Elvis Presley1973.
Musical prodigies are usually associated with classical music, but by definition such prodigies are natural talents and not limited to one musical genre. Musical prodigies typically have several of the following characteristics: exceptional talent and/or interest in music at a young age; the ability to identify the specific pitch of sounds, i.e. perfect pitch, also known as a natural ear for music, or a good ear; ability to play by ear and/or improvise; long-term memory for musical elements - melody, harmony, rhythm, time and/or lyrics; and creative performance skills (emotional and/or dynamic performance, improvisation). “The one element that truly defines a musical prodigy is the ability to create a performance dynamic in the audience that is captivating and sometimes overwhelming.”
Elvis Presley was a genius. He did not express himself the way the middle class does, namely with puns and being able to explain his actions and reactions. He acted on instinct and expressed himself by the way he held the microphone, he also moved his hips, that he sang into the microphone.
That was his genius... I think the essence of every artist is the gut instinct... Because it's in everyone, it's instinct. That's what Elvis Presley is all about... and Elvis Presley could say more in a single performance of someone else's song than anyone could say in an entire book.
Elvis won three Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
And that's the thing about rock 'n' roll music, that's what the music has that makes it better than all of that: it's instinctive... And isn't that how it should be? Elvis had the wisdom that makes wise men look foolish.
Elvis Presley's talent as a musical artist was double-edged and more; he was an exceptional singer and a unique stage performer with instinctive, natural skills in both areas. Available memories show that Presley was born with a love for music.
Elvis Presley's voice was extraordinary for its quality, range and power. Although he entered the American scene singing rock 'n' roll, Elvis' powerful gospel songs and ballads were his personal favorites (he won three Grammy Awards for recordings of sacred songs). The quality of his voice is usually described as soulful. It had a “painful sincerity… and an indefinable quality of longing… practically impossible to obtain.”
Elvis Presley's three-octave vocal range was exceptional, "very narrow at the same time, a tenor, baritone and bass." A 1987 article in the Village Voice included an assessment of his voice in classical terms, categorizing it as a "lyrical baritone ... [but with] unexpectedly rich low [notes] ... and astonishing high notes." It also discussed the power of Elvis's voice, calling it "microphone singing," and also noting that it was "hard to think of an opera singer who could match that."Jerry Leiber, 'He had an incredible, attractive instrument that worked in many registers. He could play falsetto, just like Little Richard. He could sing. The equipment was exceptional... His sense of timing and rhythm was second to none'. Elvis was "the master of a wide and diverse range of vocal styles and ventriloquist effects, from the bright tenor of his country-western heroes (Roy Acuff, Eddy Arnold, Jimmie Rodgers) to the exaggerated vibrato of the gospel singers he loved." (Jake Hess,JD Sumner).
The next review is coming outMirna Smit, a member of the singing groupSweet inspirations, who performed with Presley for a number of years in the latter stages of his career. Smith has also performed with Aretha Franklin and other exceptional vocalists.
'When Elvis was in true form, he was fantastic. He had so much energy. His voice was much more remarkable than ever on record, and his vocal pitch was much better than on record. He was just a much better singer than he could ever capture. There are a lot of singers like that: you can't really capture what they sound like.
Kiri Te Kanawa: The young Elvis Presley, without a doubt
Some great singers' voices are just too big. Elvis was like that. (New Zealand sopranoSkin of the Kanawaabout the greatest voice she had ever heard, and she probably expected to mention Luciano Pavarotti or Maria Callas, but she said: 'The young Elvis Presley, without a doubt').
Elvis Presley's vocal range
Elvis Presleyhas been variously described as a baritone and a tenor. An extraordinary compass – the so-called register – and a very wide range of voice colors have something to do with this disagreement. The voice spans two octaves and a third, from baritone low G to tenor high B, with an upward extension in the falsetto to at least a D plane. Elvis's best octave is in the middle, from D flat to D flat, which gives an extra whole step up or down. Call him a high baritone. In 'It's'now or never' (1960) he ends it with a full vocal cadence (A, G, F) that has nothing to do with the vocal equipment of R&B and Country. That the A note is hit right on the nose, and that's only made less amazing by the number of songs where he lands B flats with ease and precision. Moreover, he has not limited himself to one type of vocal production. In ballads and country songs he delivers high G's and A's that would make an operatic baritone jealous. He is a naturally assimilative stylist with a diversity of voices – in fact, Elvis's is an extraordinary voice or many voices. (Henry Pleasants, in his book 'The Great American Popular Singers' 1974).
Elvis Presley's vocal range (12:20)
Elvis Presley's vocal range (12:20)
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On his live versions of songs like 'How Great Thou Art' (1975), 'Unchained Melody' (1976) and 'Hurt' (1977) you can hear how high he can go; but it's actually on 'What Now My Love' (sung live on his 'Hello from Hawaii' global telecast, which reached 1 billion viewers when it first aired in 1973), where he goes up three octaves at the end of the song, you can really hear his true vocal power. (Cory Cooper on Elvis Presley's vocal range, as publishedallexperts.com, February 4, 2005).
Elvis' first hope for a music career was singing in a male gospel quartet. His favorite role was bass-baritone, and he himself had a vocal range of almost three octaves... But to the surprise of posterity, such a superlative and magnetic natural talent always remained modest - perhaps too modest to continue performing forever. (IMDb's review of his performance in Frank Sinatra's 1960s TV special 'Welcome Home Party for Elvis Presley').
