Friday 30 December 2011

JoJo Vocal Profile /Range



Vocal Type: Mezzo Soprano
Vocal Range: 4 Octaves 1 Note and a semitone (B2-C#7)
Whistle Register: Yes
Vocal Pluses: Light and agile voice that has a nimble dexterity that allows it to accomplish complex vocal runs effortlessly. The voice also has the strength and stamina to hold notes for lengths of time without wavering in pitch.

The low range is the heaviest part of the voice, and is of medium weight. As the voice passes into the midrange the voice begins to lighten and brighten significantly. The chest voice has an elasticity and flexibility that allows it to stretch, without much impact on the tone, up into the fifth octave. The head voice is soft and light, with a warm and breathy timbre, whereas her whistle register is piercing and solid.

Vocal Negatives: The tone, particularly in belting range, is weak and lacking character. The head voice also needs to be improved on to strengthen its tone and connection to the lower range.




87 comments:

  1. For some reason I've always pegged her as either a Coloratura or a Lyric Contralto. She has a pretty solid lower register to me.

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  2. Mezzo-soprano sounds right :) She's no way near a contralto.

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  3. her lows are solid, but its what comes after that which makes me think shes more a mezzo

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  4. Yes! finally. I do however ask as to how you determine an artists Whistle register. Do you only count it if it is a true whistle or do you count when it is an ascended note through falsetto/head voice? Because Leona has only truly ascended into it, yet you classified her as a whistle user. If tahts you're classification system then Jojo should be in it to.

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  5. Jojo does have a whistle register cuz in too little too late she hit Eb6-E6-A6

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  6. She's a coloratura contralto to me.  Her low notes are pretty nice, natural and not pushed. 

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  7. Hey! Its more about the quality of the note produced, and how it was created rather than the frequency of it. Listening to leona lately, I think even she may need to have her whistle register status reviewed. They sound like head notes too. I'll review her profile when her new album comes out.

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    Replies
    1. She doesn't need hers reviewed she hits a whistle note in her cover of minnie ripertons loving you .

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    2. Leona Lewis that is.

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  8. Happy to see this profile, love her. Out of curiosity, how did you determine the negative points? (weak/characterless tone, weak head voice) Just wondering what to listen for.  

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  9. I'm confused. You've stated she has no whistle register, but is that E6 in Too Little, Too Late not a whistle?

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  10. That sounds like head voice to me. It doesn't have the timbre or the colouring of a whistle note.

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  11. Hey Renae its all subjective. You might not agree and thats fine. What I mean by weak tone, is that it has little resonance of its own.

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  12. Finally! Been waiting for you to profile Jojo for ages now. I think she's by far the best of her generation, and is so versatile an accomplished in all parts of the voice (aside from Whistle, of course)

    I have to respectfully disagree with your analysis of her head voice though. I think she's just as accomplished in her head as she is in lower and mid register. Her belts are definitely the weakest part - she has great belting range for her voice type, but has never really learnt how to properly mix her belt so it's very inconsistent.

    And also, I think she definitely used to be a Mezzo, but over the past year her lower notes have improved immensely and her voice has become so much huskier and fuller/more distinct that she's a Contralto now.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjdup5lzapw 

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  13. There's finally a vocal range profile for JoJo!! Been waiting for ages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to whoever put this together, but i have to disagree with you on one thing: JoJo for sure has whistle register! She may not use it much, but she can no doubt sing in the whistle range...

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  14. In all honesty, unless you don't experience the fullness of someone's voice until you see them perform live. And I have. JoJo's live voice is a bit more meaty than her studio one. It has a lower tonal quality that mimicks the likes of an alto like Brandy or Jazmine Sullivan. Her runs are swift and complex, and can be hard to duplicate. Her upper register isn't as strong as it use to be because her timbre has darkened due to maturity. Her falsetto isn't as coley as it use to be either, therefore she relies soley on lower register (chest voice), runs and belts to pull her through a performance. I'd give her a 12 outta 10 because she's just that good.

