Prince's vocal range = every fret

solo-act

solo-act

Fractal Fanatic
RIP Prince - big inspiration in my life. Like other mourners, I've been surfing info and songs. Check this out and listen from 3:30 to 4:30. Prince was so wired for guitar that his voice can cover every fret of a 20 fret guitar (see small disclaimer below).


Correct me if I'm wrong, but if this song were pitched down a half step, and you excluded the nut of the guitar, Prince's vocal range spans 20 frets, 3 octaves and a 5th. That's basically every fret on a 20 fret acoustic guitar.

I don't think there's a well-known male artist that can sing controlled notes across a range that huge. We're talking 43 semitone range in just this song. They just analyzed Freddie Mercury across dozens of songs and I believe he was in the high 30's.

Price was a freak in so many great ways, including his voice.
 
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I'm sorry Levipeto, the vocal range in your video example is an octave smaller than the Prince video. If you're going to turn a Prince tribute thread into a pissing match, at least choose a video that supports what you're saying.

Back on topic: What makes Prince's range so big is just that he's a baritone. His voice simply goes lower than a tenor. However, since he's basically a male version of Mariah Carey on highs, he can actually sing the same extreme high notes as Freddy Mercury. I think that's some freaky shit, and Prince was a freaky, funky dude. I'll miss him.
 
didn't watch the video but was he singing full voice across his range or falsetto? most of Prince's high stuff is falsetto. doesn't take away from it, just saying...
 
jlynnb1 said:
didn't watch the video but was he singing full voice across his range or falsetto? most of Prince's high stuff is falsetto. doesn't take away from it, just saying...
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I'm not sure what your point is, but I recommend listening to 3:30-4:30 in the video. I could surf YT all day and probably not hear anyone except maybe Mariah Carey actually singing notes across that huge of a range, let alone pulling it off in a song that spent 26 weeks on billboard's top 100 and peaked at #3. It's bizarre and unusual, like the dude himself, and that was my point.
 
My point being it's different to sing notes in full voice across a wide range and sing them in falsetto across the same range...the former being much more difficult.

No one is arguing that Prince wasn't amazing.
 
jlynnb1 said:
My point being it's different to sing notes in full voice across a wide range and sing them in falsetto across the same range...the former being much more difficult.
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Yes. That's pretty much a given. I did a NYE gig with a musician friend. Didn't hear him warm up, but he did smoke a cigarette. His first song was Led Zeppelin Going to California. Second song was Johnny Cash I Walk the Line. He hit everything top to bottom in full voice with zero issues and not a lot of effort. It was easy to tell it was full voice, plus his falsetto has always been whispy and quiet, not very useful. But who cares when you're a baritone and a tenor - LOL.
 
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