What is Axl Rose's octave range??

[Lord Kayoss]

I'd prefer the 93 octane if it weren't so fucking expensive!

Wait, what're we talking about again?

 

[requiem156]

8 octives is humanly impossible... unless of course you can sing every note on the piano... which is impossible. To give you an idea of axl's range...

the opening notes he sings in "its so easy" is a low Eb... the ending note of sweet child is the next octive up and in rocket queen he hits the next highest Eb at the end. That would be a three octive range... the highest note i've heard axl hit is the high F above the Eb in rocket queen. He hits the F at the perfect crime. I'm sure axl could probably sing the low a below the low e in its so easy.... i'd say axl has around a three and half octive range.

I've taken 10 years of opera so I know what i'm talking about

+1 It's always great when non-musicians start throwing around terms that they don't really understand. Mariah does not have 7 octaves, and axl sure as hell does not have 8. Pavarotti doesn't have 8 octaves - no human being does. It is not possible, as Crashdiet said. He does have a large range - much bigger than most people. I would say that 3 and 1/2 ocraves is approximately correct. Most singers can reliably use 2 octaves, so you can see why 8 would be a ridiculous number. He's good, but he isn't super-human!

To clarify a few things, Axl does not have a higher range that Freddie Mercury - Freddie could hit a high A in head voice, which is very uncommon. Falsetto, when defined as whistle tone, does not count as range, but many people refer to head voice as falsetto, which does count. Axl's range is approximately equivalent to Chris Cornell in his younger days, or Geoff Tate, although Axl is not as clear in his higher rage.

[deanaxlrose]

 Axl voice is betwen falsetto and normal voice.and no one can duplicate his voice.no other human being can.that's why we love him so much.well maybe 8 is ridicolous.but at least no one can sing like him.

[Origen]

What was Prince's octave range? Because he seems to have a pretty big range.

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Just for a point of reference, as far as octave ranges go, singers like Maria Carey and Cyndi Lauper , boith have 4 octave ranges, thats tremedous, Id say axl is between 2.5- 3.. And you also have to look at whee the bottom starts, for each.

That is true but axl can go much lower than them, so could have a better range, just not go as high, because they cant go as low.

[Origen]

Just for a point of reference, as far as octave ranges go, singers like Maria Carey and Cyndi Lauper , boith have 4 octave ranges, thats tremedous, Id say axl is between 2.5- 3.. And you also have to look at whee the bottom starts, for each.

That is true but axl can go much lower than them, so could have a better range, just not go as high, because they cant go as low.

That still doesn't mean he can sing in 8 octaves as your quite adament he does. (Which as other people have said it's Humanly Impossible)

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Just for a point of reference, as far as octave ranges go, singers like Maria Carey and Cyndi Lauper , boith have 4 octave ranges, thats tremedous, Id say axl is between 2.5- 3.. And you also have to look at whee the bottom starts, for each.

That is true but axl can go much lower than them, so could have a better range, just not go as high, because they cant go as low.

That still doesn't mean he can sing in 8 octaves as your quite adament he does. (Which as other people have said it's Humanly Impossible)

I know 8 isnt right, that post was from a year or so ago. That is why I asked again, because I know that cant be right. They merged the two threads, thus people are getting cofused.

I am thinking its more like 4 or 5 at the most

[davidoff86]

this is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range

World records and extremes of vocal range

Females

    * Greatest range: Eight octaves, G2-G10, Georgia Brown, Brazil
    * Highest vocal note: G10, Georgia Brown, Brazil

Males

    * Greatest range: Six octaves, Tim Storms, USA
    * Highest vocal note: C#8 Adam Lopez, Australia
    * Lowest vocal note: B-2 (nearly two octaves below piano's lowest note), Tim Storms, USA


so axls probably 5 at most....

[tHeElEcTrIcSiNtAr]

The highest notes Axl has ever sang on a recording are on I.R.S and There Was A Time. He sings higher in both those songs than any other Guns song ever.

[ppbebe]

What note in TWAT are you talking about?

Not that I have looked up and down all the GNR songs for it but I guess the highest vocal note is, trespassing upon mezzo-soprano territory, F#5 .

