Tuesday 20 March 2012

[Vocal Profile] Alicia Keys




Vocal Type: Mezzo
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves and a semitone Bb2-B5
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Strengths: Alicia Keys is capable of singing complex vocal runs, through the registers, and is able to hold notes for periods of time without wavering in pitch or tone [Fallin'].

The lower range is easily accessed and is supported, dark and of some weight [How To Save A Life]. Unlike other singers, who become foggy, the voice remains attributable at the lower extremes with a clear ring. At the bottom there is a slight breathy quality, but the voice is comfortable and clear despite the lowered larynx.

Alicia Keys' midrange is sweet and warm, with a smokiness and slight rasp to it. There is a dual aspect to this part of the range. She can sing in a hot, breathy style that is soft and wistful [In Common]. Or, though still warm in colour, she can make the timbre rounder and more in keeping with the fuller sound of the whole range [Karma]. Her voice sounds at its most easiest here.

The belting range is weighty and thick and often shares the smoky quality of the lower range. The notes above the fifth octave are most often reached with a chest-dominate mix, and the resulting tone has a good dynamic, fuller sound and a raw edge [Girl On Fire]. Alicia Keys does have versatility here and can alter her belt, shifting it to a head-dominate position [ How Come You Don't Call Me]. The result is a sound that is purer in tone and smoother in timbre, but this comes at the expense of power and fullness.

The head voice is pure and bright with a weight and warmth [Adore]. She is also able to sing in a falsetto-like tone that is light, airy, soft and lends itself well to harmonies [Empire State Of Mind].  

Vocal Weaknesses: The way Alicia Keys maintains her thicker belting tone, without mixing, could have a negative effect on the voice, ultimately inflaming it and producing a harsher sound.








17 comments:

  1. Cool profile update, I really like her! She is a true musician to the core. Beautiful contralto voice full of thickness, grit, mindblowing variation in tone and timbre but also a singer of great emotional conviction. Add her exceptional skills with the piano and you have one seriously talented individual.

    My only critique is that sometimes in her higher range the voice sounds like its scraping along the registers, harsh indeed.

    Overall though fabby! I also like how she is down to earth and not in your face! And a brilliant ambassador for many a good cause!

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  2. So glad you redid this profile! Anyway, I hate her voice, it's sounds so cumbersome, if that makes sense. It's a pain to listen, especially in No One. 

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  3. Hey lovey! How are ya? I get you with that too in a way, felt that when she tried the more pop orientated sound it was not quite the right fit vocally, think she sounded at her best with songs in A minor and 'The Element of Freedom' era's!

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  4. Hey hannah, i kinda know what you mean by "cumbersome".  Something I've always thought with Alicia, more so in her live performances, is that though she can sing runs they are usually slower, kinda angular, and slightly laboured- especially when compared to others 
    I've seen her live three times, so I've witnessed it myself. I still love her voice, though. :D

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  5. yea her head voice is kinda..forced?
    but she has an amazing control of it on mid-low range (:,great singer,some months of classical training would make her head voice a lot more conected ^^

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  6. Most defo dude! Sometimes when she sings with her head voice its like she could just crack her chords and it will be game over, it can be so ouch sounding!

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  7. My only critique of Alicia is that sometimes she belts higher then her capabilities to the point where it sounds like screaming rather than belting. Very harsh and hard to listen too. Latest example for me would be Whitney Houston's funeral. I've always been a huge fan, but I've always stood there at her live shows and , "Damn Alicia!...you wrote the music. Drop the key a half or full if you can't do the note live. You are a musician/composer..." But the rest I agree with. Sometimes I think that she was only trained in piano, tho people say her voice is trained too. I don't believe that at all.

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  8. Honestly, i really am VERY confused about her voice, 'cause in her high registers she sounds very much like a normal mezzo to me, but then in her low registers she swoops down to a Bb2, and she sounds much contralto-like. If it were for me, i'd classify her as a mezzo with a remarkable lower extension, but then again, i suppose the true contralto voice is very hard to identify. :/

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  9. Its just that i've never heardof a contralto singing a G#5, or at least not outside opera or classical music(in which the G#5'would be considered a true contralto's top note). I'd say she doesnt sound dark enough in anything above C5(and she sounds too comfortable there), but like i said before, i dont know much about true contraltos.

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  10. When Alicia Debut she was a Mezzo. I remember seeing her first performance ever as teenager. I though initially she sounded like Christina Aguilera. She is now a lyric Contralto, I think her 3rd album where the change in her voice was most obvious, her belts became forced and coarse and chest voice is not as consistant.

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  11. I love Alicia Keys, especially her unique, smoky tone, but I'd add two minuses: her head notes are almost always kinda pushed back and completely disconnected from the rest of her voice, also she tends to get nasal a lot, especially on lower notes.
    And it can be way to heavy and thick, resulting in a cow sound, but that's probably matter of taste...

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  12. I love her voice its smoky and jazzy. Its soothing too especially when she sings in a falsetto. I love it when she sings in her mid range and low range better but her falsettos are very soothing. She is also trained well I say semi-trained because she didn't get her voice trained all the way. Yeah she is trained in voice and in piano. She was trained at the age of 9 with a vocal coach and piano at the age of 7 but you can also find photos of her trying play piano before the age of 7 =). I think her her is very raw and passionate so that's my take on it cause that's how I feel and hear it.

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  13. She's NOT a contralto for goodness sake, she's mezzo-soprano. why does diva devotee keep getting this wrong.. again her voice is too high with such a sharp feminine tone

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  14. She has qualities of a lyric contralto but I don't think she is. She's always been a low lyric mezzo I think, just her voice has deepened with age, as most singers' voices do.

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  15. I always define whether a singer is a true contralto by comparing their voices to Cher and Annie Lennox. I agree that parts of her voice in the lower register sound like that of a contralto but I would also say she's a low lyric mezzo.

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  16. Yeah, well as it says Alicia doesn't always mix so she pushes her chest up and strains with a raspy sound which sounds unhealthy but she also has pitch issues in the fifth octave which can be very hard to listen to live.

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  17. So not a contralto, at all lol A true Mezzo voice. If she continues constricting her throat & over-exerting her larynx the way she's been doing then she'll be forced into the Contralto tessitura by default, much like Aguilera.

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