The studio vs live thing is huge. In the studio you can hear everything perfectly and your only focus is the line you are singing, but singing live as a front man in a rock band, often playing an instrument or moving about, you have to sacrifice some of the vocal performance...and if the on stage mix is muddy and you cant hear yourself, it forces you to belt notes you would have sang more gently.
As Marc Martel notes, in his video about how to sing like Freddie Mercury, singers back then didn't have earpieces, so couldn't hear themselves. This actually made them have to sing louder, to be able to hear their own voice over the instruments and background vocals.
Freddie had a raw talent , not the kind of vocal talent that we hear nowadays with autotune or with the help of professional singing teachers. In my opinion the amateur singers are the best ones because their mistakes define their music. I bet that if Freddie had a professional voice singing teacher his voice would be better but less unique. That's my opinion. But good video anyway !
Exactly what I was thinking. His was raw, real talent. Imperfections are what makes a singer(or artist of any kind) unique, and I'm glad he didn't have vocal training. It was pure God-given talent.
Ugh, please don't discredit great vocal training. Everyone is given God-given POTENTIAL but it is up to the individual to materialize that potential into skill and talent, which takes nurturing and discipline. I think Freddie could've only benefited from a great coach. He was lovely but had so much more potential and I don't think he would've lost any unique character as he was a musician, he would've known how to balance healthy technique and "expression". All the prime singers do.
Saying that Freddie had “potential” on his raw talent shows how talented he was! There are trained artists that cannot do what he did vocally. Passion and feeling affect what you hear.
chaseharlann not really. Gary sings most of his songs flat and he belts way more. He also has terrible breathe support. But hey maybe you think he sounds like that. Music is subjective
Thank you so much for this professional and thoughtful analysis of Freddie's singing. People on various websites keep wondering if Freddie had coaching in the 80s since his voice was so different from in the 70s. It's clear to me that his singing in the 80s was the obvious evidence that he certainly didn't have any vocal training since he pushed so much harder and became hoarse so quickly. I realize people don't understand that, especially since it was evident he didn't have training in the 70s either but that was when he sang smoother both in the studio and on stage. Blowing his cords out in the 70s from lack of training is what resulted in the difference in the 80s. Thanks to you, I now have an explanation to reference and direct people to so that they can satisfy their curiosity. I always say I love Freddie so much because he couldn't sing (meaning he didn't sing properly because he wasn't trained) but made us love every note. Whatever the problems with his vocal cords and his effort to compensate for it (and thereby make it worse), the man was phenomenal on every level. Nobody can touch him.
To me Freddie Mercury is basically the (later) Maria Callas of contemporary singing: Highly inconsistent with disections in the voice like few before but an absolute genius at the art of communicating through singing! Or in other words: Simply born to sing. Good work btw! You could really set yourself apart from other coaches through such in depth analysis. A good follow up to your analysis of Freddie may be found in either Ronnie James Dio or the late singer of Gotthard Steve Lee as I find both of them were born to sing just like Freddie but also succeeded in mastering their respective voice from a technical point of view. Especially Steve Lee just got better and better year after year. Very rare to find a singer who improved on such a consistent rate despite their grueling touring schedule (which Gotthard was rather legendary for in Switzerland). If desired it would be my pleasure to provide you with links to live footage of Steve Lee that I deem to be particularly telling of his vocal abilities and growth. Kind regards, R.
Ronnie James Dio, in my opinion, has the most powerful voice in rock, the most incredible thing is that he sang effortlessly and very naturally throughout his vocal range, in addition to singing most of the time with a full chest voice and with harmonic throat distortion very consistently and at certain times it could vary with a very strong mixed chest voice.
Excellent work. I always feel bad for Freddie when I think about him struggling with his voice. He never gave up as difficult as it must’ve been. The show must go on...
Good, although even in his final tour you will hear hundreds of examples of Bb4s and above. I can personally send you many, many videos where Freddie hits b4s, holds them, c5s, c#5, and even some d5s. Great video btw.
Phil Moufarrege ok here are a few ruclips.net/video/eLsKKgcCXmo/видео.html - Long sustained Bb4 ruclips.net/video/L950gVs1fxw/видео.html - lots of B4s throughout the song, not massively long, but sustained nonetheless. ruclips.net/video/lqfqIPTutAc/видео.html - sung B4 around the 1:53 mark. ruclips.net/video/ssYt9ZdGBRo/видео.html a sustained B4 and lots of sustained A4s and Bb4s. All of these from 1986. Many more but start with those. From other years ruclips.net/video/ODJ0dnkwGKc/видео.html powerful sustained B4 in the intro.
Thank you!! These are great to hear!!! this guy had so much charisma didn't he. the quintessential performer!!! I will still say though that the way he sang that A4 on seven seas of rhye live that I showed in my video is the best example of CORRECT high notes from him LIVE that I have heard. These clips you sent he is still resorting to forcing/shouting/screaming his way up to those notes, likely due to his vocal nodes interfering with his technique. Still impressive he was able to reach these notes though despite the vocal damage he had. Thanks for sending these!
Phil Moufarrege np. He definitely didn’t utilise his mixed voice much and resorted to pulling chest unhealthily high. I will say though that it is still rather impressive, like on the Leiden 1986 shows, that he could sing like that for a whole 2 hour concert without really sounding fatigued. If I tried to sing in pure chest voice for anywhere near that long it would feel like I’d had something caustic poured down my throat hahaha. Anyway I’m only 13 and have a lot to learn in terms of singing, and Freddie is my biggest inspiration, which is why I am aware of the bootlegs and rare recordings which showcases Freddie’s ability to sing high live, however questionable his technique was! Thanks for the kind words.
Phil Moufarrege ruclips.net/video/kvC-UbNDVNk/видео.html - can’t believe I forgot this gem. 2 C5s, one sung c#5, and about 8 Bb4s all sustained impressively. Definitely check out this one and go to the comments for the time stamps of the notes
In my opinion the problem wasn't the G#4, it all depends on how tired his voice was: there were shows in 79 or 84 were he could barely hit an F4, in Wembley 86 he had problems in the G#4, A4 area, it's true, but in other shows just a few weeks early he could hit Bb4s, B4s and even C5s. In a long period between 79 and 82 he could hit consistently the Bb4s and in his top shows he went up to D5s. My point is that your analysis about nodules and touring is right, but I would like to point out that it's not true that Freddie had problems hitting A4s after 1975, on the contrary I would say that, when his voice was not tired, he could hit easly B4s without any problem and even going up to C#5s wasn't a big task. A clear example is the fact that from 1987, when he stopped touring, he sang at his best in terms of notes hit, reaching E5s and above.
Although he could hit the notes you spoke of, the approach technically wasn't right, he was forcing his voice up to those notes in a way that most likely led to the wearing down of those notes. When his voice was fresh he had an easier time, but because he had issues in the technique by using the notes it wore him down again. So really I consider G#4 down to be his consistent comfortable range. The A4 I showed on Seven Seas of Rhye was the best I've heard from him technique wise, I never heard him hit A's with that freedom after that point. The A4 and upwards is a very tricky area for a lot of singers especially pro signers because if the approach is off it wears down very quickly and you lose it. I work with many pro singers who have this issue and the approach to the vowels has to be very specific, there's less margin for error. The issues Freddie faced are very common
You are clearly more expert than me so thank you for the explanation. What about the post 1988 Freddie? I think that he developed a better technique and in The miracle and in Innuendo his comfortable range as you intend it really improved up to the fifth octave, but I may be wrong.
Nice man. Totally agree with everything there about Freddie’s voice. I think he would think of himself more of a musician than a ‘vocalist’. Singing was just a means to an end I believe. Expressing what he wanted the way he wanted to. He would not have been interested in learning vocal technique and practicing but ultimately it limited him as his career went on. Great talent tho ofcourse
I totally agree with you and actually my favourite singers are those types of singers. Him and Michael Jackson - the singers who are more PERFORMERS and CREATORS of music. I see myself more that way too, I only got into vocal technique because I just couldn't do the things I wanted with my voice and just "accidentally" learned all this stuff in order to increase my vocal range and sing with more freedom
Phil Moufarrege That’s good man. Training gives you the ability to more accurately express what you imagine. Good on you and everyone who takes the time to learn the process - artists’ gotta art 🤘
Maybe a breakdown of MJ.. Or, one of your songs/cover and afterward a breakdown of some of the technical bits and stylistic choices. Kinda like Ken Tamplin does.
