How many octaves Carries voice has....

carriefan2000 · 08-16-2009

Out of curiosity,

We all know Carrie's voice is really powerful and high, but I was wondering if anyone knew how many octaves her voice has.

For instance, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera are said to have 4-5. I never heard this mentioned in reference to Carrie, does anyone know?

teesharky · 08-16-2009

not sure, but I think she is almost as high as Mariah in full voice. Mariah can do those high C's but it is more of a screech. If you compare full voice to full voice, (not a screech), Carrie must be close to them both.

Country_Carrie · 08-16-2009

Yeah I think Carrie is pretty close to them too

carriebest · 08-16-2009

yup, i think she's close to both of them...but i think Carrie's voice is more similar to christina........strong voice...

The Nanook · 08-16-2009

According to a youtube video so far its Eb3-F#5 (minus head notes) which is 2 octaves, one note and a semi-tone. Lower notes are Eb5-F#3. So far Carrie has belt C5-F5/F#5 (which I think the same as Christina, and is a few notes lower than Mariah's highest full chest belt - look on youtube for "_artist_ vocal range" videos). I'm not sure about head notes because it wasn't included in the video and she doesn't do many of them. Since she doesn't do many flashy notes or runs, mainly belts, it will take a while to hear a lot of songs, covers, live performances, etc. before we find out her actual range.

If someone figured out the notes of Carrie's head notes (Sound of Music or even Desperado?), her range would be a little under 3 octaves (I think the sixth octave is the whistle register which I don't think Carrie can hit seeing as very few artists can). Its not likely F#5 is the highest note Carrie can belt, I'm guessing maybe G5. Even if its not a "glory note," seeing as I never knew she hit a high F5 in "We're Young and Beautiful" since it was quick and wasn't a long, powered note. All in all, from watching Christina and Mariah's videos, I think Carrie would top around A5 in head voice.

tri_con · 08-16-2009

There are two things with Mariah Carey:

1) She sings nowhere near the higher octaves that she sang when she was younger.

2) Carrie has a certain power in her voice that I think surpasses Mariah.

3) Can anyone else hold a note longer than Carrie - ex - Just a Dream, I know You Won't, and there was an amazing note when Carrie was on American Idol. Paula Abdul said it was amazing and the longest she's ever heard!

AmazingCarrie · 08-16-2009

No Carrie would've def had competition against Whitney houston in her Prime, before the drugs and bobbie brown came into play and messed her up. But Christina sounds like she's trying to hard, she overdoes it sometimes, especially LIVE. She likes to show off and it shows that she does. Mariah Carey in her prime is one of the few people that could hit a note only a dolphin can make. Now she can't sing. She gave up and turned pop hoping to compensate her washed up career trying to sound like Ciara or whoever is out that's hot on the scene.

Carrie does it effortlessly with such emotion watch her sing Just a Dream Live. the one awards show where she yells at her mommie saying mama it's kinda hard to sing when your crying. SO CUTE how she looked when she said that. Ok thanks I have to watch it now lol.

chevrolet · 08-16-2009

Here's how a singer's range used to be measured:

The singer would sing an entire stanza of spoken words that would incorporate the lowest and highest notes the person could reach. They couldn't sing an isolated note. The lowest and highest had to be included in a series of notes. The note couldn't be a shriek, a whistle, or a belch.....it had to be an intelligible word/syllable.

Using that criteria, average lay-people are only capable of about 1-1/2 octaves. Professional singers can muster about 2-1/2 octaves and an extraordinary singer might hit 3 on a good day.

Claims of 4-5 octaves are highly exaggerated (by fans) and probably include vocal sounds that are not really words or are isolated sounds. 5 octaves would be 60 of the 88 keys (70%) of a standard piano. Nobody does that.

The Star Spangled Banner is only about 1-1/2 octaves. For the average person that is a stretch.

tri_con · 08-17-2009

As good as Carrie's performance was of Just a Dream on the CMA's I thought she was just as good on the Oprah Winfrey show!

The Nanook · 08-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by chevrolet

Here's how a singer's range used to be measured:

The singer would sing an entire stanza of spoken words that would incorporate the lowest and highest notes the person could reach. They couldn't sing an isolated note. The lowest and highest had to be included in a series of notes. The note couldn't be a shriek, a whistle, or a belch.....it had to be an intelligible word/syllable.

Using that criteria, average lay-people are only capable of about 1-1/2 octaves. Professional singers can muster about 2-1/2 octaves and an extraordinary singer might hit 3 on a good day.

Claims of 4-5 octaves are highly exaggerated (by fans) and probably include vocal sounds that are not really words or are isolated sounds. 5 octaves would be 60 of the 88 keys (70%) of a standard piano. Nobody does that.

The Star Spangled Banner is only about 1-1/2 octaves. For the average person that is a stretch.

