Countertenor singers are male singers who use a tenor above their voice. The artists modify their vocal pitch; the highest vocal range is known as a countertenor.
Tenor, in other words, refers to the highest in the male voices. There are three general parts of the voice used by countertenor artists: chest voice, mix, and head voice (falsetto).
The chest voice is normal or slightly higher sound than the normal voice. Mix refers to a mix between chest voice and falsetto. Similarly, the falsetto i.e, head voice, is the art of singing which is higher than the usual voice.
The artists such as Queen singer Freddie Mercury, Jersey Boys singer Frankie Vallie, and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine are popular singers that practice countertenor.
Here are five famous countertenor singers who use the singing style in their music.
- Charlie Puth
- Childish Gambino
- Andreas Scholl
- Zayn Malik
- John Holiday
1.Charlie Puth
Charlie Puth is a non-classical countertenor singer; he is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Puth was discovered through Youtube.
The singer has sung songs like Attention, How Long, Marvin Gaye and We Don’t Talk Anymore, which seem to have been sung in high tenor with pre-choruses and choruses mixed with the F4 and Gb4 sounds.
Similarly, the artist uses falsetto and high tenor voices in his songs. The artist’s voice ranges from G3 to D5 or E5 as well. These countertenor vocal range keys are from E3 to E5.
Hence, Charlie alters the chest and head voices to make a suitable sound for his music. The singer is also famous for his ability to recognize musical notes instantly. He is a talented pop artist whose music is primarily listed in Billboard’s top charts.
2. Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino is a non-classical countertenor singer. The Community actor turned singer has released multiple singles in countertenor’s voice.
Gambino, aka Donald Glover’s album “Awaken, My Love!” uses multiple styles of countertenor sounds and falsetto to create unique music. His songs, such as Redbone, Me and Your Mama, and This is America uses tenor sounds that make his song distinct.
The artist uses a mix of head and normal voices in his song Redbone. He includes a falsetto to suit the theme. The artist’s music was doubted, commended, and respected throughout the music community. The singer can also sing with a high tenor using a falsetto sound.
The vibration and registration of the head’s voice can be felt throughout his song Redbone. The song transitions smoothly from mixed voice, head voice, and high falsetto.
3. Andreas Scholl
Andreas Scholl is a classical countertenor singer. The artist is from Germany. He has a high vocal tenor and specializes in Baroque music.
The artist has performed in opera and theaters. He also performed the Bacc’s B minor in a mass in 1995. The artist also has given recitals in Wigmore Hall at Brighton Festival. The artist’s songs include The Three Ravens, Flow My Tears, Sorrow Stay, and Cara Sposa.
The singer’s songs are quite poetic, like a Shakespearean musical; he mainly uses head voice and falsetto in his classical performance.
The music sung by the artist sounds like a musical instrument like Theremin being performed in the mass. The artist’s voice is extremely high and also uses chest and mixed voice.
In his countertenor voice performance for Ombra Mai Fu: Aria Da Xerxes, he performs alongside the conductor and orchestra, creating a beautiful piece of music available on Youtube.
4. Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik is a non-classical countertenor artist who performs songs in a high-tenor voice. The artist’s tenor voice stems from his love for high-pitch sounds often used in his music.
Malik’s songs like Pillow Talk, Dusk Till Dawn, I Don’t want a Live Forever, and A Whole New World use high tenor sounds with a distinct pitch. The artist uses countertenor on the symphony of his songs while mixing with his music.
The artist initially starts with Chest’s voice in his song, uses a mixed voice to blend with the beat of the music, and in climax, he uses countertenor to reverberate the song to gravitate the listeners.
Malik doest seem to have the potential to reach the achieve classical tenor abilities. His often songs includes falsetto and unique sounds that makes his music appealing.
5. John Holiday
John Holiday is a non-classical countertenor singer. The Voice contestant has performed multiple songs in high tenor sound.
Holiday’s first audition was while singing the female Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald’s Misty. He sang the song with a high tenor and was lauded by every judge from the panel of Voice.
John also sang The National Anthem of the U.S. in the countertenor’s voice. Similar to other artists, he often uses multiple chest voices to start his song, mix voice, and then head voices to peak his performance. Holiday also has released multiple songs where he often uses falsetto to sing.
A holiday performed in the Academy of Ancient Music while singing a classical song Vivaldi. He uses an operatic singing style using falsetto and high tenure from the sounds ranging from note E3 to E5.