Did you see my latest original song? I made a 3 part series breaking down how I made it. You can view them here: the song: ruclips.net/video/8ZFMLdgOk44/видео.html The breakdown: ruclips.net/video/Pwp6Cw85LB8/видео.html ruclips.net/video/0877_09wRio/видео.html ruclips.net/video/dmG4hTAvY3Q/видео.html
It's finally here!! This took me about 3 weeks to create. Let me know your feedback, what you enjoyed and what you'd like to see next. The video is timestamped, read the description for more info. If you're interested in working with me to skyrocket your voice check out philmoufarrege.com
I thought you would also show as more on to his vowels thing, and that C5-E5 range(I know that it is more of a squeaked head voice, but still got a lot of other details). But thanks so much!
Ахмет Хакимов i covered all the things I wanted to say about his high range when I mentioned his refined chest coordination/mixed voice - it is simply that but taken higher (when referring to his full voiced 5th octave)
I think the point of freddie's style of singing was AUTHENTICITY.. sure he could've sang it the right way and safer for his voice but it wasn't going to translate as authentic.. the harshness of his voice and vocals damages is part of the story of Queen... :)
I also think Freddie sounds cool despite his technique issues and voice damage...however I think this is a really big myth that "good technique gets in the way of authentic honest singing" it's just not true. It's like saying "learning too much of a language makes you worse at communicating in that language". If you WANT to tell someone "I am not really a big fan of sushi but I guess I'll eat it if we have to..." but you only have the vocabulary to say "sushi is okay" then you are not able to communicate what you REALLY MEANT. The first sentence is like saying "I will do it in order to not ruffle any feathers" and the second makes it sound like you're totally okay with it even though you aren't - you just don't have the vocabulary to say the first sentence so you COMPENSATE by saying the 2nd. Good technique gives you MORE CHOICES to express yourself not LESS. When you have issues in your technique you have to make COMPENSATIONS to get as close as you can to what you wanted to do. Obstructions to your technique make it HARDER to express the emotions and feelings you are trying to convey because when your voice doesn't work right, certain parts of your range, volume, vowels etc won't function properly and this will put a wall in the way of your voice.
@@philmoufarrege I have rarely ever seen singers with good technique that sings with real emotion. Only opera singers can manage it. Most technical singers in contemporary music only seem to think about technique, music is art and an expression of emotions.
Actually you can listen to the bootlegs of Queen Crazy tour in 1979. He has taught himself to sing better live, and had no problem reaching high notes. Everything went smoothly there, and he could deliver studio-level songs. In the 80s, however, he started to smoke, which can badly affect his vocal nodes. That's why he had a hard time belting up higher notes.
@@FrenchieNinotchka no ... Dont believe everything you see on documentary videos or the movie bohrap . He started smoking in the early 1980 . Peter freestone (Fred mercury assistant ) stated that himself
@@masterchief9781 I believe having seen an interview in the 70s where he was smoking . But that is not really important, with time his voice changed and became a treasure
@@FrenchieNinotchka no offense but i think your being delusional 😂😂 no offense okay please no hard feeling . Maybe in that interview Freddie holds and move his hand alot giving him an impression that he smokes but in reality he hold something that looks like a cigarette but not a cigarette .
Can you create an in-depth analysis of Brendon Urie's vocals? How does he keep such a low larynx on the higher notes? Why does his singing sound so effortless and how does he have such great vocal stamina and endurance singing live?
So good Phil ............ After your description of the different sounds that Freddie was making with his voice, I was able to hear the different techniques and the vocal damage that singing night after night caused. He was a great singer, but overwork can cause extreme damage. Thanks for this tutorial, as I believe it will help me to adjust my technique to avoid this damage and your videos are really excellent and very clear. It also helps that you can do what you teach. When I hear you singing it, it really helps!!!! God bless you Phil as you help so many to reach the full potential of their voices!! Good stuff Phil!!!
Brilliant video! You covered quite a bit here! I really like the way you talked about Freddie's vocal damage and how that influenced a lot of the things he did. In my opinion, that is the standout part of this video. VERY insightful and wise on your behalf, especially comparing his live vs. studio recordings. Great analysis! I agree with all you said there, including how it influenced his distortion. (Singers should be taking lots of notes here.) Although I disagree about Freddie being a tenor. I think he was more of a baritone but with an extreme personality that liked to take things to the max as much as he could, even if it was no good for him. A person like this will often try to sing outside of the range that is most comfortable for their voice, and do it a lot. They keep trying to push the limits. In the early live clip of Freddie doing that A4 you pointed out -- I think that was getting close to the NATURAL limits of his baritone voice. But being a creative type and filled with so much intense, fiery energy, he kept trying to push the limits more and more and more. This is enough to cause problems in ANYONE'S voice. People who are true performers and/or emotional and have over-the-top type personalities have to be very careful with this.
Cheers man thank you for the comment. And thanks for sharing your thoughts on his voice type, that is a good point and definitely something to consider, I'm definitely open to him being a bari and can certainly hear qualities of it. The main thing I wanted to get across was that judging his voice type from the pitch range of his speech is not a very reliable way of determining his voice type.
Absolutely agree with you bro.. Freddie's voice is not perfect but those imperfections made him famous plus his lively performance on stage live, his passion in singing in all genre he made, his musical creativity etc... I could say freddie was a genius..
I think his live singings clips were mostly from his tours in which he kept singing and moving for 2 hours and I read about their sound was always too loud in concerts and he didn't use any ear equipment to hear himself . I believe its very difficult and risky to sing in falsetto when you can't hear yourself properly . In studio versions he had ability to hear himself and wasn't tired from singing from days and days for hours . He never lost his falsetto ability till his death . You can check out "exercises in free love " he sang in operatic falsetto and hitting crazy high notes . he recorded it near end of his life .
I love this video. I've been a Queen fan all my life, and as a singer, Freddie has always been an inspiration... regardless of his lack of technique as you deeply analyze here. Such a shame he didn't take care of himself and never took lessons. I've always found funny how he struggled with «U» vowels in the higher register. He sounded super strained!!!! (in «Guide me home» there is a line where he sings «Safely TO my home» where you can listen to this). Anyway, I love him and I love your analysis and how many details you go into. Congratulations!!! I would love to see a video from the late Jeff Buckley, he's another musician I love so much. (another singers could be Paul Rodgers, Sam Cooke, or the incredible Nino Bravo) How he develop the different registers he employed (from raspy to the countertenoresque approach of «corpus christ carol») his immense fiato which enabled him to do super long sustained notes, and the crazy high «Flying Buckleys» screams (Grace, So real, Lover you should come over...). I wish you could do it some day! Greetings from Spain! :)
did you forget about freddie vibrato? i think freddie mercury overcompressed his voice and needs to call headvoice more early than usual his sing in the mix. i had same unintentional distortion around my 2nd bridge. it happen cause i tend to overcompressed my voice and force my chest too high. call headvoice more early fix this problem but only on "A" vowel. at least this distortion didn't hurt my vocal cords at all even tough i was sing 2 hours/days. and also as long i'm not a opera singer 😁
Actually higher. Believe it or not he went higher than an F6 in live performances, not just once mind you. Also Freddie did use his falsetto live. Check out in the lap of the gods Wembley 1986, rock in Rio blues live in Rio 1985 just to name a few
Im 15 and have been singing all my life. I sing somewhat softly but with power (at least that's what i think) and I can hit that G#4 and that D4 in The Show Must Go On most of the time. So that leaves me with the question: Am I singing "normally" if you will; Do I have proper technique or anything like that? I've never taken professional vocal lessons but have taught myself how to sing as well as attending a vocal-class/choir type environment for a few months.
Regarding the nodules, Freddie's smoking habit didn't do his voice any favours there either! He was seldom seen without a cigarette in hand. He drastically cut back towards the end of his life, which is part of the reason why that grit was less pronounced in his final works. If Queen had not stopped touring after 1986, I suspect this would have been reflected in his live performances too. What a shame we never got to see that. Anyway, he is sorely missed. The best to ever do it in my opinion.
That was really cool, Freddie is one of my absolute favourite singer ever. I strongly suggest to analyse and breakdown a song called SOS from Dimash at Singer 2017. You will be blown away by all different styles fusion, voice colors, flawless transitions and wide vocal range. Another great example would be Ogni Pietra from Dimash too. Peace!
Freddie was absolutely not a tenor. If you watch his live performance of Under Pressue, he hits an A4 and then says that he can't go any higher than that. I don't think a tenor would ever say that.
Definitely possible he might not have been a tenor, but your reasoning for that is not accurate. Not being able to go higher than a G# has nothing to do with being a baritone or tenor. There are plenty of baritones that can sing higher than that and plenty of tenors who struggle with the area too.
Phil Moufarrege I thought all tenors could sing comfortably up to C5. But with training they could sing higher and could train to sing in baritone range. And I thought all baritones could sing up to G4 comfortably and with practice they could teach themselves to sing in the tenor range
Everyone starts in a different spot and with THE RIGHT training they can increase their range and sing with greater freedom. I get plenty of tenors who struggle with C4-E4 who think they "must be baritones" because of their range when the reality is they just need proper training to strengthen the voice. And I get baritones who have very little range because they underestimate how loud they need to be in order to get their voice "moving". The more you train and develop your voice the more you "discover" exactly what it is. I myself was stuck for YEARS at F4 and had a vocal break there. Now I can go way past there and up to C5s etc in actual songs. Freddie's issue on the G# is a VERY COMMON issue in singers. I used to have the exact same issue and if my voice is overworked and tired I get the exact same symptoms he had. I train a lot of pro singers who have the exact same issues and help them overcome it. I have built many voices from scratch and can hear so many things in peoples voices such as what their tongue is doing, how they took their breath, what their vocal cords are doing that almost no one (including most teachers) can even hear.
11:02 oh yeah yikes the Jazz era live is known for the most struggles with nodules :( and its both Brian and Roger on the high notes there, you can hear younger Brian's really beautiful high voice there quite well.
Phil Moufarrege The difference between Freddie's live and studio technique was the most interesting thing in this video. I think Matt has an outstanding live technique but I could be wrong. He sounds like he's always in control of his voice and never yells. It's like he can thin out his voice in every circumstance. I like singing Muse but I find it difficult to transition from those F4s F4#s in full voice to falsetto and back (though you already answered how it's done in this one.). I wonder where he's endurance comes from. And of course a breakdown of his super compressed hyper high notes would be great!
I believe it's mainly because of his singing range. I notice when I sing in the lower range, I have to activate my vibrato, but when singing higher around F4 and above, the vibrato automatically leaked out and started moving around. I recorded myself and found that my vibrato is quite fast tho. Of course that's when singing without music. The vibrato could be slower when singing with music. You should do some vocal warm-ups to actually notice how the vibrato leaks out, especially in the high range.
You are awsome Phill!! I've watched youtube videos for many many coaches but never resonated so much with a guy like i resonade with you. Cheers from Brasil
It don't know if you ever sang with a live rock band but usually singers feel that they can't really compete with the loud stage sound of the band while doing very light vocals like Freddie did in the studio ( that made it possible to switch between chest and falsetto very smoothly), so they just avoid it because it sounds awkward and weak on the spot...
1:28 - It's funny you say you think Freddie was a tenor. Montserrat Caballé (La Superba, one of the greatest operatic divas of all time) was very clear that Freddie was a baritone. In fact, she wanted Freddie to do some operatic duets for baritone and soprano with her. He didn't want to, however. He thought his fans would feel he was betraying rock and roll by singing opera.
Yes he definitely could have been a baritone. I guess the important point I was trying to make in this clip was that trying to classify someones voice type through "what pitch range they speak in" is not really the best way to go about it - there are many more variables that go into it.
Hello! I would like to ask you people some questions because I've been really stuck recently on some singing techniques, and trying to find my own singing voice. I started singing about 6 months ago and I didn't know about mixed voice, for me, it just sounded like screaming and it really hurt when I would try to do something like the first "Mama" in Bohemian Rhapsody. When I try to sing Somebody to Love, on the line "Can barely stand on my feet" and the third "Somebody to love" (C5) , my voice always cracks when I try to sing it with only my chest voice, and it's really annoying. Do you guys have any tips on finding mixed voice?
Yes a lot of the songs are in lower keys especially later in Freddie's career as that range from G#4 and higher became more and more unreliable for him. I actually prefer a lot of his songs in the lower key though, brings out the fullness of his voice more. I love how his voice sounds in the 1986 Wembley concert even despite the vocal damage. When I first got into singing I used to sing along to that concert all the time.
Gregsynthbootlegs why didn’t he ever to the falsetto and try the original key. He definitely would’ve been able to in 86! Even at his worst his falsetto was always clear and very beautiful, like London ‘84!
I believe he would need to rest firstly and stay away from any high notes for a good while until the voice comes back. Until that nice refined chest coordination comes back (mixed voice). When you have nodes, that coordination can be impossible to find which further locks you into a damaging way of singing. So he'd need to rest until that coordination returns. How long would that take? It could take days to weeks to months. Staying away from the high range would be important for him during this time as well in order to not further aggravate the voice. Once he has that coordination back in the voice, he would need to be careful how he sang to not break down that coordination again. He'd have to know how to stay in that coordination for the high notes so that the voice doesn't get broken down again. If he could do that, then he'd have to make sure that his touring schedule is reasonable and he'd have to know what is too much for him. Even with great technique if the workload is too high it will leave the voice too fatigued to work properly - resulting in forcing the voice the wrong way. From what I've heard, his touring schedule was crazy, the workload would have been too much for just about any singer out there, multiple shows a day with parties in between lol he was a true showman and rockstar in every sense of the word and because of his personality it would have made resting and taking a break and doing less shows and staying away from the high notes unbearable for him I imagine - it's probably why he didn't do that!
Could you analyze Shawn Mendes? Has his singer gotten more unhealthy over the years? I noticed he uses distortion/growl a lot more especially in the song Mercy and There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back. In his newest song "In My Blood" he hits A4s and Bb4s. I just want to see how his technique holds up.
Hey Phil! Thank you one million times! I've been studying singing and having a hard time to not straining, to improve ressonance and everything else. Last days I was struggling to get over A4, because my voice wasn't sounding very fine. So, I was watching this video and when I listened to you speaking to your student, I tried together and everything did fine. The G#4 sounded good! Then I tried use the same idea to get A4, and voilá! Suddenly, all the stuff I was reading these days made sense. So, thank you again!
Hey that's a super interesting video, your analysis is very detailed and I love that! Thank you! If I could give a little bit of feedback it would be: 1. When you illustrate his technique with your voice, I'd love to be able to see you so we could see the physicality of the singing and maybe showing what parts of your body you're using. 2. There's a lot of explanatory text on the excerpts and I would've preferred if you explained them orally after the clip because it's difficult to read and focus on hearing the clip at the same time, I had to pause the video to read and then be able to listen attentively to Freddie's voice. Apart for that, great job!
Thanks for this video about Freddie's voice, it was so interesting! I'm not a singer but now I'd like to take singing lessons and make the best out of the instrument I have :) What about a video on Dave Gahan? I love his voice, to me it feels like a "warm blanket" and would love to know more. Ciao ciao!
I would like to know how he gets such a powerful vibrato in general but especially on his notes that seem to be so breathless. Also, how does he approach distortion and have such control on staccato passages?
Phil Moufarrege can you analysis how his vocal approach differs from child MJ to teen MJ to adult MJ? Why do you think his live singing struggled in his later years? Why did it seem he lost agility in his upper register on the invincible album? Can you explain his vocal percussive style(many of these videos don’t highlight that)?