Philips himselforiginally drafted Elvis to replace an absent ballad singer, but after pairing him with an ambitious guitaristScotty Mooreand his lanky bassist friendBill Black, the music soon took a different direction entirely; ThatSOL sessionsstarted as an improvised jam, the absence of drums was purely coincidental as it was a small studio, but the slight echo that the producer compensated for had an unintended effect on Elvis' own voice that was much more interesting; Elvis himself was a raw talent, but his singing talent was immediately apparent, with a vocal range of about three octaves, perfect control and the ability to jump between bass, baritone and tenor with the greatest of ease; more than fifty years later, we can see that what teenagers saw in him was a truly brilliant singer who could deliver a soft ballad just as easily as a wild rock song; As a rule, the importance of an album is completely separate from its actual quality, but invariably these influential albums are influential because they are truly great recordings, and 'The Sun Sessions', although not formally composed until 1976, was certainly fantastic, beautiful classic recordings. (Dave De Sylvia reviewed 'The Sun Sessions' and Elvis' vocal skills, for SPUTNIK Music, June 1, 2006).
'Elvis' lowest effective note was a low G, as heard on 'He'll Have To Go' (1976); on 'King Creole' (1958) he growls some low F's; His highest full-voice notes were the high B's in 'Surrender' (1961) and 'Merry Christmas Baby' (1971), the high G at the end of 'My Way' (1976 live version) and the high A of 'Een American Trilogy' (1972); with the help of the falsetto Elvis could at least reach a high E, e.g. so, as in 'Unchained Melody' (1977), it was almost a three-octave range, although it was more practically two and a half. (George Barbel).
When he was healthy and serious, he was the greatest singer in the world. In his voice he possessed the most beautiful musical instrument, and the genius ability to play that instrument perfectly; he could jump from octave to countless other octaves with such dexterity and without a cracking voice, simultaneously singing a duet with his own overtones, containing an ever-lurking nuclear explosion so as to effortlessly caress the most delicate sounds of pathos and let go. But those who haven't been open (or had the chance) to explore some of Elvis' most brilliant works - the almost esoteric ballads and semi-classical recordings - have cheated themselves of one of the greatest gifts they could fall for. heaven for a lifetime. Fortunately, this beautiful musical instrument reached its perfection around 1960, at the same time that the recording industry finally achieved sound reproduction that rivals today. So it's never too late to discover and cherish a well-preserved wonder, because a simple trip to the record store will provide truly unparalleled chills and thrills for the rest of your life; and then you will finally understand the best reason why this man never leaves. (Mike Handley, 'The Jim Bohannon Show', Westwood One Network).
Elvis' range was about two and a quarter octaves as measured by musical notation, but his voice had an emotional range from tender whispers to sighs to screams, growls, grumbles and outright gruffness that could move the listener from calm to surrender to fear. His voice cannot be measured in octaves, but in decibels; even that ignores the problem of measuring subtle whispers that are barely audible. (Lindsay Waters, Managing Editor of Humanities at Harvard University Press. From his essay “Come softly, darling, hear what I say”).
In 1956, even the youngest of his fans knew that 21-year-old Elvis Presley was undoubtedly the whole package; and apparently his great three-octave tenor voice, with a lower register close to the bass, seemed to vibrate to the inner scale of every teenager in America; they loved the high tenor, but when he 'went down' with the lower register the fans exploded; Elvis translated this into his movements on stage. So it was a 10.0 attack on the senses. (Sugarpie Productions essay on Elvis Presley, as published in Clay's. Daily.Double.com)
Lesson #1 is that rock music is a fighting spirit, not the power of the guitars; yes, some of the hardest rock comes from all or mostly acoustic bands; Elvis presented a basic lesson from the famous Sun sessions, with a simple blues song via the most famous false start in rock history; he and the boys start off slow and bluesy before stopping the band cold and shouting like the hippest beat poet, “Hang on, guys. It doesn't affect me. Let's really, really get away for a change.' So they did, channeling every bit of intensity in their being into a leaping arrangement, a much faster and rhythmically nuanced performance than the opening. Much of the intensity lies in the fast and furious but precisely laid out detail work; there is a strong sense of spontaneity and discovery, but what ultimately makes this a hall-of-fame performance is the vocal performance; Elvis does tricks and makes sudden octave-wide jumps. “When you see my cash cow…” There is a charismatic determination of spirit that Nietzsche would undoubtedly have recognized as the will to power; When the king came through, it was no longer about a high-calcium drink, but about the singer's claim about his place in the universe. (Review of 'Milkcow Blues' (1954), Elvis' third single for the Sun Records Label, by MoreThings.com)
Read more about Elvis Presley's vocal skills...
Elvis' musical style, as a musician and impact as a singer and performing artist
Elvis' musical style, as a musician and impact as a singer and performing artist. Below you will find more than 100 commentaries currently available on the Internet, in reference guides, encyclopedias or books, created by:
The fifty voices of Elvis Presley
'Elvis' lowest effective note was a low G, as heard on 'He'll Have To Go' (1976); on 'King Creole' (1958) he growls some low F's; His highest full-voice notes were the high B's in 'Surrender' (1961) and 'Merry Christmas Baby' (1971), the high G at the end of 'My Way' (1976 live version) and the high A of 'Een American Trilogy' (1972); with the help of the falsetto Elvis could at least reach a high E, e.g. so, as in 'Unchained Melody' (1977), it was almost a three-octave range, although it was more practically two and a half.
No wonder Elvis is responsible for selling so many records, because who could do that by sounding the same.
