What songs are the best test of a singer's skill?

[jobycom]

Songs like "Unchained Melody" or "O Holy Night," that not only test a singer's technical accuracy but also their interpretive ability?

[DS1]

1. 4:33

If you can get a frontman to shut up for that long, you've got a keeper

[jobycom]

2. Many should.

:rofl: Good pick.

[deepthought42]

48. LMFAO!

:rofl:

My favorite piece ever. I listen to it all the time. ;)

[Forkboy]

3. The National Anthem.

[jobycom]

5. Oh, great pick. Didn't even think of that.

[jakefrep]

22. You stole my answer

nt

[Forkboy]

24. We can share it!

:toast:

[jakefrep]

41. Fair enough.

:fistbump:

[peruban]

36. Yeah, that one requires an octive and a half of range. n/m

[liberaltrucker]

47. Yep. From a low C to a high D.

Yikes!

[XemaSab]

4. I have heard singers FALL APART on O Holy Night

A lot of the baroque stuff has little fiddly parts that are hard to get right.

[jobycom]

7. Yes, it separates them, doesn't it? The most surprising performance I've ever heard

was John Berry. He had a country hit a while back called "Your love amazes me," which I always thought was pretentiously performed, so I never liked it. Then I happened to catch him on an old TNN variety show singing "O Holy Night," and he hit every nuance perfectly. He literally brought tears to my eyes at the end when he reached the final "de-VINE." He had been slowly building to it the whole song, and when he hit, it made you gasp. He's released a recorded single of it, and it's good, but it's not even close to what he did that night. I've never been able to find that version again, though.

I also heard him sing "You love amazes me" live on the same show, and it was also far better than the studio version. Some people just sing better live, I guess.

[Shell Beau]

10. Speaking of country stars, Martina McBride does it beautifully also.

As does Kelly Clarkson, IMO.

[jobycom]

13. Martina is another of those who knows how to build a song.

Some do, some don't. A lot of singers just hit the right notes.

My daughter described singing as like swimming. She said that you could take someone out into the middle of a lake and dump them overboard. Some would know how to get back to shore, and some wouldn't. She said singing was like that--if you drop a true singer into the middle of a song, they will know how to get where they want to go. Others would be lost without directions. Not bad for a fifteen year old, eh?

Or as George Carlin said, it's not enough to know what note to sing next. You have to know why.

[DS1]

11. Those aren't the words Eric!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NHFuZxxghs

[MrScorpio]

6. MacArthur Park

[jobycom]

8. What is it with you and that song?

Not that I don't agree, though I'd never thought about it before.

[MrScorpio]

17. Believe you, me.... It's a Detroit thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVwfuxYvVtU

[kwassa]

25. but MacArthur Park is located in Los Angeles!

Original version by actor Richard Harris

Most meaningful lyrics ever composed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHS8hj4TdT8&feature=related

[MrScorpio]

29. It's not like they have a monopoly on it

http://www.placenames.com/us/p631264/ We've got our own

Plus we had the late, great Lou Gordon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoNISUxXNcs

[kwassa]

39. This is what the park was known for when I lived there

(and I am originally from the Motor City myself.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Park

Decline

Despite the rather poetic homage paid to it in the 1968 song, the real MacArthur Park became known for violence after 1985 when drug-dealing, shoot-outs and the occasional rumored drowning became commonplace, with as many as 30 murders in 1990.<4> The Westlake area also became infamous for the sale of fake identification cards. When the lake was drained during construction of the Red Line tunnel hundreds of handguns were found to have been disposed of in the lake.

Revitalization

Beginning in 2002 the Los Angeles Police Department, and business and community leaders led a revitalization effort that has led to the installation of surveillance cameras, the opening of a recreation center, increased business, early-morning drink vendors, a new Metro station, the return of the paddle boats and the fountain, and large community festivals attracting thousands. Most recently, in 2005 the park was celebrated for having the highest reduction of crime statistics per resident in the United States.