Hey Phil, Great vid! I also wanted to point out that the clip you put at 16:53 of a song called Liar, is actually a studio recording, not a live performance. Look it up. ;)
Jeremy Jordan would be good, ruclips.net/video/Lc3brljqd8M/видео.html, his range (particularly his belts on the higher notes) would be really interesting
Hi Phil. Loved this video. George Michael has always been a favourite singer of mine as well as Alanis Morrisette. I think George Michael sounded just as good live as he did in the studio. Your opinion would be interesting. Alanis Morisette has such a unique quality to her voice , breaking it down would be interesting. Sorry if this sounds too simplistic. I don't know any of the technical terms . Thank you for the great analysis on Freddie Mercury liked the live versus studio breakdown of his singing technique.
If you look at Queen's gig schedule from the mid 70s onwards, they never played more than two gigs without a break.....it could have been three? That was all to do with his voice being rested.
Could you also lead singer of MKTO, Tony Oller's vocal technique? I noticed as he's gotten older, he's choosing not to sing as high live anymore. Could this be due to vocal damage?
Excellent and informative video, Phil! This answered quite a few speculations that I previously had. I would love to see a similar video revolving around Chris Cornell. He was also one of those rockers who had quite the studio vocal range but couldn't meet the expectations consistently, and I believe he also dealt with quite a bit of vocal damage as well.
Great Video, can you do one about Harry Styles? Many mixed feelings I've gotten from many professionals. But it'd be great to have a video like this. Thank You. Alex
Nice video!! I find it very difficult to sing these recordings part like the beginning of somebody to love the way he did in the recordings. Anyway, hace you heard the remastered extended version o the News Of The World album? And the BBC sessions I think? There you can hear Freddie singing "live" (with no audience, but definitely it is always one single take recorded live) and hit those notes the way he did in the records. It's incredible. The way he sings My Melancholy Blues is astonishing. Anyway, thank you for the video!
I'm always so impressed by their bright, yet really smooth sound! Kind of like Freddie, Stevie can get this really chesty belt going, but then also has his own way of finessing into a light mix. Marvin especially can stay so smooth towards where the break would be - narrowing and leaning into vowels. I'd love to hear a bit more about how they are configuring their voice!
Great video! If you haven't heard if him by now, there's a man named Marc Martel that looks like and sounds IDENTICAL to Freddie. So much so, he has worked for Queen since 2012 as the singer of their official tribute band. He just did the singing in the BoRap movie when it wasn't Freddie himself. He now sings in a band called The Ultimate Queen Celebration. Check him out! ruclips.net/video/lBJNljqI9bM/видео.html
You should do Ronnie James Dio next. I think he'd be a perfect example of singing correctly and healthy considering he retained his voice till he passed. Not to mention he had a range comparable to freddie as well as great power and resonance.
That clip of the video LIAR which you assumed was Mercury singing LIVE was actually the album version to which he was lip sinking. Queen fought against any lip synching EVER as they hated it, believing it was bullshit, dishonest and not fair to an audience...yet that clip was in Top of The Pops and their standard format was that every act lipsynched.
Hello, nice video and really intresting analysis. I'm a baritone and I've been practicing for the last year or so. My range is around D2 - G4 (with falsetto it goes up to G#5) although as you said what matters more is what someone can do on a daily bases so I say my range is around E2 - E4. My question is how can I belt or sing powerfully (on my upper range) without straining my voice? Could you give me some tips? I'm kinda using my diaphragm already but I guess I could engage it better. (when I workout my abs I can sing F#4s almost completely strainlessly) Also, is there a way that I could possible be able to reach A4s without killing my voice? Thanks in advance, I would really appreciate your response.
Yes you definitely can increase your vocal range. Check out all the student transformations here www.philmoufarrege.com/p/about-phil-moufarrege you will need more than just "tips" because saying things like "try not to strain" and "use your support better" are useless tips. What you need is actual proper training with me so I can show you exactly what sounds you are doing wrong and how to adjust them to get the best results.
The studio vs live thing is huge. In the studio you can hear everything perfectly and your only focus is the line you are singing, but singing live as a front man in a rock band, often playing an instrument or moving about, you have to sacrifice some of the vocal performance...and if the on stage mix is muddy and you cant hear yourself, it forces you to belt notes you would have sang more gently.
That is a great point too. Live singing in rock or pop music has a lot of factors that can affect your overall performance.
Plus hes sweating buckets so probably a little dehydrated too
As Marc Martel notes, in his video about how to sing like Freddie Mercury, singers back then didn't have earpieces, so couldn't hear themselves. This actually made them have to sing louder, to be able to hear their own voice over the instruments and background vocals.
@@odonovan they had floor wedges, if set up correctly you can hear yourself perfectly well.
Freddie still sang in falsetto and mixed voice live as well. He didn’t do very often but he Impromptus every night, where he would do it.
Freddie had a raw talent , not the kind of vocal talent that we hear nowadays with autotune or with the help of professional singing teachers. In my opinion the amateur singers are the best ones because their mistakes define their music. I bet that if Freddie had a professional voice singing teacher his voice would be better but less unique. That's my opinion. But good video anyway !
Exactly what I was thinking. His was raw, real talent. Imperfections are what makes a singer(or artist of any kind) unique, and I'm glad he didn't have vocal training. It was pure God-given talent.
Ugh, please don't discredit great vocal training. Everyone is given God-given POTENTIAL but it is up to the individual to materialize that potential into skill and talent, which takes nurturing and discipline. I think Freddie could've only benefited from a great coach. He was lovely but had so much more potential and I don't think he would've lost any unique character as he was a musician, he would've known how to balance healthy technique and "expression". All the prime singers do.
Saying that Freddie had “potential” on his raw talent shows how talented he was! There are trained artists that cannot do what he did vocally. Passion and feeling affect what you hear.
Im scared to sing a song cause of mistakes
However, his voice is so good and there will never be anybody like him... The beauty is in inperfection
Yes! Definitely!
Where in the world is his voice not perfect? I mean he can easily compete with Pavarotti.
@@charliegold3227 If you watched the video you would know
@@TheGargalon then you think Adam lambert has a better voice than Freddie mercury just because he has a better technique?
@@TheGargalon Freddie's voice was perfect, but your technique does not.
13:55 he doesn't sound like Freddie. He sounds similar, but NOT the same. (he is a good singer tho)
Someone who does sound like Freddie is Gary Mullen
chaseharlann not really. Gary sings most of his songs flat and he belts way more. He also has terrible breathe support. But hey maybe you think he sounds like that. Music is subjective
@@chaseharlann you mean Mark Martel, he definitely sounds like him
@@saviorself1156 no
@@chaseharlann Hey, I recognize you from Marc Ajax’s channel! 👋
Thank you so much for this professional and thoughtful analysis of Freddie's singing. People on various websites keep wondering if Freddie had coaching in the 80s since his voice was so different from in the 70s. It's clear to me that his singing in the 80s was the obvious evidence that he certainly didn't have any vocal training since he pushed so much harder and became hoarse so quickly. I realize people don't understand that, especially since it was evident he didn't have training in the 70s either but that was when he sang smoother both in the studio and on stage. Blowing his cords out in the 70s from lack of training is what resulted in the difference in the 80s. Thanks to you, I now have an explanation to reference and direct people to so that they can satisfy their curiosity. I always say I love Freddie so much because he couldn't sing (meaning he didn't sing properly because he wasn't trained) but made us love every note. Whatever the problems with his vocal cords and his effort to compensate for it (and thereby make it worse), the man was phenomenal on every level. Nobody can touch him.
Thank you for writing and your comments Susan you make good points
Yeah agree...still legendary..whatever..
To me Freddie Mercury is basically the (later) Maria Callas of contemporary singing: Highly inconsistent with disections in the voice like few before but an absolute genius at the art of communicating through singing! Or in other words: Simply born to sing. Good work btw! You could really set yourself apart from other coaches through such in depth analysis. A good follow up to your analysis of Freddie may be found in either Ronnie James Dio or the late singer of Gotthard Steve Lee as I find both of them were born to sing just like Freddie but also succeeded in mastering their respective voice from a technical point of view. Especially Steve Lee just got better and better year after year. Very rare to find a singer who improved on such a consistent rate despite their grueling touring schedule (which Gotthard was rather legendary for in Switzerland). If desired it would be my pleasure to provide you with links to live footage of Steve Lee that I deem to be particularly telling of his vocal abilities and growth. Kind regards, R.
