't think she can. What song or video do we have to prove that? She sounds very limited range wise when she sings Insider or Say Goodbye live. I don't think she can sing up the scale to those notes.

[LiamMcConville]

I don't understand all the technical terms, but could this be what I'm hearing and describing as "bellowing"?

Describe what you mean by "bellowing"...

[carrie721]

I really don't think she can. What song or video do we have to prove that? She sounds very limited range wise when she sings Insider or Say Goodbye live. I don't think she can sing up the scale to those notes.
how about in the very video you just posted? :laugh:

she sings every note in the G major scale from B4 to G5. she's only one full step shy on either side of our collective guess of her A4-A5 range. that's pretty good proof that she can sing up the scale to those notes :shrug:

[David]

You guys think that coach she's had for ten years has done some good in terms of technique & range? Lord knows. Could Stevie manage an octave range without having had the coach all these years? I'm assuming she can sing higher & lower fairly comfortably when she's at home in a quieter environment. I don't think she's ever been completely at ease with the loud musicians she hires or the loud mixes her soundman creates or that in-ear monitor that she's constantly fiddling with. I think with so much blaring in her ear, her range shrinks & her voice tightens up in the lower & upper registers. Whereas if she was just sitting on your sofa in your home, singing, she could sound a lot more supple & pliant. Probably as different as night & day.

[carrie721]

i don't know about her current vocal coach ... i don't think she could have hit c above middle C without his help on the new dreams recording, but aside from that ... i don't know. whom did she work with during the street angel era? i think whoever she worked with then did the greatest good for her. the street angel album & tour really was a turning point vocally for her, IMO.

[markolas]

Describe what you mean by "bellowing"...

I don't know if I can, but an example might be the 2005 and later versions of Beauty & the Beast, the part toward the end where she's singing "I've chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanged."

Also, on the latter-day versions of Stand Back - that "taaaaaaaaaaaake me home" part. It sounds "off" to me. Like she's really straining or something.

[LiamMcConville]

I don't know if I can, but an example might be the 2005 and later versions of Beauty & the Beast, the part toward the end where she's singing "I've chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanged."

Also, on the latter-day versions of Stand Back - that "taaaaaaaaaaaake me home" part. It sounds "off" to me. Like she's really straining or something.



Oh no, what I'm talking about is when she's singing in her normal voice, she can't sing up to hit high notes, she would actually have to stop singing and "switch into" her high voice. If that makes any sense.

I think what you're talking about, is how she sounds strained when she holds notes. Just like the "Dancing Again" Irvine bootleg during the ending of "Silver Springs."

[danax6]

i don't know about her current vocal coach ... i don't think she could have hit c above middle C without his help on the new dreams recording, but aside from that ... i don't know. whom did she work with during the street angel era? i think whoever she worked with then did the greatest good for her. the street angel album & tour really was a turning point vocally for her, IMO.As far as I know she didn't start working with a vocal coach until The Dance tour.

[kathy1]

i don't know what her current vocal range is. does it really matter? it doesn't to me.

[danax6]

does it really matter? it doesn't to me.You obviously haven't spent enough time on this website yet. :laugh:

[carrie721]

As far as I know she didn't start working with a vocal coach until The Dance tour.

then wow. her voice sounded so much more in control starting with that album/tour (especially the tour) that i thought for sure she worked with somebody.

[petep9000]

Stevie's gone on the record as having had voice coaches as early back as the 'Tusk' tour.

I think though, she definately went into a more intensive vocal training in the post RAL period. Her voice completely changed, and while some of it could have been Klonopin I'm leaning more towards technique. I think, she was being encouraged to 'save' her voice. The result, less throaty vocals and less bellowing.
I knew a guy who was a musician and I remember distinctly around '86 or so he was syaing that Stevie sang 'incorrect'. Incorrect or no, I think it sounded much better back then. Just my $.02

[danax6]

Stevie's gone on the record as having had voice coaches as early back as the 'Tusk' tour. Robin was her speech therapist. She made sure Stevie spoke correctly in order to save her voice, because she had the tendency to speak too low which was a strain on her vocal chords. She didn't teach her how to sing properly.

By her own admission she didn't start until 1997:

Nicks used to suffer vocal problems from singing, because she wasn't trained properly. But she's been taking better care of her vocal chords for eight years.