Gang-on-gang violence still occurs occasionally in and around the park. On September 15th 2007 infant Luis Angel Garcia was hit by a stray bullet near the corner of 6th Street and Burlington Avenue. Authorities said the gunmen (part of the 18th Street Gang) were targeting a street vendor who had refused to pay $50 in "rent". The vendor, Francisco Clemente, was also shot, as was the baby's mother and the vendor's girlfriend.<5>

[RandomThoughts]

51. why I like Pie

I like the high notes in this one better :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaZim6ybvdA

[Danger Mouse]

40. I agree. If they can endure singing it, they're practically Hercules.

[Shell Beau]

9. O Holy Night has got to be one of the hardest.

So beautiful when done right. Also Ave Maria! Such a beautiful song.

[Tikki]

12. I love this version by Elvis Costello...

Love the song...love this version..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WezmWkQkzg


Tikki

[bbernardini]

37. Without even clicking on the link, I knew exactly which song you were referring to.

One of the greatest performances in the history of recorded music. Absolute perfection.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Hagen calling the troops in Gotterdammerung.

And, really, pretty much all of Wagner is a test of a singer's skill.

[jobycom]

15. Well, yeah...

That would do it, too. :)

[AwakeAtLast]

16. "Ave Maria"

"Climb Every Mountain", "Summertime".

[Arugula Latte]

18. You know what's pathetic? I can't sing "Happy Birthday" to save my life.

The song you HAVE to sing most often ... I just can't carry that tune in a bucket, for some reason.

[CBHagman]

19. For sopranos, "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide.

The poor woman has to not only hit all the notes and have perfect diction, but she has to nail -- you should pardon the expression -- the characterization as well.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Oh yes, that's a toughie

That requires a coloratura voice with pitch-perfect accuracy on the top of the treble clef--something I don't have, although I'm a good workhorse of a choral singer.

[Zuiderelle]

28. Only for coloratura sopranos. I would never expect Leontyne Price, for example, to sing that.

[XemaSab]

31. Yes

n/t

[hobbit709]

20. Anacreontic Song.

[sarge43]

21. Nessun Dorma. n/t

[DarkTirade]

27. Ya beat me to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Sx5lbVlQA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOfC9LfR3PI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

[sarge43]

34. When done right, that aria can bring you about three feet off the chair.

I like Domingo's interpretation. I think he combines the power and the lyricism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RdJmqLrsbo

[kwassa]

26. Depends on the range of the singer, and what part is written for.

Classical repetoire is the hardest. My wife sings it, and I don't know most of it.

[Justpat]

30. Bridge Over Troubled Waters originally sung by Art Garfunkle n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

32. Any song...

that is sung without amplification and using no more than a piano for accompanyment.

No tricks to hide behind, it's all out there for everyone to hear.

Imagine Peggy Lee singing "Happy Birthday". Now imagine John Legend singing it. Now imagine Fergie, or Sinatra, or Enya, or Aretha, or Lucianno -- that simple tune, sung as close to a cappella as possible, can tell you everything you need to know the strength/depth of a singer.

[Taverner]

33. Our National Anthem

[peruban]

35. Monty Python's lumberjack song. LOL

It takes balls to sing that one.

[martymar64]

43. Actually their Philosopher Drinking Song requires more skill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_WRFJwGsbY

[peruban]

46. OMG, I completely forgot about that.

Funniest shit I've heard all day.

[Bake]

38. Anything by Ronnie Millsap

Almost Like A Song, for example. Dude has about a ten octave range (OK, I exaggerate a bit), and always puts a coda on the end that no one but him can sing!

Bake

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

42. The Queen of the Night Aria from The Magic Flute.

That's a larynx-buster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBW_9OjhlA&feature=related

[cemaphonic]

49. Yep, that was my first thought too.

This version is good too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvuKxL4LOqc&feature=related

[yellowdogintexas]

44. supposedly "Night and Day" by Cole Porter is a very difficult song due to the

many key changes.

[PassingFair]

45. "Ken Lee" ... definitely ... "Ken Lee"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo

[jobycom]

50. HA!

[nomorenomore08]

52. "Ave Maria," for the MALE voice.

If your sense of humor is sick and twisted like mine, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. :evilgrin: