Stevie's Current Vocal Range

David · #1 09-16-2007, 05:49 PM

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:

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 · #2 09-16-2007, 06:08 PM

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.

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.

carrie721 · #3 09-16-2007, 06:31 PM

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 · #4 09-16-2007, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

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 · #5 09-16-2007, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

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.

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 · #6 09-16-2007, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carrie721

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 · #7 09-16-2007, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markolas

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 · #8 09-16-2007, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

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?

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

David · #9 09-16-2007, 11:37 PM

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 · #10 09-16-2007, 11:44 PM

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 · #11 09-16-2007, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

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 · #12 09-17-2007, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markolas

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 · #13 09-17-2007, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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