Shakira
Vocal Type: Coloratura contralto
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves 1 note E3-D6
Whistle Register:No
Vocal Pluses: Unique and versatile vocal styling that incorporates a yodelling like technique as well Arabic influences. The voice has a heaviness pervading throughout, though surprisingly it seems to be most prevalent in the midrange and low belting range. This weight can be removed, revealing a contrasting crisper, lighter and more youthful sounding timbre. Her head voice is strong and bright, becoming more piercing the higher it becomes, but isn't often used. She is capable of complex meslisma, usually built on a middle eastern musical scale, as well as able to hold sustained notes with or without vibrato. The vibrato itself, is quick but controlled.
Vocal Negatives: Her voice sounds as if it's artificially gaining its weight via her larynx being forced down, as her talking voice is light. Her vocal styling and intonation can also make comprehending her lyrics hard to do.
Omg! I'm so happy you added Shakira. I've been wanting you do to her for the longest. She's one of my favorite singer due to her unique voice! :)
ReplyDeletewrong, she's not a mezzo-soprano, she's a Coloratura Contralto.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Shakira is a contralto at the least. :)
ReplyDeleteGood spot, that was a typo. Copied the profile structure from another singer and then changed the bits for Shakira, missing the vocal type. Its the same reason why people would have seen Diana Ross noted as having a whistle register until I spotted it the day after posting and sharply changed it! Amened now.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the part about her containing a goat in her throat ;o).
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
ReplyDeleteHey there...her voice just takes some getting used to, lol. But I know sometimes it does sound that way.
ReplyDeleteVocally, she's good. She has good qualities and would be a good singer, but the tone of her voice, kinda nasal, is incredible annoying. I don't like her voice at all.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I just wanted to let you know that I really love this blog. It's like the best thing I've accidentally stumbled across in awhile. :)
ReplyDeleteSo what causes her to sound like a goat? Is it vibrato?
ReplyDeleteThis is not a 'coloratura contralto'. That term is distinctly an operatic distinction. It is however, an alto voice.
ReplyDeleteShakira is one of my favorite artists but your the above term associated with her voice is incorrect. A coloratura contralto would be Ewa Podles. She is an opera singer from Poland.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a 'coloratura contralto'. That term is distinctly an operatic distinction. It is however, an alto voice.
ReplyDeletethe fact she can yodel explain why some times she sounds like a goat
ReplyDeleteI personally think that a lot of the criticism of her sound comes from the fact that she is not a native English speaker- there is a marked difference in the way she sings in Spanish versus the way she sings in English. She's improved drastically at pronouncing English sounds (earlier in her career, for example, she had a much harder time with pronunciation), but it's still not her first language. Personal preferences and intonation aside, she's quite a good singer.
ReplyDeleteGeez who writes these things??You've probably never heard a true contralto or you don't know the meaning of the word.She's definately no lower than a lyric mezzo soprano...
ReplyDeletei heard that she was a mezzo soprano but i disagree shes an alto
ReplyDeleteShe's an alto, definitely. I can sing many of her songs effortlessly, and I'm an alto myself (my vocal range is similar to hers but my voice is obviously not as good as hers!). But she's definitely does NOT have an operatic voice. So, to call her a 'coloratura contralto' is taking things too far.
ReplyDeletei think she is a mezzo! the tone when she speaks is a little more high than an alto
ReplyDeleteI honestly can say, Shakira is one of the worse female singers who came to the music industry in the USA. She sound like a sick goat and makes millions for that
ReplyDeleteObviously that's your opinion, as people all over the world love her. You may not like her, but I love the unique tone of her voice. And another thing, just her pretty face? Ugh, it annoys me when ignorant U.S. citizens who have only heard She Wolf and Waka Waka say that. She's a brilliant lyricist - look up Octavo Dia or Pies Descalzos, she can play several instruments, she writes all her own lyrics and music and produces it too, and has a strong, beautiful voice. You should look up Antes De Las Seis, The One, Lo Que Mas, any song like that and you'll see the reason for her fame.
ReplyDeleteYou probably know more about it than me, so correct me if you want to. But she seems to have quite a deep voice if you listen to the live version of "No", or the songs "Las De Las Intuicion" or other songs like that. I'm a soprano, and sometimes I have difficulty singing her lowest notes. It doesn't really matter to me though, because either way her voice is very unique.
