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Amy's Vocal Technique


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#31 amylove

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Posted 31 October 2012 - 02:02 PM

^I'm not a big Billie fan... I think Amy is a whole lot better than her.

#32 Mrs. Jones

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Posted 31 October 2012 - 05:37 PM

Oh I love her, but I don't think they are in the same league...I always found it funny to compare Amy to Billie. Like I said, I don't think Billie has a 'singer's' voice. It's hard to explain, it's a voice that is unique and original, but I don't wish to sound like her when I sing...whereas Amy's voice...well, I would pay a lot of money to sound like her.

#33 atlgafan4life

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Posted 31 October 2012 - 10:58 PM

i like Billie but I am like you not a big big fan. In my opinion, Amy has a much lighter sound than Billie. Bille depresses me and Amy gets me in a happy and mellow state. I also studied classical vocal performance in college and sing. All of my family sings. I remember when my vocal professor explained to me about how a woman's voice is prime before or by the age of thirty. She said that the vocal chords get old just like anything else.They have to be properly exercised. So no matter how much drugs,hard living and alcohol you do, you still won't sound the same as you age. I disagree that Amy sounded that strained. Everyone hears differently. I hear a maturing voice trying to impress Tone(as she called him) in Body and Soul.She cracked a little but I feel it was nerves. Amy had it right! I rarely heard her sing in the chest. I was always taught to carry the note in my upper range(head not chest).When you go back and forth between the two, it causes severe strain on the vocal chords and it sounds like crap. If you listen closely to You Sent Me Flying on the Frank album or Teach Me Tonight,you can hear her staying in her upper range. Classically trained singers work on this 24/7. Amy's voice has such great resonation in her upper range. She sounded so clear. She had all the markings. High cheek bones are a sign of good singers. I am simply mesmerized by her voice more than any other singer.Her phrasing is by far the best ever. No one can interpret a song like her. I do believe more practice for Amy would have sustained her for years to come as a singer. i too would pay a lot to sound like her. Adele is fabulous. I do fear she doesn't have the breathing technique mastered but her tone is amazing. She will and can get better with the strain on her voice because I think she plans to be in it for a long time and she is very disciplined. Regardless of the style of music you sing, you still have to hold true to the proper breathing techniques and singing in the upper range. I don't want to be technical about it but singing is like blowing really hard air into a trumpet and having all of the sound come out out at the end and not having any air leak in the valve section before the delivery. Amy You rule this song!!!!!!!!The higher the cheekbones the better the singer. that what I was told and I'm sticking to it


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#34 amylove

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Posted 31 October 2012 - 11:29 PM

Haha high cheekbones... explains why I can't sing, I have no apparent cheekbones.

Completely agree about Billie... there are a few songs I like... and she is depressing! Some of Amy's live performances are sad, but she never makes me sadder than I already feel. She mostly soothes my soul.

I've never heard the age 30 thing, that is too sad.... Tony is way beyond that, haha

#35 antceleb12

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Posted 01 November 2012 - 02:07 AM

It's refreshing to read, because I get tired of people saying how great she sounded in Body and Soul. Her voice there is clearly damaged...now that's not to say that she didn't have talent anymore, or that her phrasing was no longer impeccable. The girl still had it, for sure. But her voice was changed. I think people struggle to see the difference (the same way they can confuse technique with sounding good, as you clearly explained).
I don't know anything about singing (technically - I just know what I like to listen to), but I always felt that Billie didn't have much of a singing voice, what makes her stand out from the rest is her emotion and phrasing whcih are quite unique...although you can definately hear the damage in her voice in her later stuff.


Exactly! Amy's voice - her range and her color - changed dramatically. Part of that was also due to maturing, too.

And you're right. There's something in Billie's voice that can grab you and stop you in your tracks, even though it's not as clear or as versatile as Mariah Carey's.
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#36 Mrs. Jones

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Posted 01 November 2012 - 08:38 AM

Lady Day was depressing, but she sang the blues. She lived the blues. That woman did not have a happy life, her mother was only 13 when she had her, she was beaten by her relatives, she lived in poverty for long parts of her life, even when she became a recognised singer, she faced constant discrimination and racism, and of course was a drug addict...

[MENTION=2661]atlgafan4life[/MENTION] I also don't think Amy sounded strained as such. But there's a certain "scratchy" element to her voice, that makes it sound nice and deep, like she's smoked too many cigarettes. But in the Body and Soul video (particularly the takes that weren't kept for the final cut), it doesn't sound as effortless as usual. Was it a breathing issue?

In fact I often wonder about her emphysema. I know she dismissed it in an interview, saying it was nothing (or something along those lines) and no one really mentions it anymore towards the end of her life, but I thought it was a disease for which there was no cure, i.e. the damage to the lungs cannot be reversed. Even though it was early- stage emphysema, sureley it must've had some consequence on her singing capacity, no?

