Do you sing bass, falsetto, other?

I was driving home from a road trip the other day, flipping around my XM channels, but mostly, I was listening to a classic soul station.

Lou Rawls' You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine comes on. It's a very cheesy song, but I totally dig it, especially, for some reason, when its cold out.

It feels like a winter song, maybe the lounge piano key repeated throughout makes me think I just slipped off my nice full-length wool coat and that I'm nice and snug in some cool club or something grooving to Rawls.

Or maybe it makes me think I'm inside my warm house fucking. Whatever.

Anyway, I start singing, especially the bass parts in the verses.

"YOU'll never find ... (piano key) ... as long as you live ...
SOMEONE WHO LOVES YOU ... like IIIII do.
YOU'll never find ... (piano key) ... no matter WHERE you SEARCH ...
SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT YOU ... like III do.

"WHOA I'M NOT BRAGGIN' ON MYSELF, BABY ... But I'm the one who loves you ...
AND THERE'S NO ONE ELSE ... Nooooooo one else."

Etc.

Now I'm braggin' on myself, er, baby, but I swear by God I hit every one of Rawls' deep bass notes perfectly. Yes I might be a 39-year-old white man from the suburbs whose complexion makes your joe average Irishman look Mediterranean, but it sounded great. Really. It sounded great (in my head).

By the way, when you take the lyrics of that song into account, the mental image of yourself emerging from a 1970s era Dutch Masters cigar box, fully buck-ass naked, telling a significant other that takes you for granted that "you're going to miss my lovin'" before you walk away bare-assed with a Colt .45 malt liquor can in your hand is what enters your head, right? I'm not alone on that one am I?

Anyway, just when I thought I was in Rawls' league when it comes to bass singing, along comes Marvin Gaye and Let's Get It On.

Undeniably great song, and with Marvin's range, there's no way -- white 39-year-old soul crooner though I am -- I'm going to hang with him all the way through the pitch changes in that classic song.

But I was confused because I found myself singing the falsetto parts more than anything else.

"I KNOW you know ... what I've been dreaming of. DONCHTA BABY!"
"MY WHOOOOOLE BODY ... (my body wants ya, my body wants ya, yeah I sang that part too) ... FEELS IN LOVE! AH! HELP ME! WOOO!

"I ain't gonna worry, NO!, I AIN'T GONNA PUUUSH!"

Etc.

Why would I sing bass on one song and falsetto on another? I was really confused. Am I really the soul crooner I thought I was, or, less likely, a complete amateur?

Then Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight came on and I was in full-blown soul crooner existential crisis.

I didn't sang that song at all, because other than, "The big stuff ... who do you think you are?", I don't know most of the lyrics.

But I did sing the female back-up parts. To a tee.

Jean Knight: I'd rather give my love. To a poor guy that has a love that is true
Me: OH YEAH!
Jean Knight: Then to be fooled by ...
Me: WOO!
Jean Knight: And get hurt by you ... Cause when I give my love, I want love in return
Me: OH YEAH!

What the hell? I thought I was a soul crooner, but I can't even make up my mind whether I'm a smooth bass lover man, a falsetto lover man or an anonymous female back-up singer.

Does this ever happen to you when you're singing in the car/shower/apartment/house?

 

Daddy sang bass, Mama sang tenor. Me and little brother would join right in there.

 

I sing off-key.

 

I have nothing to add other than I met a guy a a bar tonight who thinks Lynn Dickey is a golden god.

And hates the Vikings.

Honest.

 

Stole my first response.

My second response is that I can't go as high as I used to be able to, but I have a strong baritone voice with a good range that includes tenor and bass as needed.

I can do a falsetto (to a point), but it's never been very strong. I used to do a not bad version of "Don't Worry Baby" by the Beach Boys but, as I said, I just can't hit the high notes anymore.

 

It's tough being a bass with no falsetto whatsoever. Once I had a bad head cold on a road trip, raising my range about half an octave. That was fun (<shuffles cds> "Hey, I can do this one now. And this one!") Mostly, I just sing along an octave lower, with periodic excursions into straining failure, or stick with artists who don't have--or at least aren't using--much range.

If you can sing "Xylophone Song" by The Magnetic Fields, well that's some bass-y bass:

Sad that there aren't more genuine basses using the low end of their range.

 

Bass? Not so much.
Falsetto? Much, much better than I should be able to.
Other? Usually works best. If I don't sing higher than my normal speaking range, though, I think I sound like shit.

 

I have a deep voice, so I sing much better in the low ranges. (I never had any formal training so please forgive my lack of specificity). I will admit to trying to sing along with some high/falsetto soul songs, etc., but I just can't do it. I sound like I'm trying to combine a whine with a whisper or something.

Try to sing along to "I Destroyed Your Love" by Special Delivery. If there's a better song in terms of extensive falsetto use, I want to hear it. If you can sing the lead on that one, you're awesome and I enjoy you.

 

To be honest, being able to sing bass and falsetto is pretty normal. In fact, it's easier for a lower male voice to sing falsetto since you break from chest to head voice lower than a tenor would.

 

I sing perfectly in the key of "off"

 

Higher than your normal speaking range would be a dog whistle

I sing pretty high, I love singing along to Marvin he is my all-time favorite artist.

 

I sing mini-Ditka