Growing up, I listened to whatever my brothers listened to and more commonly than not, that music was sung by predominately tenor or bass voices. Because of this, I often would sing in a very similar register to these artists as I would copy the way that they sang. This started to change a bit as I got more into musicals and grew into my middle school years with pop Sopranos and Altos. This introduced my voice to a new register and a different range of exploration for my voice. The downside was that these singers almost always ended their pieces with some out of this world belt that I would attempt to imitate by scream singing in my basement. It really wasn’t until I got into choir in high school that my individual voice has individual abilities and ranges. With this knowledge I have discovered artists that I feel I can reasonably learn from without straining and damaging my voice. A few years ago, I went to a concert for the band “Wild Child.” Not only was I impressed by the impressive array of instruments used in each and every song, I was blown away by lead singer Kelsey Wilson. The thing that made this band so special for me was how care free and in love with their music they were. Kelsey had an impressive and casual range that mainly resonated in a lower alto range, but in powerful moments would resonate in the higher soprano range. The thing that has impacted me most about this band and Kelsey in particular isn’t the precise skill and wild belts that I had previously experienced. It was the power behind the emotion in their music. And the thing that is most cool about this emotion is it isn’t limited to the heart wrenching ballad music that is usually deemed “emotion filled”. It is all of their music. Including the somewhat goofy and upbeat music. I have learned what it means to find meaning in every piece I am singing through that opportunity to see this group live. There was meaning making in every. Single. Piece. This is something that I hope to give any audience when singing in a choir. Even if you don’t know the words or recognize the language, it is possible to still feel everything the signer is conveying and giving. I believe that is the raw power of music. -Grace
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