ReplyDeleteShe is on the lower spectrum of the mezzos, She may possibly be a dramatic, but Shakira doesn't utilize her top notes enough for me to really tell. Although her voice is large and very dark. It is well noted here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXfGrMpPqNk This seems to be Shakira's natural sound. While Shakira does have a deep voice, it is still very feminine. Contraltos have a slightly mannish, androgynous sound throughout most of the voice, not just the lower register.
ReplyDeleteI'd say like many other singers who are very wrongly classed as contraltos on this site that she's a low lyric mezzo. Her lower notes resemble that of a contralto, but not quite and her mid to upper range certainly don't.
ReplyDeleteRemember that contralto is still a female voice so it will have mezzo qualities to it cause it's not far from it's mezzo-soprano counterpart. I agree that she is a contralto. people get the impression that a contralto should sound almost near to a tenor to be identified as one. but her tessitura has the qualities of a contralto whether people want to say she's a mezzo or not. voice doesn't have the sharpness in high notes to be considered a true mezzo. but because her voice is at the higher end of the contralto family she will have good execution of high notes
ReplyDeleteYou have to udnerstand that contraltos, overall, sound like men. not just in one area. Just because a woman has a dark voice doesn't translate into her being a contralto. She is just a lower mezzo. A contralto will always be thick on her top notes compared to a mezzo with a similar timbre, and also lack the brightness in chest, comparably to a similar mezzo. If she was in opera, she'd be singing the fuller lyric mezzo soprano parts between G3-B5, possibly up to E6. She sounds very feminie...A true contralto would not even straddle the line between man and woman. When you hear one, you hear a man at first impression (In pop of course).
ReplyDeleteIn opera it's quite common to hear mezzos and some sopranos with manly lower registers, because a truly supported lower register will sound masculine at times (this becomes more prevalent in lower voices), pop is no different.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the confusion of Shakira being considered a contralto, yes her voice can be incredibly dark and heavy, but she has such a feminine voice. I'm a fan of Shakira's works (mostly her spanish material), and I've never really heard her put on a masculine timbre, the darkest I've heard her voice be is in this passage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXQXs3Lr0UA From :58 to 1:13. And the beginning here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au7q4wMc75k . Very far off from a contralto, even at her darkest.
And to demonstrate the supported lower registers sounding manly in pop, here's alison goldfrapp, a dramatic soprano singing in the C#3 to Eb3 range, but you'd think it was a man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nqD4Mcnq9c I could have picked plenty of mezzos for this, but I think it's demonstrated better with a soprano.
You do realize this profile actually says her vocal styling incorporates arabic influences. It does not state anywhere that if you don't sound like an American you can't sing.
ReplyDeleteShe isn't a coloratura.
ReplyDeleteA real coloratura contralto would be Annie Lennox.
Shakira is a lyric mezzo with some agility.
I think she's mezzo not contralto. Contralto is Odetta, for example, or Nina Simone with very very solid and resonating sound in the lower register and very often they sound like male singers. Shakira's sound is pretty feminine. I think her vocal technique is a bit wrong on high notes, because she kinda restrain her sound a lot there and squeeze the larynx to hit those notes, she could do it better, with right technique. But still she's unique and I love her.
ReplyDeleteI guess many don't like her voice because of its unusual sounding, it's very raw-folk-and arabic influenced, that's why I adore when she sings rock music or some folk stuff. It's not soul/blues influenced singing that's why it doesn't suit jazz/soul/r'n'b music, I suppose. Check out her singing All of Me at Jools Holland Show. I don't know I just don't see her singing that style of music.
ReplyDeleteOh, she's definitely a contralto, she sounded deeper than all of the other three MALE coaches on The Voice because her voice goes so deep. Although I agree, when she tries to sing louder, since the Voice's live band's sound equipment is way too loud for whatever reason, she depresses her larynx to try to compensate for their technical incompetence there, ultimately straining her voice and sounding even unnaturally low for a female. I actually think she may go a little bit lower than an E3.
ReplyDeleteshe can't sing
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this is not Selena Gomez profile.
ReplyDelete