Yes both Dio and Steve were incredible powerhouses!
Ronnie James Dio, in my opinion, has the most powerful voice in rock, the most incredible thing is that he sang effortlessly and very naturally throughout his vocal range, in addition to singing most of the time with a full chest voice and with harmonic throat distortion very consistently and at certain times it could vary with a very strong mixed chest voice.
Excellent work.
I always feel bad for Freddie when I think about him struggling with his voice. He never gave up as difficult as it must’ve been. The show must go on...
Good, although even in his final tour you will hear hundreds of examples of Bb4s and above. I can personally send you many, many videos where Freddie hits b4s, holds them, c5s, c#5, and even some d5s. Great video btw.
I would love to hear them! Thank you for lettiing me know.
Phil Moufarrege ok here are a few ruclips.net/video/eLsKKgcCXmo/видео.html - Long sustained Bb4
ruclips.net/video/L950gVs1fxw/видео.html - lots of B4s throughout the song, not massively long, but sustained nonetheless.
ruclips.net/video/lqfqIPTutAc/видео.html - sung B4 around the 1:53 mark.
ruclips.net/video/ssYt9ZdGBRo/видео.html a sustained B4 and lots of sustained A4s and Bb4s. All of these from 1986. Many more but start with those.
From other years
ruclips.net/video/ODJ0dnkwGKc/видео.html powerful sustained B4 in the intro.
Thank you!! These are great to hear!!! this guy had so much charisma didn't he. the quintessential performer!!!
I will still say though that the way he sang that A4 on seven seas of rhye live that I showed in my video is the best example of CORRECT high notes from him LIVE that I have heard. These clips you sent he is still resorting to forcing/shouting/screaming his way up to those notes, likely due to his vocal nodes interfering with his technique. Still impressive he was able to reach these notes though despite the vocal damage he had. Thanks for sending these!
Phil Moufarrege np. He definitely didn’t utilise his mixed voice much and resorted to pulling chest unhealthily high. I will say though that it is still rather impressive, like on the Leiden 1986 shows, that he could sing like that for a whole 2 hour concert without really sounding fatigued. If I tried to sing in pure chest voice for anywhere near that long it would feel like I’d had something caustic poured down my throat hahaha. Anyway I’m only 13 and have a lot to learn in terms of singing, and Freddie is my biggest inspiration, which is why I am aware of the bootlegs and rare recordings which showcases Freddie’s ability to sing high live, however questionable his technique was! Thanks for the kind words.
Phil Moufarrege ruclips.net/video/kvC-UbNDVNk/видео.html - can’t believe I forgot this gem. 2 C5s, one sung c#5, and about 8 Bb4s all sustained impressively. Definitely check out this one and go to the comments for the time stamps of the notes
In my opinion the problem wasn't the G#4, it all depends on how tired his voice was: there were shows in 79 or 84 were he could barely hit an F4, in Wembley 86 he had problems in the G#4, A4 area, it's true, but in other shows just a few weeks early he could hit Bb4s, B4s and even C5s. In a long period between 79 and 82 he could hit consistently the Bb4s and in his top shows he went up to D5s.
My point is that your analysis about nodules and touring is right, but I would like to point out that it's not true that Freddie had problems hitting A4s after 1975, on the contrary I would say that, when his voice was not tired, he could hit easly B4s without any problem and even going up to C#5s wasn't a big task. A clear example is the fact that from 1987, when he stopped touring, he sang at his best in terms of notes hit, reaching E5s and above.
Although he could hit the notes you spoke of, the approach technically wasn't right, he was forcing his voice up to those notes in a way that most likely led to the wearing down of those notes. When his voice was fresh he had an easier time, but because he had issues in the technique by using the notes it wore him down again. So really I consider G#4 down to be his consistent comfortable range. The A4 I showed on Seven Seas of Rhye was the best I've heard from him technique wise, I never heard him hit A's with that freedom after that point. The A4 and upwards is a very tricky area for a lot of singers especially pro signers because if the approach is off it wears down very quickly and you lose it. I work with many pro singers who have this issue and the approach to the vowels has to be very specific, there's less margin for error. The issues Freddie faced are very common
You are clearly more expert than me so thank you for the explanation. What about the post 1988 Freddie? I think that he developed a better technique and in The miracle and in Innuendo his comfortable range as you intend it really improved up to the fifth octave, but I may be wrong.
@@TNTmatteos Yes, we need an analysis of Innuendo !! His voice there is soooo incredible...
@@philmoufarrege I happen to randomly recall an A4 in his very last live performance in 1988 ruclips.net/video/mTs5D-fuz20/видео.html
Interesting. But yeah, a live performance for nearly 2 hours is quite different to studio singing doing sessions over a few days maybe.
Nice man. Totally agree with everything there about Freddie’s voice. I think he would think of himself more of a musician than a ‘vocalist’. Singing was just a means to an end I believe. Expressing what he wanted the way he wanted to. He would not have been interested in learning vocal technique and practicing but ultimately it limited him as his career went on. Great talent tho ofcourse
I totally agree with you and actually my favourite singers are those types of singers. Him and Michael Jackson - the singers who are more PERFORMERS and CREATORS of music. I see myself more that way too, I only got into vocal technique because I just couldn't do the things I wanted with my voice and just "accidentally" learned all this stuff in order to increase my vocal range and sing with more freedom
Phil Moufarrege That’s good man. Training gives you the ability to more accurately express what you imagine. Good on you and everyone who takes the time to learn the process - artists’ gotta art 🤘
Cheers bro it means a lot. is there anything you'd like to see on this channel next?
Maybe a breakdown of MJ.. Or, one of your songs/cover and afterward a breakdown of some of the technical bits and stylistic choices. Kinda like Ken Tamplin does.
Did you see my latest original song? I made a 3 part series breaking down how I made it. You can view them here:
the song:
ruclips.net/video/8ZFMLdgOk44/видео.html
The breakdown:
ruclips.net/video/Pwp6Cw85LB8/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/0877_09wRio/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/dmG4hTAvY3Q/видео.html
11:16 Sounds like Brian May. Roger Taylor had a very naturally raspy voice
Yep
yes it is ;)
roger did
its actually both of them lol
I wish you included more examples of him nailing high notes live! New Castle concert he sounded absolutely phenomenal.
in bohemian rhaphasody, i dont think hes using falsetto, instead, i think its head voice
It's finally here!! This took me about 3 weeks to create. Let me know your feedback, what you enjoyed and what you'd like to see next. The video is timestamped, read the description for more info. If you're interested in working with me to skyrocket your voice check out philmoufarrege.com
Phil Moufarrege Michael. Jackson.
I thought you would also show as more on to his vowels thing, and that C5-E5 range(I know that it is more of a squeaked head voice, but still got a lot of other details). But thanks so much!
Ахмет Хакимов i covered all the things I wanted to say about his high range when I mentioned his refined chest coordination/mixed voice - it is simply that but taken higher (when referring to his full voiced 5th octave)
👏👏👏👏
He had AIDS too. So could the progression of the disease cause vocal issues? Must do.
I think the point of freddie's style of singing was AUTHENTICITY.. sure he could've sang it the right way and safer for his voice but it wasn't going to translate as authentic.. the harshness of his voice and vocals damages is part of the story of Queen... :)
I also think Freddie sounds cool despite his technique issues and voice damage...however I think this is a really big myth that "good technique gets in the way of authentic honest singing" it's just not true. It's like saying "learning too much of a language makes you worse at communicating in that language".
If you WANT to tell someone "I am not really a big fan of sushi but I guess I'll eat it if we have to..." but you only have the vocabulary to say "sushi is okay" then you are not able to communicate what you REALLY MEANT. The first sentence is like saying "I will do it in order to not ruffle any feathers" and the second makes it sound like you're totally okay with it even though you aren't - you just don't have the vocabulary to say the first sentence so you COMPENSATE by saying the 2nd.
