Hayley's Highest Note

[Martin]

Hi All
In a recent discussion in a Natasha Marsh thread, Dave made reference to the four highest vocal notes you can hear in the standard classical repertoire. In particular as heard in "The Queen of the Night" by Mozart.

So I wondered what is the highest note sung by Hayley on a recording? Certainly there are some high notes sung on both "Quanta Qualia" and " O Mio Babbino Caro" but what do you think?

Martin

[Jenny A]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe her highest note was in Quanta Qualia. according to the songbook she gets up to a high D! very high indeed!!
She's a true Soprano. I'm a Mezzo; I can only sing up to a high G when completely warmed up with out it sounding strained and Hayley sings a high D so clearly. It gives me shivers every time I hear that song.

[martindn]

Hi Martin

There are several songs with very high notes on Pure. Benedictus comes to mind, but also some where sho suddenly shoots off into the stratosphere - I think she was showing off a bit. She does that in Never Say Goodbye, also in Amazing Grace and Hine e Hine, both of which she sings differently these days and avoids the high notes.

Martin

[Dave]

Hello Jenny and Martins

Yes indeed, Hayley can sing upto the high D or D6 (the Queen of the Night goes up to F6 so not far below it). You may be interested if I copy a post I made about this matter on 26th February 2007 here in the Review of Odyssey thread so here it is:

Feb 26, 2007 0:58:25 GMT Dave said:

dave said:

Well Cathleen, with comments like that, i just had to investigate! So I did a spectrum analysis on the PC... and also compared it with my daughter's old keyboard just to make sure

Hayley's vocal range on Odyssey seems to go from the F sharp below middle C (On My Heart Belongs to You) up to the D above High A - two octaves and one note above middle C (in Quantia Qualia, of course).

If I am right, that makes a range of two octaves plus five and a half notes. I don't know how to express that correctly! It sounds like a pretty wide range to me and wider, I think, than Hayley achieved on "Pure" by quite a bit
Edit: corrected after re-checking

Just a quick update on this everyone,

Following Hayley's recent vocal gymnastics on the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme, I've (naturally ) done a frequency analysis on it and we can now increase Hayley's singing range slightly... by one semitone! She reached D#6 (D sharp in the 6th piano octave - 1217 Hz) that is two octaves and three semitones above middle C. So her known range is now exactly two and threequarter octaves (two octaves and nine semitones)...
Cheers, Dave

Note that in her vocal gymnastics on Radio 4 Hayley went up to D#6 or half a tone above her highest recorded note. I think she did this too (but to D6) on an Australian Interview last year. I seem to have had a bit of trouble counting the tones and semitones to get the range (F#3 to D#6) so perhaps someone who knows would do a recount for me?

Cheers, Dave

[sonata58]

Jun 5, 2008 22:37:30 GMT Dave said:

I seem to have had a bit of trouble counting the tones and semitones to get the range (F#3 to D#6) so perhaps someone who knows would do a recount for me?

I had to go to my piano to do that. I counted 33 half steps (or semitones as you call them).

That is an incredible range! Of course, that is only the range in which Hayley can comfortably sing. She most definitely can sing more notes in both directions. I seem to recall that Hayley once mentioned in an interview that she has a 3 octave range?

I think Hayley's voice has lowered since Pure. In Pure, she reached amazingly high notes, but some of her low notes (such as those in Dark Waltz) were a bit weak. But now in Treasure, her low register is rich. I've also noticed that she no longer sings the high parts in Amazing Grace and Hine e Hine. I don't know if she will mature into a Mezzo-Soprano. (I believe she classifies herself as a Lyric Soprano). But, for sure, her range will continue to expand and her voice grow richer. If she is this good at 21, imagine what she will sound like when her voice is fully developed!

[martindn]

Hi Guys,

I'm surprised that the analysis shows as little as three octaves when Sarah Brightman claims four! I have listened to Sarah (and Hayley) a lot, and feel sure that Hayley has the greater range.
Of couse it gives a totally false picture to measure the highest and lowest notes at different times. Hayley's range has shifted downwards as her voice has matured for sure. And I suspect, having just listened to it, that Hayley's newest album "Hayley sings Japanese Songs" has the least vocal range of any of her albums.