Nowadays its more along the highest note that you can emit from your mouth without sounding too much like a scream

robinannhunt · 08-17-2009

Every year we get a thread on Carrie's octive range. You might go to some of the historical threads to get a good discussion of range and even some youtube examples.

carriefan2000 · 08-17-2009

yeah, i just thought that lately we have seen Carrie's vocal abilities streching and her vocal range expanding , in songs such as I know you won't and Last Name. I thought maybe the topic deserved a bit of an update to discuss her growth as a vocalist.

Ps.- does anybody know the note that Carrie hits in I know You Won't, the last octave in her big 10 secod glory note?

Avira · 08-17-2009

I don't care about anybody's range. If your lower and/or higher register sound disgusting, it shouldn't count towards your range. Nobody should be able to claim to have 5 octaves of range.

jeff · 08-17-2009

it doesnt matter. she sounds damned good.

fearless_dancerrr · 08-17-2009

i'm no expert on octaves. honestly, this thread is a bunch of gibberish to me. all i know is carrie has one of the most impressive voices i've ever heard. i may not be an expert but i know a good voice when i hear one. she's one of the few singers now-a-days that can sing so seemingly effortless and has such control of her voice.

MelissaD · 08-17-2009

LOL @ Christina's range. The only reason she has "4 octaves" is because she shrieks as high as she possibly can in FALSETTO. Her full chest range is pathetic....she can barely even belt an E without crashing into her passaggio, and then she winds up compressing her glottal muscles and yelling as loud as she possibly can to avert breaking into mixed voice (a combination of chest and head, as opposed to pure chest). That's why her voice sounds so hoarse and brittle up there. Then, above E5 her voice becomes even more thin, and also lighter. She loses the "powerhouse" sound she has from C5-Eb/E.

Carrie can sing up to F# in chest effortlessly....and doesn't lose power or volume up there, because her CHEST VOICE is still able to carry weight up there (again, Christina needs to mix with head voice because her full chest voice can't withstand pitches above E, due to the placement of her passaggio). That's far more impressive then breaking into falsetto and just squealing. It's not even that difficult...it's an acquired skill. Men can do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLog7diUuoE
Carrie has chirped out F6s and F#6s (falsetto obviously) in live performances just doing "ahs"...I'm sure she could incorporate those into her working vocal range with practice. Christina did it. Many people learn to do it that way. That's how I did....but to be able to do it like Mariah Carey or Minnie Riperton, with such ease, fluidity, and dexterity....that is rare.

MelissaD · 08-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by carriefan2000

yeah, i just thought that lately we have seen Carrie's vocal abilities streching and her vocal range expanding , in songs such as I know you won't and Last Name. I thought maybe the topic deserved a bit of an update to discuss her growth as a vocalist.

Ps.- does anybody know the note that Carrie hits in I know You Won't, the last octave in her big 10 secod glory note?

"I Know You Won't" doesn't have anything very high; it peaks at D5 on the "iiii IIIIIIIIII know"....when she did it in falsetto, as well as when she belted it. the sustained "wooooooooooooooooooooon't" is only a Bb4.

But the highest she's gone in chest was F#5; in the full versions she's done of "Alone." It sounds resonant and crystal-clear, so I'm sure she can get her chest voice up to about G5. Then if she applied more of a MIX (that's when you blend chest and head voice to create a uniform tonal quality....and it makes higher notes easier to belt, since the full burden is no longer on chest voice) she'd probably be able to go to about G#/A.

chevrolet · 08-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearless_dancerrr

i'm no expert on octaves. honestly, this thread is a bunch of gibberish to me. all i know is carrie has one of the most impressive voices i've ever heard. i may not be an expert but i know a good voice when i hear one. she's one of the few singers now-a-days that can sing so seemingly effortless and has such control of her voice.

Exactly. Range is just a measurement of what the vocal chords you were born with will do when exercised. It has nothing to do with singing skills.

Carrie has total control of her voice. Every note on pitch is a much greater skill than reaching for high notes. People give no consideration to the fact that there is a mental factor that goes along with great singing.
Carrie must "remember" each note and infuse the proper inflection (tone) or emotion into them as well. You don't learn that by practicing high notes in your whistle register with a piano. It comes naturally.

opry051008 · 08-17-2009

Have no idea about notes or octaves etc.... but what the heck..... just for fun, what note is this?? (2:40-2:42 of the vid)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBnzxTRpnZ4

The Nanook · 08-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by opry051008

Have no idea about notes or octaves etc.... but what the heck..... just for fun, what note is this?? (2:40-2:42 of the vid)

YouTube - Carrie Underwood - Last Name

F5 i think. I guess shes starting to use that note over the old one now. Thats the second time i've heard her do it.

Its great that Carrie not only has a pretty large range, but each note she sings is perfect.