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  15. Isn't she a contralto?

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  16. how do you distinguish a whistle note??? i can sing pretty high above an E6 but idk if i am using my whistle register... 

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  17. well,if you let me...

    a whistle note is a very high note that sounds like a whistle(YOU DONT SAY?).well,there are cases where someone can go up to F6 without doing whistle notes,and there are cases where the whistle starts at C6...it's up to you (:.the E6 sounds like a whistle note?or its just a high belted note?

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  18. Wow I just managed to download "Disaster" from 7digital's US site (I am in UK) don't know why it allowed me but dear lord I am addicted to it!

    Her voice has a captivating nature to it, cannot put my finger on it but she is incredible stuff!

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  19. A whistle not should require very little breath (almost like..minorly exhaling) It should be effortless and very high in pitch. It shouldnt feel like a belt or even head voice. People can go into whistle range with head voice but it won't be the same.

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  20. its somewhat light and not as resonant as my belts so i am thinking its probably head voice 

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  21. Hey T! I don't know a lot of her music, so you most likely know her voice better than I ! However, I will be getting her album at some point, so I should be able to amend and add to the profile :D

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  22. Hey guys, I've amended her as being able to "whistle" after a new video of her voice was brought to my attention :D

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  23. I hope she does more whistle notes on her album Jumping Trains.

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  24. 4 Octaves! That's amazing!

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  25. Her low notes are amazing!

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  26. I hope her next single comes out soon

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  27. Marvin's Room was an awesome urban song she covered. 

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  28. I wonder if she can still hit these notes now? Since some of it was in her prime years. 

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  29. You have to consider that she was 13-15 in these performances, when her voice wasn't that developed. So I understand her tone lacking character and power during belting. But she has improved a lot though. She is one of the most talented and most gifted singers of this generation.

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  30. She has developed into a contralto now. She was a mezzo when she was 13-16 but now she's around 20, her voice has dropped and achieved a huskier and deeper sound.

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  31. Dude, I kinda agree with ya! Recently watched an acoustic gig for 'Disaster' and her lower range was incredibly beautiful, strong and dynamic, the bonus is she can drive that up to a higher point than most singers could dream of!

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  32. hey Justin and can you direct me to some new performances where the range, and or tone, is more that of  a contralto. Cheers!

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  33. Maybe this?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzzNoonjuXE 

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  34. National Anthem?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zki0fwBYZhg&list=UUuX9Qb6DM1XamagvH5p0Atw&index=12&feature=plpp_video 

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  35. i dont like how she went down on "free..." but i think this is a good version not some screwed up mess like aguileras

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  36. shes a great singer but as i watch her live performances i feel like there is something off 

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  37. I like the runs on the words "watched" and "night" other then that I think it was ridiculously flat and lacking confidence.

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  38. Check out her performance of Jill Scott's "Whenever You're Around"... She definately have contralto chops and she's been working on that belting range too!
    http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D68FEgv0DaoQ&v=68FEgv0DaoQ&gl=US

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  39. lately, she has has been sick a lot, so she wasn't at 100%, but she did great here!! her vocals were ON POINT!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZsv_Ec1g7w 

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  40. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh4 June 2012 at 18:29

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nNZL-EnDZk
    Check Out her live Vocal Range!

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  41. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh4 June 2012 at 18:30

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nNZL-EnDZk

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  42. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh4 June 2012 at 18:32

    I Just love her Voice. I love her tone. Her runs are ridiculous. Her lower range is so full and strong.

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  43. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh4 June 2012 at 18:33

    Check out her live Vocal Range!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nNZL-EnDZk

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  44. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh13 June 2012 at 15:12

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k15vRUg5a9w
    This Video shows a lot of growth in her voice over the years.

