Vocal Type: Spinto Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves and 2 notes (E3-G6)
Whistle Register: Yes
Vocal Pluses: Clarkson is known for her expansive vocal range, technical skills, emotive delivery as well as having a strong sense of musicality. Her extensive list of cover songs, on not only
American Idol but as part of her
Stronger tour, display this perfectly; with her being able to take a song and add a personal stamp to it via her vocal delivery [
Can't Let Go/
Give Me One Reason/
At Last]. She is also able to sing complex melisma and hold notes without any issue.
Clarkson's lower range can be described as breathy and more difficult to control and deliver upon, being slightly less audible to that of the rest of the range [
Star Spangled Banner]. However, this part of the range tends to be well supported, displaying a raspy and husky texture.
The mid-range is delivered in an extremely confident and technically sound manner, with her technique, in this area of the range, being far superior to that of the lower range. Yet it still retains an earthy and grounded quality making her voice extremely identifiable [
Since U Been Gone]. Due to this mirroring of characteristics in the lower and mid-range, it gives the two parts a fully connected sound.
Clarkson is known more for her superb belting range, for which she possesses a strong and expertly placed range between that of E5 and a soprano C6. This part of her voice contains a powerful slicing tone, which is not only able to easily cut through the heavy instrumentation of her backing band but also that of an orchestra [Hear:
My Country, 'Tis of Thee]. Clarkson's upper extremes of the range, as well as the head voice, contains the characteristics of a full lyric soprano. However, the entirety of the voice is of a grounded nature, containing a powerful and incisive upper register, which would place her voice in the spinto category, due to her lack of full dramatic power.
Whilst her head voice is slightly disconnected from that of the rest of the range, this is an area that Clarkson truly blossoms. Some have claimed her head voice and falsetto to be that of the most beautiful in contemporary music- with it being known to be clean and potent as well as fulsome [
Ave Maria (live)]. Whilst Clarkson can belt up to a C6 her head voice is known to commence around the A5 region. Again her technical virtuosity has displayed her vocally as both direct and solid [
Invincible (live)] but also gentle and breathy [
Because Of You], depending on the artistic choices of the material she delivers.
The whistle register is known for having a full and piercing nature [Hear:
Natural Woman] or soft and gentle (Honestly - Stronger), although this is an area of the voice known to be underutilized.
Vocal Negatives:Critique has been levelled at her voice sounding slightly hoarse at times- which is probably due to her extensive touring schedules creating vocal fatigue. At times her voice can sound pushed, particularly in the chest range. As previously noted her whistle register is underutilized, although this could possibly be more due to artistic choice than physical ability.
