Monday, April 15, 2013

Vocal Range and Profile: Ariana Grande



Range: D3 - B5 - E7

Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano (4 octaves and a note)
Vocal Rating: B-
Recommended Listenings: Emotions, The Way

Positives: A vocal actress, being able to mimic the tones and voices of Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Celine Dion.

Her lower register, though often weak and inconsistent (due to her high tessitura and breath support issues), is relatively strong for a soprano, supporting down to F#3 and extending to D3.

Her belts are achieved through mixing, having stretched up to Bb5's successfully; Grande also has no issue staying in the soprano tessitura for extended periods of time (see live performances of Break Free, Dangerous Woman and Focus). Her belting register as a whole is extensive and reaches up to an impressive B5. Capable of complex, fast melismas (see Hands on Me and Problem). A rolling vibrato can be heard in belts up to G#5 and as low as Bb3.

Her falsetto is light and sweet and is also where the voice finds its 'ring,' being bright and healthy up to Eb6. 

The whistle register is piercing, and the whistles don't have disconnected tones attached to them (polyphonic tones). She is able to sing vocal runs in this register (See Emotions).

Negatives: The previously mentioned mixed belts generally lack power and the whistle register is not controlled (something she has admitted herself). Her slightly nasal and feminine tone is also polarizing. Her diction is unpolished, leaving her lyrics incomprehensible at points (see the bridge of Break Free) due to tongue tension. Grande also over activates muscles in her jaw - mostly while singing runs - furthering this tongue tension, which in turn changes the positioning of the larynx. Intonation live has proven to be a problem at points (around 2013), and the lower register sounds unsupported in most instances. Her support is also inconsistent, ranging from around G3-C#5, above C5/C#5 she raises her larynx.



Eb3-E7