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Do you know how incredible Axl Rose’s voice and vocal range is? Nothing defines the success of a musician like Axl Rose better than the crowds they pull, their fan base and the air play they get. It is in line with these factors that Axl Rose has received a lot of credit in his singing. It is worth noting that famous media houses such as NME acknowledge the singer’s talent. You may wonder why the artist is rated so high. I’ll try to say the secret. It lies in Rose’s vocal ranges and captivating performances that he puts up when he gets on stage.
What Is Axl Rose’s Vocal Range?
The Sweet Child o’ Mine and Paradise City hitmaker has a vocal range that is no doubt astounding. The superstar can sing a variety of notes that are so far apart. A good example is an F1 note he vividly brings out in There was a time and then in Ain’t it Fun, he rises to B flat 6 which is five octaves above the former in pitch notation. I would liken Rose’s voice box to a mix tape; he can reach very low notes and then go up above the capability of Tina Turner.
Axl Rose has a very wide vocal range of six octaves, from F1 while he was singing the song “in There Was a Time“, in the 2nd-lowest octave in pitch notation, to B flat 6 while singing the song “Ain’t it Fun“, five octaves above it. These are incredible sung notes sung by one of the legendary band guns.
This means, he has what we call the widest vocal range. Very few singers have these kind of widest vocal ranges.
“Axl can sings the most beautiful melodies with the most aggressive tones and the most outrageous, freakish range,” says Sebastian Bach.
Axl Rose’s songs have loved the world over because of Axl Rose’s voice. One thing for sure that attracts many of his fans is his note diversity. His marvelous ability is a rare one, and just a couple of singers all over the world can span such a note range. Axl Rose is the envy of many singers and his songs never seem to grow old just because of the way he expresses himself in them. Axl Rose tends to sing what you might think as a smooth melody in a rather aggressive tone and ironically, you will find it soothing in a unique way. That’s just as far as Rose’s talent goes; it is one of a kind. Axl Rose has had a great influence on the careers of other artists such as Josh Todd and Chester Bennington.
Axl also has a good head voice which helps in singing significant high notes.
Why Axl Rose Has Such a Unique Voice?
Born on 6th February 1962, Axl was a passionate singer from a tender age, and he developed his singing tone in his early years. Later he went on performing in different places staying in concert hotels. He was singing hymns at a local church by the time he was five years old, and he enjoyed doing performances with his siblings. Rose’s love for music, especially rock music went beyond elementary school, and when he enrolled in high school, he took up piano lessons. He also participated in the school choir, and he would sing out different tones; something that left his teacher startled. Little did the boy know that he would hit the peak of stardom in his later life. Although Rose is a bass-baritone, he can use his ability to sing high tenor and most often one might think some of his songs are sung by two different people. One in very low notes and the other in very high notes which includes the voice-over five octaves.
If you ever take your time to compare the voices in different songs by Axl Rose, you will appreciate the gift he has. The extraordinary voice made Rose be selected as the vocalist of Guns N Roses. It is no surprise that Rollingstones have ranked Rose in the sixth position in the list of the most unique voices.
The reason behind Rose’s amazing voice is his use of a mask or what can be termed pharyngeal resonance. Mask is located at the back of our throats, but that doesn’t mean you can produce the tones that Axl Rose produces−it depends on many other factors such as the size and general architecture of the vocal cords. Whereas most singers, especially rock singers, try to create a balance between head voice, chest voice, and mask, Rose opts to use the resonance more in his singing and thus he can sing something like guns n roses.
And mind you, guns n roses is not easy to sing even for a trained singer. By singing guns n roses, Axl surely made a mark for himself. His head voice is also unique.
Changes in Axl Rose’s Singing Voice
Unfortunately, it seems the quality of Rose’s singing keeps dwindling, and the reason could be the strain he subjects his voice box to. However, the changes are very slight, and it takes a keen ear to make out the difference in his early songs and the ones he has snag lately. One thing still stands; Rose is a talented singer and one of the very few that our generation is blessed with. He stated that he values his voice (including chest voice) and always takes good care of it. Rose also said that he always does warm ups and workout sessions before he sets foot on stage just to ensure he sings to the best of his ability.
I believe Mike Patton has a highly underrated and overlooked vocal range too. Love Axl’s voice. So unique.
I second this. Not to take away from Axl, of course.