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  45. i have a question. im a guy and a lyrical baritone. i was wondering if i have a whistle register cause i can hit extremely high 6 octave notes so far. the quality of the sound is piercing and whistle like. at first i thought i was screaming but the notes dont cause fatigue and doesnt sound forced. i read its impossible but im just curious. ive sung it live before and even girls say they cant sing that high.

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  46. vincent romano19 July 2012 at 07:20

    I know its weird, but I actually adore the timbre that her belt takes on above about a D5.

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  47. IIn all
    honesty, you don’t experience the fullness of someone’s voice until you seem
    them perform live. And I have. JoJo’s live voice is a bit meatier than her
    studio one. It has a lower tonal quality that mimics the likes of Jazmine
    Sullivan or Brandy (not to compare her tone to theirs because JoJo’s chest
    voice is higher than them). Her runs are swift and complex, and can be hard to
    duplicate. Her upper register isn’t as strong as it used to be because her
    timbre has developed into a cavernous quality because of her maturity. Her
    falsetto isn’t as cooey as if used to be either, therefore she relies solely on
    her lower register, mid chest voice, runs and belts to pull through her
    performances.

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  48. In all
    honesty, you don’t experience the fullness of someone’s voice until you seem
    them perform live. And I have. JoJo’s live voice is a bit meatier than her
    studio one. It has a lower tonal quality that mimics the likes of Jazmine
    Sullivan or Brandy (not to compare her tone to theirs because JoJo’s chest
    voice is higher than them). Her runs are swift and complex, and can be hard to
    duplicate. Her upper register isn’t as strong as it used to be because her
    timbre has developed into a cavernous quality because of her maturity. Her
    falsetto isn’t as cooey as if used to be either, therefore she relies solely on
    her lower register, mid chest voice, runs and belts to pull through her
    performances.

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  49. I think you might be right, I saw the live performances she has done recently. Definitely different to the recorded versions. "Meatier" is a good way of putting it.

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  50. I think she could still pull off the upper belts and head voice if she learned to lighten up the tone a bit as she goes up the scale, she tries to carry a bit too much weight in her belts especially for a low mezzo such as herself. I think if she did that she'd be able to hit the notes from her younger years, and better.

    Just speaking from personal experience, I used to have a high tenor voice that made it so my voice just lived in the area of G5-C6 when belting but then when I matured I could barely get past A4 because I tried dragging too much weight up as I went. When I got a tip from a friend of mine who has had voice lessons to lighten up the weight of my voice as I go higher , I got back a good bit of my range. Being able to belt up to G5's consistently and up to an A5 on a good day, and better than when when my voice was higher.

    But yeah, if Jojo just lightened up a bit she'd gain back some of her upper belting and her head voice and falsetto and she'd still have her insanely strong lower register to boot, not to mention she could pull of a new variety of runs with a more freed up range.

    Sorry for the long post, I get a bit ranty from time to time.

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  51. You have to listen to her song Demonstrate.... Her voice is so rich and husky... its like a cross between with Brandy and Monica in a sense but the thing that had me tripping out is that she had a piercing affect in the song that gave her voice a knifes edge in a sense.

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  52. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_itYScopg0 I'm late but this is a much better rendition and the "free" is better.

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  53. She is a Contralto, when she debut 13 she was Mezzo, Ive noticed the changes in her voice, at 16 her voice went through this phase where it lightened and lost power and her belts where thin. Now Its much better after vocal training its developed a kinda richness and has has deepened naturally into a Contralto, I dont know if I would consider her whistles actual whistles, but more just a high falsetto notes. I like that she values vocal trainng and is passionate about training her instrument.

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  54. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh17 October 2012 at 01:00

    JoJo never had Vocal Lessons

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  55. I watched an interview on Youtube, where she credits Beyonce vocal growth evolvement or whatever you wanna call it. She said she training her vocals to grow and expand them to another level as Beyonce.

