Ariana Grande

              Singing came naturally to Ariana Grande. It was something she did from a very young age, to finally making it big around the time she was 19-20. Ariana starred in many onstage productions in a program she used to attend in her home town Boca Raton. She then advanced to Broadway, performing in the show 13, with her future Victorious co-star Liz Gillies. Ariana then landed a role on the comedy based show about a performing arts high school, Victorious, on the network Nickelodeon, which was an instant hit and spanned many singles and three soundtracks, some in which Grande had solos in. After Victorious, she and Jennette Mccurdy starred in Sam & Cat for one 40-episode season. But already alongside this, Ariana had started her music career. Insisting to put the past "Put Your Hearts Up" behind her, calling the song & video itself "a nightmare", she debuted with "The Way" featuring rapper Mac Miller. She became the first female artist since 2008 to have their debut single debut in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. "The Way" went on to being the third best opening sales week of 2013, behind Justin Timberlake's "Suit and Tie" and One Direction's "Best Song Ever" and ahead of Demi Lovato's "Heart Attack". The Way eventually climbed to #9. Her second single Baby I debuted at #21 and she had several promotional singles chart. Her debut album shot to #1 in its opening week, sales exceeding 138,000 copies. Her newest album features the smash hit "Problem" which sold 438,000 making it her best debut week among with many other outstanding recognition, and was only 1.3% away from claiming the #1 spot on the Hot 100. Ariana did manage to reach #2. Break Free hit #4 and were both two of the songs of the summer. Ariana has blossomed from a rising artist, performing at the VMAs pre show to a respected artist (opening the VMAs) and has garnered comparison to Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston and most notably, Ms. Mariah Carey herself. She is often called one of the best technical singers of the generation and has received praise from Katy Perry to receiving a standing ovation from Gaga to performing at the White House Women of Soul concert in front of Prez & Mrs. Obama. Her vocal profile is broken into two sections, 2010-2012 & 2013-2014.

Vocal Range: (possible C#3) Eb3-E7 (4 octaves and a semitone)

Voice Classification: Light Lyric Soprano 

Ariana Grande: 2010-2012

Many have noted Ariana sounded more powerful here and her voice was a bit easier to understand- some prefer her old voice, some prefer her current voice.

LOW NOTES (Eb3-G3)
Let's admit, Ariana will never be particularly excelling in low notes, being how damn high her tessitura is. But in this period, she hit her lowest live note, which is to date, an Eb3. Her lows didn't sound any different than they do now, and they were still barely audible and sometimes weak. However, I know many sopranos who have only managed F3s, so Ariana's range is still quite impressive. She hit decent E3s on Take Care, but they were quite breathy and they may not be replicated as well in a live setting. Low notes are not the highlight of Grande's range and will probably never be. She sounds uncomfortable and out of her element. Her F3s in this period were pretty good though and her upper range was good enough (and still is) to overlook her difficulties and obstacles with the lower register.
MID BELTS (C5-E5)
Ariana's mid belts in this period sounded a bit more like actual belts, but with how high her tessitura is, she's prone to her C5s and even D5s sounding like she's talking. She noticeably mixed her voice less in this period giving her mid belts a more fuller and richer sound, and made them sound more impressive. However, her E5s in Only Girl In The World sounded shouty at times, and like she was struggling. Of course, half of the chorus are E5s and she has to sustain an E5 but maybe this contributed to why she began to mix her voice more (if that was her choice at all, even). Her sustained note was also an -i vowel sound which is significantly hard, along with -e. Except for that (which really didn't propose much of an issue) she probably had her best mid belts here because of the fact that they really did sound like belts, and nowadays, maybe its her mix, maybe her tessitura somehow got higher from years of playing Cat (lol) but her mid belts aren't really showstoppers, but she still slayed and slays them with ease.

