Ariana Grande - Vocal Profile
Vocal Range: D3 - B5 - E7
Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano (4 octaves and a note)
Vocal Rating: B Positives: A vocal actress, being able to mimic the tones and voices of many singers, including Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Celine Dion. Her lower register, though often weak and inconsistent (due to her sky-high tessitura), is relatively strong for a soprano, supporting down to F#3 (Into You) and extending to D3 (as seen in Dangerous Woman). Her belts are achieved through mixing, having stretched up to Bb5's successfully (Be My Baby); Grande also has no issue staying in the soprano tessitura for extended periods of time (see live performances of Break Free, Dangerous Woman and Focus).
Her belting register as a whole is extensive and reaches up to an impressive B5. Capable of complex, fast melismas (see Hands on Me and Problem). A rolling vibrato can be heard in belts up to G#5 and as low as Bb3, before her lower register begins. Her falsetto is light and sweet and is also where the voice finds its 'ring,' being bright and healthy up to Eb6. She has ultilised falsetto often (See God Is A Woman and The Way) The whistle register is piercing, and the whistles don't have disconnected tones attached to them (polyphonic tones). She is able to sing vocal runs in this register (See Emotions), and has posted clips on her social media while she is doing them. Negatives: The previously mentioned mixed belts generally lack power and the whistle register is not controlled (something she has admitted herself), so instead her ‘whistles’ are substituted with falsetto often during the ‘Yours Truly’ era.
Her slightly nasal and feminine tone is also polarizing. Her diction is unpolished, leaving her lyrics incomprehensible at points (see the bridge of Break Free) due to tongue tension.
Grande also over activates muscles in her jaw - mostly while singing runs - furthering this tongue tension, which in turn changes the positioning of the larynx (See Dangerous Woman Acapella)
Intonation live has proven to be a problem at points (around 2013), and the lower register sounds unsupported in most instances. Her support is also inconsistent, ranging from around G3-C#5, above C5/C#5 she raises her larynx (See Bang Bang Summertime Ball Performances).
She has also had a vocal decline because she was made to sing the ultra high parts constantly while her technique suffered. Ariana’s role as ‘Cat Valentine’ also hindered her resonance as she had to utilize a thinner and headier mix / use of voice to match Cat’s air and personality. Her diction however, during the 13 and Broadway eras were excellent, but her technique has went downhill since then. Grande has also not produced resonance properly since 2012 (where she was last seen producing resonant Bb4s in her Firework cover).
Why this is her voice type :
Grande possesses a light, youthful and girly voice with a high tessitura, and her vocal tone is also described as pretty.
Common misconceptions :
-Coloratura ~ Ariana, yes, does have quite an agile voice, but compared to pop coloratura singers like Beyonce and Mariah Carey, she is definitely not one of them.
-Soubrette ~ Ariana has a light and girly voice, but her tessitura does not match a typical soubrette’s (her tessitura is much higher than one eg. Sabrina Carpenter and Britney Spears,)