Axl hits the top F# (the second F#/Gb above middle c) twice crisp and clear on the irs demo, well at least on my pc. roughly speaking, I think it goes like

"it(f#4) like(a#4) a(f#4) crime(c#5) you(e5) know(f#5) its(e5) truuuuuuuuuuuuu(f#5)ue(c#5)!"

@ davidoff86

Did you read the rest?
Too bad no song requires a note higher than G6, lower than D2 even in opera. a range of 4 octaves and half should be enough to cover any part, from bass to soprano. A voice higher or lower than that wouldn't sound musical. Her G10 to G#6, or his D2 to B-2 is useless in singing I say.

[requiem156]

Just for a point of reference, as far as octave ranges go, singers like Maria Carey and Cyndi Lauper , boith have 4 octave ranges, thats tremedous, Id say axl is between 2.5- 3.. And you also have to look at whee the bottom starts, for each.

That is true but axl can go much lower than them, so could have a better range, just not go as high, because they cant go as low.

That still doesn't mean he can sing in 8 octaves as your quite adament he does. (Which as other people have said it's Humanly Impossible)

I know 8 isnt right, that post was from a year or so ago. That is why I asked again, because I know that cant be right. They merged the two threads, thus people are getting cofused.

I am thinking its more like 4 or 5 at the most

It's not 4 or 5. It's worth noting that no one has ever sat down with him at a piano and checked what his highest and lowest notes are. However, based on what he has sung on recordings, we can conclude that it's somewhere over 3, but probably less than 4. Don't feel bad - that's still a damn big range. Also, it really isn't the size, but how you use it. Plenty of singers with comparatively small ranges have done a lot with them, including John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Joe Strummer, Billy Corgan, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, Roger Daltrey, Ray Davies, John Fogerty, Tom Petty and that's just off the top of my head.

[ppbebe]

the range Jazme said would do for 99 percent of male vocal tunes in pop/rock music, including GNR ones.

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Just for a point of reference, as far as octave ranges go, singers like Maria Carey and Cyndi Lauper , boith have 4 octave ranges, thats tremedous, Id say axl is between 2.5- 3.. And you also have to look at whee the bottom starts, for each.

That is true but axl can go much lower than them, so could have a better range, just not go as high, because they cant go as low.

That still doesn't mean he can sing in 8 octaves as your quite adament he does. (Which as other people have said it's Humanly Impossible)

I know 8 isnt right, that post was from a year or so ago. That is why I asked again, because I know that cant be right. They merged the two threads, thus people are getting cofused.

I am thinking its more like 4 or 5 at the most

It's not 4 or 5. It's worth noting that no one has ever sat down with him at a piano and checked what his highest and lowest notes are. However, based on what he has sung on recordings, we can conclude that it's somewhere over 3, but probably less than 4. Don't feel bad - that's still a damn big range. Also, it really isn't the size, but how you use it. Plenty of singers with comparatively small ranges have done a lot with them, including John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Joe Strummer, Billy Corgan, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, Roger Daltrey, Ray Davies, John Fogerty, Tom Petty and that's just off the top of my head.

So 3.5 is probably around what he has.

[jimmythegent]

3.5 is being generous - between 2 and 3 is most likely

this is an impressive range for a male but there is no way he is 4

[tHeElEcTrIcSiNtAr]

What note in TWAT are you talking about?

Not that I have looked up and down all the GNR songs for it but I guess the highest vocal note is, trespassing upon mezzo-soprano territory, F#5 .

Axl hits the top F# (the second F#/Gb above middle c) twice crisp and clear on the irs demo, well at least on my pc. roughly speaking, I think it goes like

"it(f#4) like(a#4) a(f#4) crime(c#5) you(e5) know(f#5) its(e5) truuuuuuuuuuuuu(f#5)ue(c#5)!"

@ davidoff86

Did you read the rest?
Too bad no song requires a note higher than G6, lower than D2 even in opera. a range of 4 octaves and half should be enough to cover any part, from bass to soprano. A voice higher or lower than that wouldn't sound musical. Her G10 to G#6, or his D2 to B-2 is useless in singing I say.

For TWAT I'm talking about the part where he sings "I would do anything for you". That is the highest I've ever heard him sing on a recording. As for I.R.S you already know the part I'm talking about, right before Bucket's solo.

