The Vocal Range of Michael Jackson (Post-Puberty)

Universally known for his unique pop genius, dancing skills, androgynous looks and instantly recognizable singing style, Michael Jackson's immense influence looms large in western pop even today. His various vocal stylings - ranging from the light and tender soul singing to the gritty shouting, falsetto yelps and the extremely rhythmic, almost beatboxing-esque vocal hiccups - made him one of the most iconic voices in the history of contemporary music. Michael birthed legions of imitators in pop and R&B, including the current US chart mainstays such as The Weekend, Chris Brown and Bruno Mars.

Jackson started out as a boy soprano child star, with his voice maturing into a very bright (near-androgynous), higher tenor over time. His higher range was generally very light and agile but he also liked to grit it up particularly in the 1990s, dragging more weight in the sound for a rawer, shoutier sound.

1. 0:00 - Fleeting C3s from "Blood on the Dancefloor".
2. 0:15 - A short C3 from "Break of Dawn".
3. 0:19 - Soothing C3s from "Someone Put Your Hand Out".
4. 0:28 - A brief B2 from "Monkey Business".
5. 0:32 - Short B♭2s from "Space Dance".
6. 0:46 - Sung B2s and A2s from the improvised live a-cappella performance of "Who Is It" - Classic MJ vocals.
7. 1:09 - A streak of C3s and A2s from "Money".
8. 1:38 - Spoken notes from "Dangerous" bottoming around G♯2.
9. 2:07 - Jackson warming up his voice in 1994 - He sings strong notes around A2-F♯2 and then bottoms around a weak, vocal fryish F2.
10. 2:35 - High notes: a brief tenor high C (C5) that trails down to a great, sustained B♭4 from "You Are Not Alone".
11. 2:52 - Fantastic C5s from "The Lady in My Life", young Michael was very effortless around this area.
12. 3:19 - Almost effortless C5s from "Just a Little Bit of You" - This was the first album where Michael's voice had started showing signs of maturity.
13. 3:44 - Michael's classic chest pull style with powerful B♭4s and C5s from "Blood on the Dance Floor". Later era Michael (post-1990s) often struggled moving above this range (whereas it was very effortless to him in his early career) particularly in the live setting, likely due to vocal fatigue and decline stemming from physical exhaustion and overtouring.
14. 4:00 - Extremely good C5s from "Blame It on the Boogie".
15. 4:22 - The classic key change from "Man in the Mirror" with some easy C5s by Jackson.
16. 4:39 - Clean C♯5s from the legendary chorus of "Thriller".
17. 4:53 - Raw C♯5s from "Bad".
18. 5:13 - Fantastic singing from "Beat It" with some clean C♯5s.
19. 5:32 - One of 1990s Jackson's greatest vocal moments - Incredible singing around the C♯5-area from "Earth Song". He keeps sitting up there for almost two minutes in the studio version!
20. 6:01 - Easy C♯5s from "Off the Wall".
21. 6:17 - Powerful C♯5s from "Is It Scary".
22. 6:46 - Passionate C♯5 from "She's Out of My Life", great singing!
23. 7:01 - "Can You Feel It" with melody sung around C♯5.
24. 7:17 - Very impressive D5s from "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".
25. 7:26 - Powerful D5s from Michael's best vocal performance, "Dirty Diana".
26. 7:51 - Very easy D5s from the demo version of "Sunset Driver".
27. 8:08 - D5s from "Things I Do for You".
28. 8:23 - Feather-light D5s from "In the Closet", also with a falsetto E5 near the end.
29. 8:51 - "We've Got Forever" and some soulful singing around D.
30. 9:21 - C♯5s and a D5 from "Heaven Can Wait".
31. 9:27 - More C♯5s from the vocal tour de force "Earth Song", also with a brief E♭5, and yelped falsetto B♭5s.
32. 9:50 - An E♭5 from "Lovely One".
33. 9:59 - Fairly easy D5s and one E♭5 from the 1994 vocal warm-up.
34. 10:26 - Chesty E♭5s from the ending of "Will You Be There".
35. 10:46 - A sung E♭5 in the harmony vocal of "Liberian Girl".
36. 10:56 - Very light E5s and weighty C♯s from "Smooth Criminal" - All the voices are by Michael, impressive creativity and attention to detail!
37. 11:17 - Great high note singing from "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing): relaxed B4s, D5s and an E5!
38. 11:39 - Good E5 from "Destiny".
39. 11:46 - Sung E5s from "Speed Demon".
40. 12:01 - F5s and a brief G♯5 from a live version of "Dirty Diana"
41. 12:37 - Two impressively clean F5s from "Enjoy Yourself".
42. 12:47 - A soft mixed F♯5 from "That's What You Get (For Being Polite)".
43. 12:52 - The explosive ending of "Dirty Diana" - howled G5s and G♯s and a falsetto B5 or two.
44. 13:20 - Classic singing from "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" - falsetto around E♭5-F♯5.
45. 13:40 - A blistering G5 from the live performance of "I'll Be There".
45. 13:51 - Classic Jackson head voice yelps - A5s and a B♭5 from "Scream".
46. 14:00 - B5s from "Black or White".
47. 14:14 - A brief B5, followed by a longer G♯5, from the cover of Beatles' "Come Together".
48. 14:35 - Yelped A5s, C6s and a C♯6 from "Smooth Criminal".
49. 14:52 - A raw whistle F6 from "Man in the Mirror" live.

For more vocal talk, visit us at TRP:

https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/...