Martin

[Dave]

Jun 7, 2008 0:00:25 GMT martindn said:

Hi Guys,

I'm surprised that the analysis shows as little as three octaves when Sarah Brightman claims four! I have listened to Sarah (and Hayley) a lot, and feel sure that Hayley has the greater range.
Of couse it gives a totally false picture to measure the highest and lowest notes at different times. Hayley's range has shifted downwards as her voice has matured for sure. And I suspect, having just listened to it, that Hayley's newest album "Hayley sings Japanese Songs" has the least vocal range of any of her albums. Martin

Hi Martin,

I am intensely sceptical of vocal ranges claimed by or on behalf of singers, especially if it's their record company or management who make the claim. I would not believe the Sarah Brightman claim unless I can be pointed to a studio album or concert in which both ends of the range were sung and can be independently checked.

In Hayley's case, the highest and lowest notes she has sung (excluding the vocal gymnastics) both occurred on the album Odyssey on "new" recordings at the time so the range I mentioned (2.7 octaves) can, I think, be considered genuine for Hayley at that age. Not so in the case of many other claims about other singers (not to mention some of the higher pitched "screeches" that some people count as singing - let's not even go there!).

Thanks Sonata58 for counting Hayley's notes for me!

Cheers, Dave

[milewalker]

Jun 5, 2008 23:16:33 GMT sonata58 said:

I think Hayley's voice has lowered since Pure.

Hi sonata,

Yes and no I think. The basic timbre of her voice has deepened somewhat - and I think this presents a problem, but only at times and with certain songs. I think the last time that Hayley actually did the original high notes for Amazing Grace was during one of her televised events in the US for Pure, and I noted that she sounded strained. The problem is the combination of note and power, and the strain that produces. This being said, if a song allows her to use her "whistle register" ( a slight misnomer technically in Hayley's case, but close enough) the power isnt required, the strain is reduced, and she can sing as high there, or higher, as she ever could.

[chungchungxavier]

At the ending phase of Dark Waltz ,
I think she reaches a soprano E or E6 .

[Libby]

My guess is Quanta Qualia. I don't think I could ever hit those notes! I am a soprano, but there are certain pitches Hayley sings that I have trouble with.

[martindn]

Jun 30, 2008 2:51:59 GMT Libby said:

My guess is Quanta Qualia. I don't think I could ever hit those notes! I am a soprano, but there are certain pitches Hayley sings that I have trouble with.

Stangely enough, so do I.

Martin

[Richard]

Me too!

Richard

[Natasha]

I thought Hayley's highest note was on the "Ah" parts of "Never Say Goodbye," but I haven't had a chance to play out "QQ" on the piano yet. In "Never Say Goodbye" Hayley sings a soprano's high C.

Like most light soprano's Hayley had some easy high notes when she was younger, but as her chords mature her voice is changing. I'm not sure if she will ever have the mezzo-soprano sound, but I think her range is heading in that direction. Which does not mean she cannot still sing high notes, I became a mezzo when I was sixteen and still have all my soprano notes, its just that now they are not easy like they were.

I would have to agree however that Sarah Brightman has higher notes than Hayley. The rule in singing is that you need to be able to sing a couple notes higher than your highest note in whatever song you perform, and Sarah consistently performed, "Phantom of the Opera" theme song which has the high E, which is a note or so higher than anything Hayley has recorded. She also has an incredibly low range as well... I'm not a big fan of how Ms. Brightman sounds when she sings the notes she does, but she does have a very big range.

[chantelle]

Well, if Hayley sings it (it's hard to tell with all the other voices!) the last note of the "Quintet (Tonight)" from West Side Story is also a High C (C6) in Hayley/Maria's part.
She also goes up to a high B-flat in "I Have a Love."

[matt]

Hine e Hine was the first song that came to mind also Quanta Qualia, back in high school i had access to software that would be able to tell me about what she can hit. I dont even remember the name of it now. I dont know vocal music that well and what note is what. (most of my music is in the trumpet) But since most normal females voices can change til they turn 21 or 22. I wouldn't be shocked if she cant hit some high notes like she use to...But shes not normal well at least voice wise, maybe shes waiting to show off some new notes. One thing i know from the trumpet is lower the notes that can be played higher the notes that person can play. i guess its a irony of some kind but lower notes should be more impressive then higher notes on the trumpet, cuz the high notes seem so easy to hit, playing peddle tones seem impossible

ohh and the last trip to the dr he was saying my voice has finaly got to baritone, (my voice gets deeper when im sick) they said when i was young that my voice would be a bass by the time i was 25 but i dont think so. i almost never sing anyways, so i don't know why it matters to everyone in my family.