Axl Rose’s Incredible Vocal Range?

Axl Rose is one of the most influential vocalists in music history. His incredible vocal range and unique vocal color are worshiped by music enthusiasts. The vocal range of the bass-baritone vocalist ranges from F1 to Bb6, with 5 octaves and 5 semitones range in total.

Living by the motto “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll”, Axl Rose is one of the most famous, well-appreciated, and successful rock icons in music history. As the lead vocalist, songwriter, composer, and front man of the legendary band Guns N Roses, Axl Rose has incredible vocal talents, which allow him to hit very low and high notes successfully, along with excellent skills as a musician. 

Rolling Stones announced Axl Rose as the sixth most unique voice in history, thanks to his unique color and incredible vocal range. His vocal range is much more diverse compared to other vocalists and top artists in the music scene.

What Is Axl Rose’s Vocal Range?

Axl Rose has an incredibly diverse vocal range of 5 octaves and 5 semitones. He can sing very low notes starting from F1 and very high notes up to Bb6. Axl Rose is a bass-baritone that can be heard when he sings lower notes. He is also famous for singing very high notes as well.

Although Axl Rose’s upper limit is Bb6, sometimes he surpasses that limit, like in the song “Sorry”. In the song, he hits a C6 note, which is a note higher than his normal range.

Axl’s lowest note is F1, which can be heard in the piece “In There Was A Time” from the album “Chinese Democracy”. Another low F1 note he successfully hits is in “Ain’t It Fun.”

To hear and experience the amazing vocal range of Axl Rose, you can listen to the track “It’s So Easy,” where Rose shows his skills entirely, singing very low notes and high notes in the same song. He makes it seem so effortless. 

Slash recounts the memory of him listening to Axl Rose for the first time before he started playing for the band Guns N’ Roses. He says that he was immediately amazed when the cassette started playing. It amazed him how high he could sing and how far his range extended. Slash even admitted Axl Rose did not sound like a human.

What Is Special About Axl Rose’s Voice?

Besides the fantastic vocal range, Axl Rose also has a unique singing technique that makes his vocals stand out from the rest. He is a bass-baritone who can sing like a tenor. Sometimes, the listener feels like the band has two different vocalists in his songs.

If you hear Axl Rose singing anywhere, you can immediately identify his voice. A successful vocalist must have a unique vocal character that can be easily identified and have a mark on the audience. Axl Rose achieves that to the end, thanks to his special singing technique.

The special thing in his voice is the nasality of his vocal sound. He also sings pretty aggressively but without offending or disturbing the ears. His way of touching every note he wants forcefully is also another distinctive part of his singing.

The timbre of his voice is pretty grungy, which is slightly different from other heavy metal vocalists. His endurance is awe-inspiring, as when you watch Axl Rose on the stage, his stamina rarely fades. This endurance and energy allow him to sometimes hit high notes like a soprano.

The unique singing techniques Axl Rose deploys are the pharyngeal voice and his notorious scream. When you hear his masked voice or scream, you can not mistake him for anybody else.

The pharyngeal voice is also called the ‘mask voice’. It is the voice you create from the back of your throat, on your pharynx. For this, you use pharyngeal or pharynx resonance, which creates a slight distortion in the voice, making it sound nasal and whiny. Slight distortion, nasal and whiny might be the three perfect words that describe the color of Axl Rose’s voice.

While most vocalists sing with a balance of chest voice, head voice, and pharynx voice, Axl Rose heavily relies on the pharyngeal resonance in his singing, especially when he does falsettos. He can sing like this because his muscles around the voice box are unique. He truly has one of the best vocal ranges of today.

Does Axl Rose Have The Widest Vocal Range?

While frontman Axl Rose’s vocal range and singing techniques are incredible, he is not the vocalist with the widest range. The widest vocal range belongs to Tim Storms, who has an unbelievable vocal range of 10 octaves. Axl Rose only has 5 octaves and 5 semitones.

But, Axl Rose combines his incredible vocal range with his unique singing style, which makes him stand out from the rest. He is one of the most influential vocalists ever.

Did Axl Rose’s Voice Change Over Time?

Sadly, Axl Rose’s singing voice is fading. Even though the difference is highly subtle for now and barely noticeable, the condition can worsen over the years to come. The reason is unknown, but it is thought to be the strain Rose subjects his voice box to.

Axl Rose says that he takes good care of his voice, regularly doing warm-ups, exercises, and workout sessions before performing live or even in the recording studio. He values his voice a lot and tries to maintain its quality as much as possible.

Conclusion

Axl Rose is one of the best, most famous, and most influential vocalists in music history and without question, among the greatest singers of all time. His incredible vocal range, unique singing style, and magical composer skills make him stand out from the rest as an iconic person in rock history. He is best known for songs like “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Paradise City”, “Sweet Child O’Mine”, and “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”.

His vocal range is 5 octaves and 5 semitones, from F1 to Bb6, but he can hit higher notes from time to time. He often uses a pharyngeal voice, which gives his voice the unique character it has with a nasal, whiny sound with a slight distortion in there.

Axl Rose Featured Image by: Delusion23, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Berk Oztuna

Berk Oztuna

Berk Öztuna is a handpan player, percussionist, and guitarist. He has been playing multiple instruments over the last 10 years. He started his music career as a guitarist, playing with several bands before putting his main focus into playing the handpan.

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