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  56. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh18 October 2012 at 15:11

    I saw that interview too and she said she never took Vocal lessons. She said she liked the way Beyonce Developed her Voice from Destiny's child up until now and wanted to get Vocal Training.

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  57. She struggles with head notes and she is forcing out belts.... She has to rethink her voice from the ground up. Now that is it is more mature, she is a contralto yet she still sings like a mezzo-soprano.

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  58. disqus_pyFvnmvxRh21 December 2012 at 14:11

    JoJo is a Low-mezzo, not a contralto.

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  59. I knida figured that when I listened to her mixtape....When she reaches C5 in chest on certain songs. its not overly bright like a contralto. She does have weight up there too but not so much as I would expect from a contralto. Her lowerange is extremely weighty but the weight deducts a bit once she gets into her belting register. I mean her G4's are very weighty but then her C5s-up to Es sound less weighty and are not overly bright like a contralto. My mistake.

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  60. Contraltos do not have bright belting registers, they have bright and slightly cavernous head voices. Sopranos are the singers that have upper chest registers. A Contralto's chest voice possesses a dark and androgynous timbre.

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  61. I agree she has a very beautiful tone a a lot of dexterity but I just feel like she pulls chest voice in the high notes instead of mixing, like Xtina does. Her high belts feel strained and pushed. Am I wrong?

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  62. It's totally possible. Because theorically anybody from deep bass to light soprano can produce whistle notes.

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  63. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plCooD08Ss

    here's a really recent performance of hers.

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  64. that is not always so true brandy has a very bright chest range and chaka khan for contralto many believe they are mezzo's but they are not

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  65. Brandy and Chaka are mezzos, especially Chaka.

    One of the main marks of a contralto is the cavernous and androgynous timbre.

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  66. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUDYQ5Hv698

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  67. brandy an chaka both are very great singers in there chest range but at the bottom is where there voices shine i always thought them both to be mezzos but they both prefer singing at the bottom

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  68. i always thought it depended on where you felt most comfortable singing and to me they prefer the bottom but they sound better up at the top

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  73. i think jojo is a soprano because she can hit high notes in a soprano tessitura in her song limbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1CG6qdg_Q

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  74. Jojo is definitely a mezzo.

    Hitting high notes don't make you a soprano, and hitting low notes don't make you a mezzo.



    You can tell by her tessitura and colouring that she is a mezzo.
    She sounded uncomfortable on those high notes.
    Also, the pitch was raised.

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  75. Has she used her whistle live?

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  76. jojo

    the high road vocal range

    lowest notes:eb3

    highest belted notes:g5

    whistle register:g#6

    http://www.youtube.com/v/wj5JaUILxys&hl=en_US&fs=1&

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  77. yeah but nowhere near as BAD as christina

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  78. in all honesty i prefer JoJo so much more than ariana grande or demi

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  79. Yeah of course not as bad lol.

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  80. EvilTroyandEvilAbed10 August 2013 at 22:05

    She's finally sueing to be released from her record label so here's hoping she's on the cusp of staging a musical comeback.


    I totally agree. I think she could teach these current young adult starlets (Demi, Ariana, Selena, Miley) a thing or two. Definitely has more musicality and artistry, not to mention vocal technique than any of those girls IMO

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  81. To be honest, she will do extremely well in R&B. Lol, only black people do bad in R&B.

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  82. EvilTroyandEvilAbed11 August 2013 at 14:21

    I agree. I want her to go RnB/Pop instead of Pop/RnB if that makes sense.


    I'd still like to see her maintain some mainstream appeal - maybe sticking to Rhythmic for now - instead of going full steam ahead for the urban market, but I totally agree that RnB suits her voice well, especially slow jams. Demonstrate will always be the single that could've been.

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  83. Demonstrate will forever and always be my shit. Her tonality on those low notes were killer. At first I was like who is this male backup singer hitting this and they I was like oh shit, this homegirl JoJo down there... BOFL.

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  84. JoJo was one of the best! I loved her!

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