Singing Voice Adjectives
Agile
- A light voice which moves easily in terms of pitch, capable of executing complex and fast passages of music.
Androgynous - A voice which is capable of sounding either male or female accurately (often applied to countertenors, sopranists and tenore altini).
Angelic - Often applied to children voices, and in some cases adult female voices, this voice creates a sense of purity and sacredness.
Bright - A voice which is light in terms of vocal weight, and clear, giving off a sense of optimism, with the ability to cut through other voices and music.
Breathy - A voice that uses a large amount of breath in its production, in some cases giving it a more intimate quality, and in others obscuring diction.
Charismatic - A voice which walks the fine line between being seductive and being charming, this voice has a persuasive quality.
Charming - A voice that carries a sense of simplicity and confidence and has a very natural quality.
Clear - A voice that carries through music easily, while not sounding forced or pushed, but rather well-balanced in its production.
Delicate - A voice that caresses the notes and lyrics that it is singing. Sometimes can include a ‘catch’ in the voice that sacrifices sometimes a certain amount of diction for emotion
Golden - A confident voice that ripples with warmth and confidence.
Gruff This voice conveys a sense of earthiness and roughness. Often the sound of experience, it often sounds weathered and troubled.
Growling - Often associated with rock music, a singer who uses growl in their vocal production can give the impression of snarling their words and notes, giving them a rougher edge.
Haunting - The quality of this voice is one that leaves a lasting effect on the listener. Often quiet and tentative, it sometimes sacrifices diction and breathing technique for emotive expression.
Heroic - A voice that is filled with confidence and inspires bravery, it often sounds full and comfortable in the upper chest register.
Honest - An open voice that doesn’t sound over-worked or produced, but rather finds its comfortable area easily conveys a sense of truth well.
Husky - A voice that has a rough but appealing nature that contains a certain sex appeal to it. Often a deeper voice associated with baritones and contr/altos respectively.
Hypnotic -This soft voice captures the attention of and mesmerizes the listener.
Lilting - A lively and cheerful voice, containing a rhythmic quality, which is often associated with Celtic and folk styles of music.
Nasal - A voice where the vocal production is unbalanced and pushed too much into the nasal resonating area, instead of opening out.
Piercing - Piercing voices are ones which cut cleanly through music as well as other voices. This can sometimes be in a negative sense if it is the result of too much nasality, and as such can be sharp on the ears.
Passionate - This voice drips with emotion and fire, allowing the audience to effectively feel whatever the singer wants to express - often used to describe pop, MT and rock voices.
Pushed - A voice where the chest/modal part of the voice swells in volume, intensity and pitch to create a sense of pushing its upper limits. In opera often described as Spinto
Rasping - A voice which has a rasping quality, often found in the vocal production of rock-based vocalists.
Regal - Often the sound of reason and nobility, this voice has a commanding, yet relaxed sound, that gives the impression of calm control.
Rich - A voice with a full and engaging timbre, that flows easily and contains in it a sense of gravitas and experience.
Ringing - A voice which carries easily and can be heard clearly over music and other voices (often used to describe tenor voices in opera).
Seductive - A voice that oozes sex appeal and conveys a sense of persuasion.
Soulful - This voice conveys a connection between heart and voice. It can be highly emotive and is often capable of executing riffs, runs and fioritura.
Twangy - A voice that often incorporates a heavy uses of nasality, which is also generally associated with country and western styles of music.
Youthful - A bright and high pitched voice, often associated with child singers, or developed singers whose fach is placed fairly high, such as high tenors, contertenors, high mezzos and sopranos.