#37 antceleb12

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Posted 01 November 2012 - 01:30 PM

[MENTION=2661]atlgafan4life[/MENTION] I have never heard that a woman's voice is in her prime by thirty. In fact, I hear the opposite. I hear that some women's voices reach their pinnacle when they are young, but maaany voices (including a voice teacher at my college) reach their best when they are a lot older in life (upwards to late 40's/early 50's). It really all depends on your voice type and how you take care of it.
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#38 atlgafan4life

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Posted 01 November 2012 - 11:09 PM

trust me vocal teachers have lots of opinions and that is all that it is. she was 60 and still singing with ASO choral.They make Simon Cowell look like Santa Claus

---------- Post added at 07:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 PM ----------

You are probably correct. i forgot about the emphysema.
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#39 SarahMermaid

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Posted 01 November 2012 - 11:37 PM

@atlgafan4life it doesn't sound as effortless as usual. Was it a breathing issue?

In fact I often wonder about her emphysema. I know she dismissed it in an interview, saying it was nothing (or something along those lines) and no one really mentions it anymore towards the end of her life, but I thought it was a disease for which there was no cure, i.e. the damage to the lungs cannot be reversed. Even though it was early- stage emphysema, sureley it must've had some consequence on her singing capacity, no?


I've wondered about that too. And i'm also convinced she had left arm syndrome. Throughout all her 2011 performances including body & soul she's gripping her left arm - you can really see it in the clip from the zen of bennett. i thought she struggled with breath in that clip too, she can just about sing "i tell you i mean....it". That's just my observation - i'm no expert lol.

#40 LaPeep

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 02:26 AM

I know crap about technique but I think Amy was fabulous and blows Billie away with her phrasing it was much more natural how she played with it.
I noticed how amy did not sing like alot of the belters out there, she did not throw her head back to acheive but her jaw came down more and she could get more out of the middle tones which seems much more difficultt to me than throwing your head back and doing gymnastics on the high notes.
i was watching a documentary with Pavarotti-opera tenor and he explained some of his technique about diaphragm breathing and opening the mouth and lower jaw and I thought aha! thats Amy.
I love Maria Callas as well and i understand she lost her technique when she lost alot of weight quickly and did not learn how to compensate for that??
No one, i mean no one moves me like Amy though.
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#41 Keight

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 04:45 AM

I've wondered about that too. And i'm also convinced she had left arm syndrome. Throughout all her 2011 performances including body & soul she's gripping her left arm - you can really see it in the clip from the zen of bennett. i thought she struggled with breath in that clip too, she can just about sing "i tell you i mean....it". That's just my observation - i'm no expert lol.


Something's very strange about that! She either grabs her left forearm or her left elbow, very frequently.. It's actually quite uncomfortable.. (literally and figuratively)
And yes, I noticed that she struggled and I thought the exact same thing about the "i tell you i mean it" part. It's as if she doesn't have the lung capacity to finish the line, like she tries to sing the whole line without a breathe and instead of being able to say ''it' fluently and coherently, she has to almost spit or cough up something which sounds like "ihhh" as in "I tell you I mean.. ihhh" right afterwards, you can hear her take a deep breath for the next line

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#42 Mrs. Jones

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 08:25 AM

^that's exactly what I meant about her sounding out of breath, with that line in particular. It could be nerves too I guess, she must be shitting her pants to be singing with Tony, maybe her heart is racing and she can't control her breath....
Am I right in believing this was recorded in May of 2011? Because we know that around that time she also drank herself into a coma, so her body couldn't have been in top form when she sang this.

#43 cez

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 01:23 PM

overall I think the same as everyone, she could have preserved her voice with some technique but she would be limited... She never liked limits lol

#44 Keight

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 02:27 PM

^that's exactly what I meant about her sounding out of breath, with that line in particular. It could be nerves too I guess, she must be shitting her pants to be singing with Tony, maybe her heart is racing and she can't control her breath....
Am I right in believing this was recorded in May of 2011? Because we know that around that time she also drank herself into a coma, so her body couldn't have been in top form when she sang this.


It could be nerves.. might explain why she kept touching her left arm - like in Brazil, how she got stage fright, actually.
I think it was March 23rd 2011, I'm not sure if she was binging around then.. I think she was drinking though because I'm sure there were pictures of her out drinking in Camden after the session

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#45 SarahMermaid

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 08:26 PM

Something's very strange about that! She either grabs her left forearm or her left elbow, very frequently.. It's actually quite uncomfortable.. (literally and figuratively)


I was expecting to learn more about this in AMD and was really surprised there was no mention of it. It's so clearly visable and i agree with you..it's uncomfortable to see.




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