"I do 40 minutes" of exercises "three hours before I walk onstage every single show, and I've been doing that since 1997," she says.

"It's like going to the gym every day. You go to a vocal coach, and you study, and you go through every vowel sound, and you work with your vocal chords so they're all stretched out, like a ballerina would do, or a Vegas showgirl would do."

I think her vocal coach was/is Steve Real.

[joe]

i recall a RAL interview where she says that the spent the past few years learning how to sing.

???

[Musicman408]

I just watched the video for Stand Back that Chris from the UK linked to & I got to thinking about Stevie's vocal range in the here & now. I know we sometimes mention her range in discussions, usually in relation to its having shrunk in middle age (common for most of us).

Based on the Stand Back video, Stevie's range is A4 to A5, or A 220Hz to A 440Hz in the following diagram:

http://www.josef-k.net/mim/ThePianoKeyboard.gif

Based on Stand Back video, Stevie could be considered a contralto: Although she doesn't demonstrate the extremes of that classification, the bulk of her range falls within those bounds. I'm not as familiar with her other current performances, so I'd like to know whether she extends that specific range for other material, either in one direction or the other. I'm trying to get a more exact notion of Stevie's vocal range in the here & now. I'm not as interested in value judgments. This is an attempt to pinpoint her range to satisfy curiosity. My hunch is that Stevie currently has a "comfortable" one-octave range.

I'd like to do the same for Christine on her most recent solo album, but I can't because I don't own it. What makes me curious about Chris is that her singing career has seemed to me to be a more haphazard ebb & flow, rather than a solid progression in one direction or the other. In the early 1970s, Chris sounded low-contralto; in the late 1970s & early 1980s, sounded high-contralto, & with the tracks I heard of her 2005 solo album, sounded low-contralto again. Chris seems all over the map, taking it year by year.

Stevie can absolutely sing lower than that A. :nod:

[Standback383]

i don't know what her current vocal range is. does it really matter? it doesn't to me.

It doesn't matter to me either....jesus, at least she still knows how to rock 'n roll...she may not be able to hit all the high notes she once was able to...who cares...

[Phoenix]

"I do 40 minutes" of exercises "three hours before I walk onstage every single show, and I've been doing that since 1997," she says.
[/I]
I think her vocal coach was/is Steve Real.

I have ALWAYS HATED that quote with a passion. I mean, nothing like wearing out your voice before a preformance.:mad:
I mean, warm up yes, 40 minutes, NO.:o Seriously,(where is Jason i want his opinion on that.) and i think that this new vocal coach dosent encourage her to kind of play with her voice like she used to, which i allways thought sounded kinda cool.

[David]

Stevie can absolutely sing lower than that A. :nod:Did you get the chance to post those YouTube videos you mentioned last spring? I really want to see those, so please let me know when they're available.

[JazmenFlowers]

I wonder what her true range is too. I think 2, at best. I have a 3ish range so based on that and how easy it is for me to sing her songs, I'd say 2.

[carrie721]

I wonder what her true range is too. I think 2, at best. I have a 3ish range so based on that and how easy it is for me to sing her songs, I'd say 2.

i'd say over the years, she's covered 2+. but currently, her absolute max is c above middle c, and normally it's just the a above middle c. since i don't think she could reach the c below middle c, we're looking at maybe an octave + a 6th? but i would be surprised by 2 full octaves.

[JazmenFlowers]

i'd say over the years, she's covered 2+. but currently, her absolute max is c above middle c, and normally it's just the a above middle c. since i don't think she could reach the c below middle c, we're looking at maybe an octave + a 6th? but i would be surprised by 2 full octaves.
well, since you puts it like dat. I think you're probably right.

I wonder then where I fall. I have always wondered that.

[carrie721]

well, since you puts it like dat. I think you're probably right.

I wonder then where I fall. I have always wondered that.

do you know what your max/min pitches are?

[JazmenFlowers]

do you know what your max/min pitches are?
lol. nope.

I'll have to test meself against the pianur.

[carrie721]

lol. nope.

I'll have to test meself against the pianur.

do it! i bet you have a pretty expansive range. your falsetto is top rate.

[David]

do it! i bet you have a pretty expansive range. your falsetto is top rate.I just measured my range. It's G2 to Bb5, & my "break" is on middle C#. I quit smoking. So what is that? An eighth & a tenth? I'm surprised I can go two octaves.