Good technique gives you MORE CHOICES to express yourself not LESS. When you have issues in your technique you have to make COMPENSATIONS to get as close as you can to what you wanted to do. Obstructions to your technique make it HARDER to express the emotions and feelings you are trying to convey because when your voice doesn't work right, certain parts of your range, volume, vowels etc won't function properly and this will put a wall in the way of your voice.
@@philmoufarrege I have rarely ever seen singers with good technique that sings with real emotion. Only opera singers can manage it. Most technical singers in contemporary music only seem to think about technique, music is art and an expression of emotions.
Actually you can listen to the bootlegs of Queen Crazy tour in 1979. He has taught himself to sing better live, and had no problem reaching high notes. Everything went smoothly there, and he could deliver studio-level songs.
In the 80s, however, he started to smoke, which can badly affect his vocal nodes. That's why he had a hard time belting up higher notes.
Well thats one and also he was sick and that kind of did that!
I believe that Fred always smoked, I mean since the beginning of his career.
@@FrenchieNinotchka no ... Dont believe everything you see on documentary videos or the movie bohrap . He started smoking in the early 1980 . Peter freestone (Fred mercury assistant ) stated that himself
@@masterchief9781 I believe having seen an interview in the 70s where he was smoking . But that is not really important, with time his voice changed and became a treasure
@@FrenchieNinotchka no offense but i think your being delusional 😂😂 no offense okay please no hard feeling . Maybe in that interview Freddie holds and move his hand alot giving him an impression that he smokes but in reality he hold something that looks like a cigarette but not a cigarette .
17:07 isn't live, it's a clip from "top of the pops"
lol exactly
The BBC one that tells them to lip-sync?
Yes, thats actually the studio version of Liar.
if you listen to the live versions of liar in 73',the vocals sound the same as the original version,so the studio version still works nonetheless
Thomas Gunnari Røtting "liar" as Freddie Sang
Do Robert Plant please.
Yes pls.
I think I've never seen such a beautiful video on Freddie Mercury. It should be seen by millions of people.
Wow what a compliment, thank you so much. Feel free to share it everywhere and help it get seen by more people ;-)
Can you create an in-depth analysis of Brendon Urie's vocals? How does he keep such a low larynx on the higher notes? Why does his singing sound so effortless and how does he have such great vocal stamina and endurance singing live?
Great question I will definitely keep this in mind for future videos
So good Phil ............ After your description of the different sounds that Freddie was making with his voice, I was able to hear the different techniques and the vocal damage that singing night after night caused. He was a great singer, but overwork can cause extreme damage. Thanks for this tutorial, as I believe it will help me to adjust my technique to avoid this damage and your videos are really excellent and very clear. It also helps that you can do what you teach. When I hear you singing it, it really helps!!!! God bless you Phil as you help so many to reach the full potential of their voices!! Good stuff Phil!!!
you are most welcome Rob
Damn, he sounds incredible on Somebody to Love.
My favourite stuff is how he sings live, when he sings lower and fuller. I love the sound of it.
Brilliant video! You covered quite a bit here!
I really like the way you talked about Freddie's vocal damage and how that influenced a lot of the things he did. In my opinion, that is the standout part of this video. VERY insightful and wise on your behalf, especially comparing his live vs. studio recordings. Great analysis! I agree with all you said there, including how it influenced his distortion. (Singers should be taking lots of notes here.)
Although I disagree about Freddie being a tenor. I think he was more of a baritone but with an extreme personality that liked to take things to the max as much as he could, even if it was no good for him. A person like this will often try to sing outside of the range that is most comfortable for their voice, and do it a lot. They keep trying to push the limits. In the early live clip of Freddie doing that A4 you pointed out -- I think that was getting close to the NATURAL limits of his baritone voice. But being a creative type and filled with so much intense, fiery energy, he kept trying to push the limits more and more and more. This is enough to cause problems in ANYONE'S voice. People who are true performers and/or emotional and have over-the-top type personalities have to be very careful with this.
Cheers man thank you for the comment. And thanks for sharing your thoughts on his voice type, that is a good point and definitely something to consider, I'm definitely open to him being a bari and can certainly hear qualities of it. The main thing I wanted to get across was that judging his voice type from the pitch range of his speech is not a very reliable way of determining his voice type.
i think he's a light bari =))
gene simmons is a lower baritone and recorded a bunch in the higher 4th/5th octave in the 80s, and didnt lose his voice
Absolutely agree with you bro.. Freddie's voice is not perfect but those imperfections made him famous plus his lively performance on stage live, his passion in singing in all genre he made, his musical creativity etc...
I could say freddie was a genius..
I think his live singings clips were mostly from his tours in which he kept singing and moving for 2 hours and I read about their sound was always too loud in concerts and he didn't use any ear equipment to hear himself . I believe its very difficult and risky to sing in falsetto when you can't hear yourself properly . In studio versions he had ability to hear himself and wasn't tired from singing from days and days for hours . He never lost his falsetto ability till his death . You can check out "exercises in free love " he sang in operatic falsetto and hitting crazy high notes . he recorded it near end of his life .
I love this video. I've been a Queen fan all my life, and as a singer, Freddie has always been an inspiration... regardless of his lack of technique as you deeply analyze here.
Such a shame he didn't take care of himself and never took lessons. I've always found funny how he struggled with «U» vowels in the higher register. He sounded super strained!!!! (in «Guide me home» there is a line where he sings «Safely TO my home» where you can listen to this).
Anyway, I love him and I love your analysis and how many details you go into. Congratulations!!!
I would love to see a video from the late Jeff Buckley, he's another musician I love so much. (another singers could be Paul Rodgers, Sam Cooke, or the incredible Nino Bravo)
How he develop the different registers he employed (from raspy to the countertenoresque approach of «corpus christ carol») his immense fiato which enabled him to do super long sustained notes, and the crazy high «Flying Buckleys» screams (Grace, So real, Lover you should come over...).
I wish you could do it some day!
Greetings from Spain! :)
Thank you for your kind words and suggestion! Jeff Buckley was an amazing artist and singer!
did you forget about freddie vibrato?
i think freddie mercury overcompressed his voice and needs to call headvoice more early than usual his sing in the mix. i had same unintentional distortion around my 2nd bridge. it happen cause i tend to overcompressed my voice and force my chest too high. call headvoice more early fix this problem but only on "A" vowel. at least this distortion didn't hurt my vocal cords at all even tough i was sing 2 hours/days. and also as long i'm not a opera singer 😁
Thought he could go all the way up to F6?
Actually higher. Believe it or not he went higher than an F6 in live performances, not just once mind you. Also Freddie did use his falsetto live. Check out in the lap of the gods Wembley 1986, rock in Rio blues live in Rio 1985 just to name a few
9:39 - that’s what Mariah Carey does. She has had nodules since childhood.
Im 15 and have been singing all my life. I sing somewhat softly but with power (at least that's what i think) and I can hit that G#4 and that D4 in The Show Must Go On most of the time. So that leaves me with the question: Am I singing "normally" if you will; Do I have proper technique or anything like that? I've never taken professional vocal lessons but have taught myself how to sing as well as attending a vocal-class/choir type environment for a few months.
I would have to hear you in order to give you an evaluation of your technique
@@philmoufarrege Is there a way I could send you a clip of me singing a Queen song?
Yep sign up on my website here and email me PHILMOUFARREGE.COM
Live rainbow 1974 had overdubs and pitch corrections, Queen Boston 1976 had the best REAL A4!
If you want high notes above 80s watch live aid 1985
Regarding the nodules, Freddie's smoking habit didn't do his voice any favours there either! He was seldom seen without a cigarette in hand. He drastically cut back towards the end of his life, which is part of the reason why that grit was less pronounced in his final works. If Queen had not stopped touring after 1986, I suspect this would have been reflected in his live performances too. What a shame we never got to see that. Anyway, he is sorely missed. The best to ever do it in my opinion.
That was really cool, Freddie is one of my absolute favourite singer ever. I strongly suggest to analyse and breakdown a song called SOS from Dimash at Singer 2017. You will be blown away by all different styles fusion, voice colors, flawless transitions and wide vocal range. Another great example would be Ogni Pietra from Dimash too. Peace!
