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Bruno Mars and Adam Lambert were born to hit A4 and B4 consistently

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Adonis

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This is something that Dave Brooks states in this video. Check it out at 7:38 were he states that high notes such as A4 and up could only be hit consistently if you were born with that ability such as Bruno Mars, Steven Tyler, and Adam Lambert.

This caught my attention in that I wonder specifically when he said that Bruno Mars, Steven Tyler, Adam Lambert, etc were born with the ability to sing high do you guys think the moment they first sang they were able to feel comfortable right off the bat singing up to an A4 and B4 consistently? They may not have the color and texture of their tone polished because obviously they were young but are Dave Brooks also saying they felt comfortable being up there since the moment they first tried singing?

Is Bruno Mars specifically as the old saying goes cut from a different cloth?

I mean damn look at all the high notes he hits with ease in this live Grenade rendition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O26xe_KTMcY&feature=related

Bruno a beast.

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Buddy... you have no idea how hard Adam Lambert worked to get how good he is today. There's videos of him doing lip trills, vocal warmups etc, there's TECHNIQUE written all over him. Pay attention to the details... Bruno mars uses vocal fry and twang to help connect his voice even though he smokes, he always has a focus on connecting the voice. Boom, at 0:15 there's your first hint of vocal fry to help him connect lightly and hit those notes.

Don't listen to what other people say, listen and FEEL what that artist is doing to produce those notes. If you don't believe you can do it... then you're right... you can't.

- JayMC

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A4? That is A above middle C. Arent most singers able to hit it no problem?

VA

The thing is Bruno Mars is hitting like 5 A4's and 2 C5's in just the chorus! Then in the last chorus he goes crazy and hits 2 D5's and on his way there he is actually saying "but darling i still catch a" in A4 and C5. Thats just ridiculous!

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Buddy... you have no idea how hard Adam Lambert worked to get how good he is today. There's videos of him doing lip trills, vocal warmups etc, there's TECHNIQUE written all over him. Pay attention to the details... Bruno mars uses vocal fry and twang to help connect his voice even though he smokes, he always has a focus on connecting the voice. Boom, at 0:15 there's your first hint of vocal fry to help him connect lightly and hit those notes.

Don't listen to what other people say, listen and FEEL what that artist is doing to produce those notes. If you don't believe you can do it... then you're right... you can't.

- JayMC

Thats the thing I wonder did Bruno learn to sing this high consistently or was he born like this?

You make great points, in various live Grenade performances he does do a vocal fry and he has alot of twang in the words "grenade", "blade", "train" and "thing".

BTW thanks for your input. Great response.

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Mars was one of six children and came from a musical family who exposed him to a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.[13][14] In addition to being a dancer, his mother was a singer and his father used his musical ability to perform Little Richard rock n roll music.[3] Mars' uncle was an Elvis impersonator, and encouraged three-year-old Mars to perform on stage as well. Mars also performed songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations.[9] At age four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band

Born with those notes? He's been developing his technique from age 4... you have a lot of catching up to do.

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some are born vocally endowed with a high voice and others worked very hard to get there.

there are always going to be naturals....also some have lighter weight voices than others where there is less tonal disparity between their chest voice tone and their head voice. it's more homogeous.

there are singers who hit a4's with no training but sometimes just moving up past a4 takes a lot of work. sometimes just a semi tone of range gain (in a particular song) can be a huge hurdle.

it all depends.

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Mars was one of six children and came from a musical family who exposed him to a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.[13][14] In addition to being a dancer, his mother was a singer and his father used his musical ability to perform Little Richard rock n roll music.[3] Mars' uncle was an Elvis impersonator, and encouraged three-year-old Mars to perform on stage as well. Mars also performed songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations.[9] At age four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band

Born with those notes? He's been developing his technique from age 4... you have a lot of catching up to do.

LOL No doubt man that is an excellent bit. Not sure whether you have heard of Malcolm Gladwell who wrote an amazing book called "Ouliers". He explains how respected scientist he knows will outright say there is no such thing as talent and that it is all hardwork.

Bruno been working since 4 for sure so hes worked for a long time.

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there are talent and there are hardworkers, range is just range... you can train and get a 5 octave range, most people can whats hard is having quality. Quality will always outshine range

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I have to dis-agree with the premise. Using myself as an example...When I was growing up I couldn't sing an E4 or above without a lot of strain. I always sat with the Bass / Baritones in choir. The people in the Tenor section could hit those notes easily. But I worked really hard and now an A4 or C5 is no problem - even for long periods of time. There are a lot of people with the same story on this forum. Ken Tamplin has a similar story.

It takes a lot of work. And it takes the right kind of work, but I still believe that anyone can acheive this.

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A4? That is A above middle C. Arent most singers able to hit it no problem?

