After a long stint without any of those really popular songs all my students want to sing at once (think “Let It Go,” “Hello”…you get the idea), everyone is requesting “How Far I’ll Go,” from Moana. I love this one, because as you’d expect from something composed by Lin-Manuel-Miranda, it’s catchy but full of surprising […]
Christina Grimmie, by Justin Higuchi under cc by 2.0 It’s been 3 years since the last Christmas song we wrote a Hard Songs blog about, Mariah Carey’s notoriously difficult “All I Want For Christmas is You.” We thought it was time for another popular holiday favorite, “O Holy Night.” I enjoy teaching Christmas songs, because […]
Taylor Swift 1989 Tour at Ford Field in Detroit, 5/30/15, by GabboT, under CC BY-SA 2.0 I recently got a request for a Hard Songs to Sing post on “Wildest Dreams,” by Taylor Swift. Although I think this one is tamer than some of the other Taylor songs I’ve written about, like “Shake it Off,” […]
Demi Lovato; The Neon Lights Tour (Belo Horizonte), by João Bicalho, under CC BY 2.0 Without a doubt, “Stone Cold,” by Demi Lovato is one of the hardest hit belt songs to come out in the last couple years. It’s extremely rangy, swinging between an F3 on the low end and a belted (or at […]
Christina Aguilera Singing Beautiful to the Breakthrough Prize Scientists, by Melketon, under CC BY 2.0 A few months ago, I got a request for a Hard Songs to Sing tutorial on “Beautiful,” by Christina Aguilera. “Beautiful” is one of those rare pop songs that has a ton of staying power and is widely requested by […]
Adele Live 2009, by Christopher Macsurak, under CC BY 2.0 At long last, Adele’s much-anticipated new single, “Hello,” has been released. Not only did it set a new high for number of views in 24 hours, breaking Taylor Swift’s record, it’s topped 100 million views in five days, overtaking Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball.” Unsurprisingly, this […]
Rachel Platten 08-20-2015-5, by Justin Higuchi, under CC BY 2.0 Rachel Platten’s latest hit, “Stand By You,” is an uplifting, catchy pop song that doesn’t seem particularly difficult until you try to sing it. Like her previous hit, Fight Song, “Stand By You” mostly falls in a range that’s pretty high for most people to […]
Sam Smith Oct 23, 2014 at O2 ABC, Glasgow, UK, by marcen27, under CC BY 2.0 Sam Smith’s songs are full of intricate runs and fluid adjustments between registers. I’ve worked with many frustrated students on one of his most popular ones, “Lay Me Down.” The song’s opening verse meanders stream-of-conscience style in a way […]
We recently got a request for “Problems,” by Ariana Grande for our Hard Songs to Sing collection. It’s a great choice, because anyone who’s tried it knows what an intensely hard song it is. Grande has over a 4-octave range, and while we may not be able to give you that, we can give you […]
Our incredible vocal student Lucy sang a stunning rendition of Rachel Platten’s new hit, “Fight Song” in last night’s recital, reminding everyone how tough the song is! To pull it off, you should either have a strong, high belt or a powerful head-mix, along with great dynamic control. I thought it’d be a perfect song […]
Taylor swift and Sean O’Pry in the music for “Blank Space”, by Josephlalrinhlua786, under CC BY-SA 4.0 Even though our last song in our Hard Songs To Sing Collection, “Shake It Off,” was also a Taylor Swift Song, I decided to write about another Taylor song, “Blank Space,” since it’s widely requested by our students […]
YouTube Presents Taylor Swift, by Marcin Wichary, under CC BY-SA 2.0 As most radio listeners have heard by now, Taylor Swift has gone full-on pop, attracting a lot of media attention by pulling all her albums from Spotify after a run-in with the famous music-streaming company. Love it or hate it, her biggest single right […]