Freddie was absolutely not a tenor. If you watch his live performance of Under Pressue, he hits an A4 and then says that he can't go any higher than that. I don't think a tenor would ever say that.
Definitely possible he might not have been a tenor, but your reasoning for that is not accurate. Not being able to go higher than a G# has nothing to do with being a baritone or tenor. There are plenty of baritones that can sing higher than that and plenty of tenors who struggle with the area too.
Phil Moufarrege I thought all tenors could sing comfortably up to C5. But with training they could sing higher and could train to sing in baritone range. And I thought all baritones could sing up to G4 comfortably and with practice they could teach themselves to sing in the tenor range
Everyone starts in a different spot and with THE RIGHT training they can increase their range and sing with greater freedom. I get plenty of tenors who struggle with C4-E4 who think they "must be baritones" because of their range when the reality is they just need proper training to strengthen the voice. And I get baritones who have very little range because they underestimate how loud they need to be in order to get their voice "moving". The more you train and develop your voice the more you "discover" exactly what it is.
I myself was stuck for YEARS at F4 and had a vocal break there. Now I can go way past there and up to C5s etc in actual songs. Freddie's issue on the G# is a VERY COMMON issue in singers. I used to have the exact same issue and if my voice is overworked and tired I get the exact same symptoms he had. I train a lot of pro singers who have the exact same issues and help them overcome it. I have built many voices from scratch and can hear so many things in peoples voices such as what their tongue is doing, how they took their breath, what their vocal cords are doing that almost no one (including most teachers) can even hear.
Phil Moufarrege thats pretty cool. I didnt know that. Makes me wonder what vocal type I am
11:02 oh yeah yikes the Jazz era live is known for the most struggles with nodules :( and its both Brian and Roger on the high notes there, you can hear younger Brian's really beautiful high voice there quite well.
Yes! This was great! Really, reallyè, really good job. pleeeeeas do Matt Bellamy!
Thank you for dropping in Marcin!! ooo Matt Bellamy, good choice...what are your biggest questions about him?
Phil Moufarrege The difference between Freddie's live and studio technique was the most interesting thing in this video. I think Matt has an outstanding live technique but I could be wrong. He sounds like he's always in control of his voice and never yells. It's like he can thin out his voice in every circumstance. I like singing Muse but I find it difficult to transition from those F4s F4#s in full voice to falsetto and back (though you already answered how it's done in this one.). I wonder where he's endurance comes from. And of course a breakdown of his super compressed hyper high notes would be great!
Thank you for the response, I'll write it down and keep it in mind for future
I don’t think Freddie sounds very much like a baritone at all. Very similar timbre and slightly higher voice than Ronnie Dio who was a rich tenor
I love Freddie.
How did Freddie achieve such a fast vibrato?
I've always tried imitating his vibrato but I can't quite get there.
Would be awesome if you replied.
Diego Castro tension. Lol. It’s actually what I’m trying to get rid off
I believe it's mainly because of his singing range. I notice when I sing in the lower range, I have to activate my vibrato, but when singing higher around F4 and above, the vibrato automatically leaked out and started moving around. I recorded myself and found that my vibrato is quite fast tho. Of course that's when singing without music. The vibrato could be slower when singing with music.
You should do some vocal warm-ups to actually notice how the vibrato leaks out, especially in the high range.
Having an unusually fast or slow vibrato is a sign you aren't singing with great technique. Relax and your voice will find a natural vivrato speed.
Diego Castro I find if i move my jaw forward a bit my vibrato speeds up
could you analyze bob marley please ?
Phil, make a vid about bob please, nobody did it on youtube. You would be the first one.
The chest voice vs falsetto live: he chose not to blend the two, minus his vocal impromptus of course!
You are awsome Phill!! I've watched youtube videos for many many coaches but never resonated so much with a guy like i resonade with you. Cheers from Brasil
great to meet you. Hope to train with you! www.philmoufarrege.com
It don't know if you ever sang with a live rock band but usually singers feel that they can't really compete with the loud stage sound of the band while doing very light vocals like Freddie did in the studio ( that made it possible to switch between chest and falsetto very smoothly), so they just avoid it because it sounds awkward and weak on the spot...
that definitely can play a factor for sure
1:28 - It's funny you say you think Freddie was a tenor. Montserrat Caballé (La Superba, one of the greatest operatic divas of all time) was very clear that Freddie was a baritone. In fact, she wanted Freddie to do some operatic duets for baritone and soprano with her. He didn't want to, however. He thought his fans would feel he was betraying rock and roll by singing opera.
Yes he definitely could have been a baritone. I guess the important point I was trying to make in this clip was that trying to classify someones voice type through "what pitch range they speak in" is not really the best way to go about it - there are many more variables that go into it.
He did sing two song on that album as a baritone. The Golden Boy and Ensueno.
Hello!
I would like to ask you people some questions because I've been really stuck recently on some singing techniques, and trying to find my own singing voice. I started singing about 6 months ago and I didn't know about mixed voice, for me, it just sounded like screaming and it really hurt when I would try to do something like the first "Mama" in Bohemian Rhapsody.
When I try to sing Somebody to Love, on the line "Can barely stand on my feet" and the third "Somebody to love" (C5) , my voice always cracks when I try to sing it with only my chest voice, and it's really annoying.
Do you guys have any tips on finding mixed voice?
Phil, I believe the key was raised on several studio recordings. I saw Queen over a dozen times and many songs live were a half step down.
Yes a lot of the songs are in lower keys especially later in Freddie's career as that range from G#4 and higher became more and more unreliable for him. I actually prefer a lot of his songs in the lower key though, brings out the fullness of his voice more. I love how his voice sounds in the 1986 Wembley concert even despite the vocal damage. When I first got into singing I used to sing along to that concert all the time.
Gregsynthbootlegs ikr! Awesome seeing you here. As far as I’m aware they were the only ones right?
Gregsynthbootlegs oh of course hahahaha. That was 3 semitones down right?
Gregsynthbootlegs why didn’t he ever to the falsetto and try the original key. He definitely would’ve been able to in 86! Even at his worst his falsetto was always clear and very beautiful, like London ‘84!
Part 2 soon? This is such a great video!
21:43 sounds like Michael McDonald!
This video was awesome answered most of my questions.
Can you please do the same thing with the voice of Kurt Cobain.
Please 😅😇😳
So how would Freddy save his singing voice with technique if he already had vocal nodes?
I believe he would need to rest firstly and stay away from any high notes for a good while until the voice comes back. Until that nice refined chest coordination comes back (mixed voice). When you have nodes, that coordination can be impossible to find which further locks you into a damaging way of singing.
So he'd need to rest until that coordination returns. How long would that take? It could take days to weeks to months. Staying away from the high range would be important for him during this time as well in order to not further aggravate the voice.
Once he has that coordination back in the voice, he would need to be careful how he sang to not break down that coordination again. He'd have to know how to stay in that coordination for the high notes so that the voice doesn't get broken down again.
If he could do that, then he'd have to make sure that his touring schedule is reasonable and he'd have to know what is too much for him. Even with great technique if the workload is too high it will leave the voice too fatigued to work properly - resulting in forcing the voice the wrong way.
From what I've heard, his touring schedule was crazy, the workload would have been too much for just about any singer out there, multiple shows a day with parties in between lol he was a true showman and rockstar in every sense of the word and because of his personality it would have made resting and taking a break and doing less shows and staying away from the high notes unbearable for him I imagine - it's probably why he didn't do that!
Freddy is cool!
This is fabulous, thank you for all your hard work!
You are very welcome, thank you for watching.
I love Freddie. Knowing he was human and struggled with that G#4-A4 area makes me love him more. Great stuff.
Yes he is very impressive.
Could you analyze Shawn Mendes?
Has his singer gotten more unhealthy over the years?
I noticed he uses distortion/growl a lot more especially in the song Mercy and There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back.
In his newest song "In My Blood" he hits A4s and Bb4s. I just want to see how his technique holds up.
good question, I'll keep your suggestion in mind for future content!
His technique has improved in the new album.