VA

Most male singers I know, even tenors, have a rough time with A above middle C. I've actually found it's somewhat of a dividing note between those who are trained and those who aren't. Untrained singers can usually eek out a G or G# if they really need to, but A's are another story. Of course there are people who are naturally talented and can hit high A with no training. Among professional singers, I'd say yea a good amount of them can hit that note no problem. But even in that category, there are many who struggle up there.

As for the OP, I think this guy answered the first two questions very well, but I think he's wrong that you can't develop the kind of range that those people sing in.

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What he is saying is that you need to be born to be able to hit those notes easily and sustained. And he says that with training we can get up there on occasion, briefly, as an "effect". After I expanded my range I actually believed that too - because it was hard for me to sing up there for longer periods of time. But after a lot of work, even these notes become easier and easier and easier. You don't have to be born with it. It takes work - but we can all do this. It's a matter of motivation and dedication. How much do you want it?

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I've found B4s to be perhaps the trickiest notes to sing. Although, with practise, even they become easier and you kind of remember how to do them with endless repetitions of them.

I think B4s are tough because you CAN "force" A4s but it's just too tough to force B4s. You have to have good placements. D5 are in some sense easier than B4s, because then you've gotten so high that all notes in that range ARE kind of thin so D4s don't really have to be that thick and powerful sounding.

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beginner folks,

geno is trying to get something across to you....this has to be worked on..... a lot!!

you simply may not be strong or developed enough or whatever term you want to use, to sing in this area of the voice...yet.

also you may not have come to terms with the work that's involved. the whole body hits and sustains powerful tones in this area.

when you sings up there you have to be very balanced...

a lot of you folks want to run before you can crawl, and i'm telling you from experience that's not the way to go about it.

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Yes it's true if that they could possibly have the ability to sing high easily. Singing high pop notes requires a lot of head voice dominance and light phonation. For instance I know people who have very similar ranges, but one guy who has naturally heavier vocals has a harder time with high notes, and the other one who has a really light voice can sing the high notes much better.

Now it's possible for a low voice to train high, or a high voice to train low, BUT, there is no middle ground when it comes to singing. So that's why it's very important that when you train to sing high, you focus solely on lightening the weight as much as possible, and letting head voice blend in.

Don't believe someone when they say you can 'naturally' sing high or low. It takes a lot of focus, much more than your natural voice offers.

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Remy and Jonpall, rocking posts.

I am a tenor but yes, it took time to iron A4 and B4. Now, it's not a big deal. But as a teenager, I don't remember doing B4's as easily as falling off a log. NOw, I don't really know where I bridge but, in the interest of one voice, I don't worry about bridge points. At times, the gear change image helped. Later, not so much.

When Dave Brooks starts out in his "cry," I think he has already bridged. He may call it chest voice but he is resonating, with a pronounced nasal sound, in his head, already.

And I agree with Jonpall, the top notes seem easier.

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Wrong, even if you have some affinity with singing, and its easier to "hit" or even sing in this range, technical consistency and quality will only come through trainning, ANYWHERE in the range.

And when it comes to trainning, the set of skills that make it easier or harder to learn are much different then just squeaking or crying like a little girl through the whole material.

The main factor, that may really exclude someone, is being up to the effort, and having the discipline and commitment required.

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Another insight I came up with when corresponding recently about my views of passaggio. It seems that tenors bridge earlier but not really. The passaggio is still generally in the same place. It's just that tenors start from a higher point in the range of the human voice than do baritones. True, the bridge point for a tenor may be one or two notes higher than a baritone but the baritone is actually going through more area before reaching that bridge point.

In addition, a light tenor may not have as obvious a bridge as a more dramatic or heavier voice. I'm already a light tenor. How do I go even lighter? ("But look, these dials all go to eleven!")

So, I would have to disagree with the premise that tenors are born with a natural ability to sing A4 and B4 consistently, though there will always be the odd duck to be the exception to the rule.

Granted, maybe Lambert had some natural talent as a kid. But he was in theater a long time, singing like he does, before he ever came onto AI. He already had some perfected skills. Notice I said, perfected skills. That implies diligent study, practice, work, experience, whatever you want to call it. It sounds effortless now and may vary well be relatively effortless, in the same sense that a trained athlete makes his/her sport look easy. That comes from doing some basic stuff all the time. As in, all the time.

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owen, if you can sing a full, powerful mixed b4 upon getting out of bed, i'd really like to hear it. i'll even settle for an a4....lol!!!!

dover's quote:

"So that's why it's very important that when you train to sing high, you focus solely on lightening the weight as much as possible, and letting head voice blend in."

dover, this is not always true.

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What he is saying is that you need to be born to be able to hit those notes easily and sustained. And he says that with training we can get up there on occasion, briefly, as an "effect". After I expanded my range I actually believed that too - because it was hard for me to sing up there for longer periods of time. But after a lot of work, even these notes become easier and easier and easier. You don't have to be born with it. It takes work - but we can all do this. It's a matter of motivation and dedication. How much do you want it?

I think Geno is absolutely right here. Re-read this people, it's good stuff.

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