Normani has a 4 octaves (and 1 OR 3 notes I don't remember), do you think she could fully show that range if she got more vocal training?
There’s a lot you can achieve with proper and consistent vocal training.
Ultimately, it depends on what you expect from her range if you take into consideration the characteristics of her voice. As you would with any other singer.
My quick answer to your question would be: while yes, she can achieve great things with more vocal training, I don’t expect her to achieve the things that I think people expect from her.
There are two things to keep in mind
Anyone can hit some notes from A to Z. Some people can sustain all the notes between A to Z with great technique. Some vocal experts - or some purists - consider that this the true definition of the vocal range. When a singer is able to sustain every note between the lower and the higher note they can sing. Singers who can do that are called vocal legends for a reason. It doesn’t mean that a singer who cannot sustain all the notes within a particular range is a lesser singer.
Some others can hit either all of the notes between A to Z OR some of these notes. Hitting a note and sustaining it are two different things. Whether you hit them or sustain them with proper or bad technique is also a different matter.Â
For most singers (if not for all of them) there’s
the range we are more comfortable singing within our own vocal range (”tessiture vocale” or “tessitura”)
the range that is achievable with more effort
the range that we can hit or sustain even though we don’t sound as good - or sound horrible in it
the extent/limit of our voice registers
How do you want Normani to “fully show that range” is the true question. I think that people place on her some unrealistic expectations because they don’t take into account the particularities of her voice. Normani has already shown her range. But remember, there’s a range within the range.
I believe that what people think that they’ve yet to hear from Normani is her upper range and maybe more of her head voice/falsetto. They think that because she has an extensive range, that means she’s able to sing all the notes between her two extremes. But there’s a range within her vocal range that she can hit but cannot sustain. People shouldn’t look at the scale to determine her upper range. If you want to talk about notes, then let’s do it. But I think that what notes you can hit on the keyboard does not matter so much as what you can do with your voice. People want Normani to belt E5s, G5s and maybe headvoice some A5s and BB5s and so on… What should be important is what Normani can do with the different registers.
Normani’s true upper register is clearly not what people expect from her because it is lower on the scale. Yet, that is her upper register! It does not make her a lesser singer. Her upper register is sometimes tangent unless she uses good technique and is able to keep her tone. It’s the part of her voice that she should focus on working and I have no doubt that she will obtain great results. She needs better projection, support, resonance and all of it while maintaining the timbre of her voice; especially when she’s on the edge of that upper range. I still love that part of her voice because I hear progress and promise and it just shows how hard she already works. It’s getting stronger and should be more consistent just like her falsettos.
If people want her to belt notes that are higher on the keyboard, she already has. But those are the notes that are part of the range she just cannot achieve beautifully. It’s curious how people want her to sing higher when she’s “only” working on improving her upper range. This is already a lot for her; even though the fans think that she “has it” because of the two extremes she’s able to hit. If people would take the time to actually listen to her, they’ll realize that it doesn’t work like that.
Most singers have that one part of their voice where they know they don’t sound as good (Heck, I know that my head voice is WEAK!). Not all female singers can belt the same. That’s completely okay. You can even turn it around and make a stylistic choice. Singing is tricky like that. I think that you should work on being consistent and getting stronger in the things you can already do. Some unexpected things may happen in the process and with time.
As long as Normani keeps working on singing beautifully in her different registers (lower, falsettos, middle and upper range, whistles), it does not matter if she can hit every note within her vocal range. I already have an idea of how big her lane is (meaning the scale of her comfortable singing and the edge of it) and the end of it. She has yet to fully show that lane and that’s where she can keep working on.