HIGH BELTS (F5-B5)
Her upper register will always be the best part of her range given she's a soprano and her tessitura placement. She had a bit more resonance here than now, but that took a toll, as she had less ease with the notes. Still sounds like a small price to pay. Her F5s were amazing and her repetitive F#5s in her live performances of L.A Boyz showed how comfortable she was with them, as well as G#5 shown in her Only Girl In The World performance. Even after belting continuous E5s, she killed the G#5. Her G5s were great, however, her G5 from Die In Your Arms was always a bit uneasy, as it was an -e vowel and climbed to an A5. She was still brave for taking it on and executed it well. She hit more A5s in this period and they sounded great as always. Pink Champagne demanded numerous A5s and she always delivered, the same with Put Your Hearts Up. As much as she hated PYHU, she still took those A5s down like a pro. Her highest studio belt to date is a B5, however it is not something we've heard live as in Born This Way/Express Yourself she always falls flat, which made her highest live belt (still to date) a Bb5. Less ease, but a bit more power and resonance was what you could expect and got from her upper belts. Easily remains the highlight of her voice, maybe along with her extensive head voice.

HEAD VOICE
Her head voice wasn't used below the fifth octave much thanks to her belting range, but she seemed pretty comfortable in the sixth octave. She didn't use it as much, but did show her ease with it in her Christmas concert series with All I Want For Christmas is You & O Holy Night. Her cover of Emotions by Mariah Carey shocked many and she proved her whistle register could in fact go up to E7. However she noted how much they hurt her voice and in the future she reduced them.

Ariana Grande Vocal Range up to 2012

Ariana Grande: 2013-present

Ariana's voice has gotten notably lighter in this period, She sounds like she uses a more prominent mix and here she explored more of her upper range, without going as high as she could go in her belting.

LOW NOTES: (C#3-G3)
Ariana's lower register hasn't really changed. On My Everything she possibly hit a harmonized C#3 and its questionable whether its her but her lowest live remains a n Eb3. It is shown she struggles with low notes while moving, as in Break Free, the verses never dip below G3 yet she has difficulty although she's gone lower.

MID BELTS (C5-E5)
Ariana's mid belts in this period hardly sound like mid belts. Her tessitura and her mix often clash with each other and comes off as a very light and sometimes powerless sound. It's hard for her to resonate when she's hitting C5s, and C#5s although they sounded pretty decent in her new song Best Mistake. Ariana's C5s are never going to sound like belts and its something she and fans alike will have to deal with, but she sustains many C#5s in Better Left Unsaid, and while they aren't crazy powerful, they are resonant and sound nice. In 2013, her mid belts could've improved and currently she is improving them, she hits a great E5 in Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart. Hopefully she continues to improve.

HIGH BELTS (F5-Bb5)
Although she contained herself from going the absolute highest she could go, her ease in her belting has immensely improved and sustaining doesn't seem to be much of an issue anymore. She also demonstrates that she can maintain belting in the upper range for prolonged periods of time (Baby I). She was knocking out F#5 and G5 one after another while dancing, proving her comfort in the range. Ariana never sounds pushed or strained when she belts and the sound is full. Her highest studio belt in 2013/14 is a Bb5, from Be My Baby. We haven't heard it live yet but I assume we will because she can go up to Bb5 live anyways. Her live belting range goes up to A5, which is a bit of a disappointment because she's limited her range for some reason, but hopefully she begins to go higher again. However, her A5s sounded great and she did them for almost every performance during The Listening Sessions. This is the girl who can belt a perfect G5 while sick. She'll never disappoint with her upper register.

HEAD VOICE
While not going up to E7 again, Ariana uses her whistle register in moderation again, usually in the upper sixth register. It most likely will not be something she uses often again citing that they are hard on her vocal chords. She's hit a C7 and D7 exclamation in this period and showed her comfort whistle toning from G6-B6. She hits a great sustained A6 and you can find her B6 in a video of her harmonizing with Problem. Ariana also uses her whistle register for The Way, and has alternated hitting the F#6 live with head voice and her whistle register. Being able to go to F#6 without switching to WR.. whaaa. Lately she's gone up to D6 in the studio for Break Free, and has hit numerous C#6s and C6s live.

Ariana Grande Vocal Range 2013
Ariana's Live Range in 2013
My Everything Vocal Range

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There is no doubt that Ariana is talented. She just needs to explore her range more and silence all critics by showing exactly what she can do.

POSITIVES
-Ease in mid and upper belts
-Extensive range
-Whistle register
-Strong head voice
-Being Ariana freaking Grande

NEGATIVES
-Struggles with diction and enunciation
-Low notes can be inaudible
-Can gain nasality at times, but usually not an issue.