I know less than zero about vocal technique but this video is a great start and extremely informative!
you are very welcome
Awesome and excellent work on this video. You gave me a good and analytical view on Freddie's born natural golden voice. Thanks for the education!
you are very welcome
Great Video. Love it
can you make from takahiro moriuchi
Is “four octaves” safe?
i have the same problem with singing live
it's not easy. I help a lot of pro singers who have similar issues Freddie had. I've also been through it myself too. It is very common.
Hey Phil! Thank you one million times! I've been studying singing and having a hard time to not straining, to improve ressonance and everything else. Last days I was struggling to get over A4, because my voice wasn't sounding very fine. So, I was watching this video and when I listened to you speaking to your student, I tried together and everything did fine. The G#4 sounded good! Then I tried use the same idea to get A4, and voilá! Suddenly, all the stuff I was reading these days made sense. So, thank you again!
great!
PRINCE
What is the song at 15:00 ?
That first performance of Liar around 17:00 wasn't live; it was a promoclip they made, so a studio recording. Nice video! :)
thanks
Hey that's a super interesting video, your analysis is very detailed and I love that! Thank you! If I could give a little bit of feedback it would be:
1. When you illustrate his technique with your voice, I'd love to be able to see you so we could see the physicality of the singing and maybe showing what parts of your body you're using.
2. There's a lot of explanatory text on the excerpts and I would've preferred if you explained them orally after the clip because it's difficult to read and focus on hearing the clip at the same time, I had to pause the video to read and then be able to listen attentively to Freddie's voice.
Apart for that, great job!
Thanks for this video about Freddie's voice, it was so interesting! I'm not a singer but now I'd like to take singing lessons and make the best out of the instrument I have :)
What about a video on Dave Gahan? I love his voice, to me it feels like a "warm blanket" and would love to know more. Ciao ciao!
awesome video/lesson! just subscribed.
Could u do a vocal Analysis on Mariah Carey
What a great video! Such a brilliant information! Bravo Phil!!
Thank you so much. what would you like to see next?
Can you make one for michael jackson please.
what are your biggest questions about michael jackson?
Phil Moufarrege how he sings so smootly and how he reach his high notes.
I would like to know how he gets such a powerful vibrato in general but especially on his notes that seem to be so breathless. Also, how does he approach distortion and have such control on staccato passages?
Phil Moufarrege can you analysis how his vocal approach differs from child MJ to teen MJ to adult MJ? Why do you think his live singing struggled in his later years? Why did it seem he lost agility in his upper register on the invincible album? Can you explain his vocal percussive style(many of these videos don’t highlight that)?
Phil Moufarrege why do you like his singing voice
Hey Phil, Great vid! I also wanted to point out that the clip you put at 16:53 of a song called Liar, is actually a studio recording, not a live performance. Look it up. ;)
Jeremy Jordan would be good, ruclips.net/video/Lc3brljqd8M/видео.html, his range (particularly his belts on the higher notes) would be really interesting
Thank you
Brilliant, thank you
This is beautiful thanks man
you are very welcome
This is a very clever analysis. Shows your deep understanding of singing:)
Gotta do a Chirs Cornell one surely?
What would you like to know about Chris Cornell?
Phil Moufarrege his technique and his voice changing over time
WOW!
Thanks of a million for this video, you made a great analysis👍
Hi Phil. Loved this video. George Michael has always been a favourite singer of mine as well as Alanis Morrisette. I think George Michael sounded just as good live as he did in the studio. Your opinion would be interesting. Alanis Morisette has such a unique quality to her voice , breaking it down would be interesting. Sorry if this sounds too simplistic. I don't know any of the technical terms . Thank you for the great analysis on Freddie Mercury liked the live versus studio breakdown of his singing technique.
Well done 👍
If you look at Queen's gig schedule from the mid 70s onwards, they never played more than two gigs without a break.....it could have been three? That was all to do with his voice being rested.
Could you also lead singer of MKTO, Tony Oller's vocal technique?
I noticed as he's gotten older, he's choosing not to sing as high live anymore. Could this be due to vocal damage?
Excellent and informative video, Phil! This answered quite a few speculations that I previously had.
I would love to see a similar video revolving around Chris Cornell. He was also one of those rockers who had quite the studio vocal range but couldn't meet the expectations consistently, and I believe he also dealt with quite a bit of vocal damage as well.
Thank you for the suggestion I love Chris Cornell and would definitely love to do a video on him. What are your biggest questions about him?
I'd love to see this video but with roger taylor. He always seemed to sing the high notes.
Great Video, can you do one about Harry Styles? Many mixed feelings I've gotten from many professionals. But it'd be great to have a video like this. Thank You. Alex
Excellent video. I woul like to know your opinion o analysis about Bryan Johnson please. Is a very caracteristic voice in the Rock and Roll. Thank you
Good job man
Thx
Really help !!!!
Cheers bud !
Nice video!! I find it very difficult to sing these recordings part like the beginning of somebody to love the way he did in the recordings.
Anyway, hace you heard the remastered extended version o the News Of The World album? And the BBC sessions I think? There you can hear Freddie singing "live" (with no audience, but definitely it is always one single take recorded live) and hit those notes the way he did in the records. It's incredible. The way he sings My Melancholy Blues is astonishing.
Anyway, thank you for the video!
Thank you, I really liked this video. Could you also do an analysis of Donna Summer? She was such a great singer!
Those 3 weeks paid off! Great video, Phil!!
Thank you Joshua! What would you like to see next?
I'd love to see some analysis or demonstrations on Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, etc! I think just about any new content is great, though!
oh yes they are definitely on the list!!! Marvin was a huge influence for me. What are your biggest questions about them?
I'm always so impressed by their bright, yet really smooth sound! Kind of like Freddie, Stevie can get this really chesty belt going, but then also has his own way of finessing into a light mix. Marvin especially can stay so smooth towards where the break would be - narrowing and leaning into vowels. I'd love to hear a bit more about how they are configuring their voice!
Thank you for your response I'll keep it in mind. These videos take a while to create so it may be a very long time until you see these videos lol!
Please could you do about steven tyler
Livin on the edge😁😁😁
Great video! If you haven't heard if him by now, there's a man named Marc Martel that looks like and sounds IDENTICAL to Freddie. So much so, he has worked for Queen since 2012 as the singer of their official tribute band. He just did the singing in the BoRap movie when it wasn't Freddie himself. He now sings in a band called The Ultimate Queen Celebration. Check him out!
ruclips.net/video/lBJNljqI9bM/видео.html
I am very aware of him, in fact I mentioned him and showed him in this very video
You should do Ronnie James Dio next. I think he'd be a perfect example of singing correctly and healthy considering he retained his voice till he passed. Not to mention he had a range comparable to freddie as well as great power and resonance.
You're absolutely right, Dio had an EXTREMELY good handle on the voice, an absolute master.
Can you please do a video on Steve Perry, your videos are very good, thank you
What happened to Shakira's vocal cords?
That clip of the video LIAR which you assumed was Mercury singing LIVE was actually the album version to which he was lip sinking. Queen fought against any lip synching EVER as they hated it, believing it was bullshit, dishonest and not fair to an audience...yet that clip was in Top of The Pops and their standard format was that every act lipsynched.
Thanks for clarifying
Even tho I'm a girl, he can sing higher than me
Hello, nice video and really intresting analysis.
I'm a baritone and I've been practicing for the last year or so. My range is around D2 - G4 (with falsetto it goes up to G#5) although as you said what matters more is what someone can do on a daily bases so I say my range is around E2 - E4. My question is how can I belt or sing powerfully (on my upper range) without straining my voice? Could you give me some tips? I'm kinda using my diaphragm already but I guess I could engage it better. (when I workout my abs I can sing F#4s almost completely strainlessly)
Also, is there a way that I could possible be able to reach A4s without killing my voice?
Thanks in advance, I would really appreciate your response.
Yes you definitely can increase your vocal range. Check out all the student transformations here www.philmoufarrege.com/p/about-phil-moufarrege
you will need more than just "tips" because saying things like "try not to strain" and "use your support better" are useless tips. What you need is actual proper training with me so I can show you exactly what sounds you are doing wrong and how to adjust them to get the best results.