Have you found yourself singing along to your favorite Taylor Swift songs and thought to yourself, " hey, this actually isn't too tough! Maybe my voice is kinda like hers!"
Chances are....yes! You just may be the same voice type as Taylor Swift. If you're a female singer reading this, you're most likely a mezzo-soprano, which is indeed the voice type Taylor Swift has.
I'm going to explain it in easy to understand terms, just like I do in lessons with my students!
Taylor's voice is very much a "medium" voice. All of her songs, whether it's early stuff like "Our Song" or newer ones such as those from the "Folklore" album are not very range-y songs.
The MAIN RANGE (also known as the "tessitura") of all of her songs are smack dab in the middle of the voice: she doesn't spend a lot of time singing in a very low register, or a very high one, for that matter!
Sure, she uses her "head voice" occasionally (like in "Wildest Dreams", to name one), but her strength is in a smaller, mid range area....and she writes accordingly!
To be clear, there is a massive variety of amazing mezzo soprano vocalists out there: Adele, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Ann Wilson, Reba McEntire, Gloria Estefan, Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, P!nk, Jennifer Hudson, Idina Menzel.......oh I could go on and on. This proves it's the most common female voice type. Yes, these ladies all have their own unique sounds and different strengths and styles for sure (just like Taylor Swift!), but what do they have in common?
That's right-a killer middle voice, and they spend the majority of the time singing there. Also, just because one is a mezzo-soprano doesn't mean they don't have great low notes and great high notes as well. They just don't spend as much time singing in those extreme ranges, because they'd get tired!
So! Taylor Swift's songs are very "singer friendly", if you ask me.
The range in her songs are not super challenging overall, and depending on the song, can be great for beginners or younger singers, too.
However, if you are not a mezzo-soprano and are in fact a true soprano (a higher voice) or a contralto (a rare, very low female voice, like Cher or Toni Braxton), you may find that Taylor's songs are not necessarily easy for you to sing . Remember that the best way to measure that is to ask yourself if you get tired after singing her songs, even if you know you are using proper vocal technique.
But if you're a mezzo-soprano wanting to have fun on karaoke night or just want to mix it up on your voice lessons....yes! Taylor has your voice type, so go ahead through her many, many albums and see what songs speak to you....! Even if you're not a "Swiftie", you just may find a song or two that may be great for you that you can "Taylor" to you (sorry, I had to!)
Aaaaand....if you're looking for a teacher that totally gets Taylor's music (so many of my singers LOVE her stuff!) try a lesson with me!
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