In opera and classical music, all six voice categories (soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass) have at least two subtypes with them, "lyric" and "dramatic" voices, which describe "vocal weight"; where a "lyric voice" is light, brighter, smoother, agile, and sweet, a "dramatic voice" is heavy, powerful, darker, richer, and often metallic in quality.
A dramatic voice is just that: powerful, substantial, edgy, vigorous, and heavy with emotion. The weight of the voice affects agility, but it allows them to sing over a full orchestra with little trouble. These are the singers who are imagined blasting the walls from buildings with the sheer power of their voices.
A dramatic voice is just that: powerful, substantial, edgy, vigorous, and heavy with emotion. The weight of the voice affects agility, but it allows them to sing over a full orchestra with little trouble. These are the singers who are imagined blasting the walls from buildings with the sheer power of their voices.
Since pop singers generally don't use the breath support and projection that opera singers are trained to use, few voices in pop music can be described as a "lyric voice" or "dramatic voice".
The closest approximations of dramatic voices in popular music (since popular music training follows a very different set of rules) could include:
Dramatic sopranos: Patti LaBelle, Monica Naranjo, Cissy Houston, Kyla la Grange, Lorraine Ellison, Kate Bush, Jill Scott, Floor Jansen, Mina, Sohyang, and Martha Wash.
Dramatic Mezzo-sopranos: Anastacia, Patti LuPone, Carol Burnett, Dusty Springfield, Ruthie Henshall, Ethel Merman, Allison Crowe, Janis Joplin, Sinéad O'Connor, Joss Stone, and Aretha Franklin.
Dramatic Contraltos: Lisa Gerrard, Tina Turner, Ana Carolina, Florence Welch, and Ruth Pointer
Dramatic Tenors: Alejandro Fernandez, Vicente Fernandez, Luis Miguel, Clay Aiken, Michael Ball, John Owen-Jones, Thomas Vikström, Erik Santos, and Alessandro Safina
Dramatic Baritones: Rick Astley, Philip Quast, George Hearn, Michael Cervaris, Josh Groban, Tom Jones, David Lee Roth, and Al Green
Dramatic Basses: Isaac Hayes, William Warfield, Thurl Ravenscroft, and Paul Robeson
The closest approximations of dramatic voices in popular music (since popular music training follows a very different set of rules) could include:
Dramatic sopranos: Patti LaBelle, Monica Naranjo, Cissy Houston, Kyla la Grange, Lorraine Ellison, Kate Bush, Jill Scott, Floor Jansen, Mina, Sohyang, and Martha Wash.
Dramatic Mezzo-sopranos: Anastacia, Patti LuPone, Carol Burnett, Dusty Springfield, Ruthie Henshall, Ethel Merman, Allison Crowe, Janis Joplin, Sinéad O'Connor, Joss Stone, and Aretha Franklin.
Dramatic Contraltos: Lisa Gerrard, Tina Turner, Ana Carolina, Florence Welch, and Ruth Pointer
Dramatic Tenors: Alejandro Fernandez, Vicente Fernandez, Luis Miguel, Clay Aiken, Michael Ball, John Owen-Jones, Thomas Vikström, Erik Santos, and Alessandro Safina
Dramatic Baritones: Rick Astley, Philip Quast, George Hearn, Michael Cervaris, Josh Groban, Tom Jones, David Lee Roth, and Al Green
Dramatic Basses: Isaac Hayes, William Warfield, Thurl Ravenscroft, and Paul Robeson
by Lorelili May 23, 2013