As for his highest full voice note, I couldnt tell you. Never really compared songs. But for his headtone, its def. that part in TWAT.

[requiem156]

3.5 is being generous - between 2 and 3 is most likely

this is an impressive range for a male but there is no way he is 4

I know this discussion is getting old, but we can defintiely say that he has more than 3. He sings down to a low Eb on more than one occasion, and higher than an Eb 3 octaves above quite frequently. That's not so hard to believe - I have more than 2 octaves, and I'm no vocal god.

About his highest full voice note - I don't think he has ever pushed it on a recording, which is smart because if he did the timbral differences between his head voice and full voice would become even more apparent.

[GNVR]

"tu prends la note la plus grave, puis la plus aigu, tu mesures la diff?rence et ?a te donne 8 octaves."

Oui, je comprends 

[CDesigner]

Plenty of singers with comparatively small ranges have done a lot with them, including John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Joe Strummer, Billy Corgan, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, Roger Daltrey, Ray Davies, John Fogerty, Tom Petty and that's just off the top of my head.

as much as i have loved some parts of the smashing pumpkins catalog, billy corgan's voice sucks. yes, he can pull it off and make songs worth listening to, but as a pure voice, i'd be hard pressed to find a similarly (or more) successful singer with a worse voice.

[jimmythegent]

3.5 is being generous - between 2 and 3 is most likely

this is an impressive range for a male but there is no way he is 4

I know this discussion is getting old, but we can defintiely say that he has more than 3. He sings down to a low Eb on more than one occasion, and higher than an Eb 3 octaves above quite frequently. That's not so hard to believe - I have more than 2 octaves, and I'm no vocal god.

About his highest full voice note - I don't think he has ever pushed it on a recording, which is smart because if he did the timbral differences between his head voice and full voice would become even more apparent.

mmm.. Im sceptical of that, Im a guitarist so I dont claim to know everything vocal wise, but I do recall Tim Buckley (Jeffs father) had a range somewhere between 4-5 and his was considered extraordinary to the point of freakishness. So I think it very unlikely he is higher than 3. It is very difficult and unusual to go 3 btw

The timbre and quality of Axls voice (in low parts and high) can perhaps add to the perception that he is singing lower or higher (particularly the screechiness) but thats not to be confused specifically with how high or low hes singing - do yoiu know what I mean? hard to explain

Regardless, he had a very good range back in the day and could certainly use it. Not so sure the range is as wide now, (Rhiad is more falsetto I feel - which is something new for Axl, most likely beacause he struggles to hit highs he previously could) hope Im wrong

[requiem156]

3.5 is being generous - between 2 and 3 is most likely

this is an impressive range for a male but there is no way he is 4

I know this discussion is getting old, but we can defintiely say that he has more than 3. He sings down to a low Eb on more than one occasion, and higher than an Eb 3 octaves above quite frequently. That's not so hard to believe - I have more than 2 octaves, and I'm no vocal god.

About his highest full voice note - I don't think he has ever pushed it on a recording, which is smart because if he did the timbral differences between his head voice and full voice would become even more apparent.

mmm.. Im sceptical of that, Im a guitarist so I dont claim to know everything vocal wise, but I do recall Tim Buckley (Jeffs father) had a range somewhere between 4-5 and his was considered extraordinary to the point of freakishness. So I think it very unlikely he is higher than 3. It is very difficult and unusual to go 3 btw

Ok, so you don't claim to know everything but you think you know enough to be condescending about it. Thanks for that. I'm a musician of 20 years, and have studied theory, guitar and voice at a college level. That is not to say that I know everything, but I'm not talking out of my ass. If you sit down with your guitar, and figure out which notes he is singing in various songs, you will see that he clearly has more than 3 octaves. I'm saying this from pure observation, not some kind of misguided hero worship. If you listen to Locomotive, you can hear him tripling the chorus part, each voice in a different octave. That is hardly the only example, but it's a pretty damn obvious one.

There is a big difference between pure falsetto and head voice. Axl uses head voice, and always has when he is in his high range - much like Shannon Hoon, Chris Cornell, Robert Plant, etc. He is just cleaning it up more now, which is a pretty impressive achievment, considering how gritty it used to be. Pure falsetto comes from whistle tone, which is not a genuine part of vocal range as it is a tone produced by another part of the larynx.