MERGED --> What is the highest note Bono hits w/o falsetto? + To all key/note experts

[beachball]

Great thread!

I checked some of the notes mentioned.

In A Man And A Woman ('you'll see'... I always thought it sounded like Sting!!) Bono hits a high falsetto E.

From Zoo TV Sydney 'I Can't Help Falling In Love With You' and the soundtrack version of the same song, he hits the high E in both versions (falsetto).

And in 'Mysterious Ways' from Zoo TV Sydney, when Bono sings:
'... inside the child', he sings Bb Db Bb, not as high, as I thought, but later, when he gets to the part, we don't have in the studio version:

I'll bring you roses
I'll buy you things
I'll show you places
You've never seen

... he hits a high falsetto F four times and it doesn't even sound forced, at all ... pretty amazing!!


.. and if you count the woohoos in the beginning, after Bono takes his shades off, he hits 2 high falsetto Ab's
but I suppose it's easyer to reach these notes, when you shout it out like that and it's not part of a melody.

 

[Peterrrrr]

Great thread!

I checked some of the notes mentioned.

In A Man And A Woman ('you'll see'... I always thought it sounded like Sting!!) Bono hits a high falsetto E.

From Zoo TV Sydney 'I Can't Help Falling In Love With You' and the soundtrack version of the same song, he hits the high E in both versions (falsetto).

And in 'Mysterious Ways' from Zoo TV Sydney, when Bono sings:
'... inside the child', he sings Bb Db Bb, not as high, as I thought, but later, when he gets to the part, we don't have in the studio version:

I'll bring you roses
I'll buy you things
I'll show you places
You've never seen

... he hits a high falsetto F four times and it doesn't even sound forced, at all ... pretty amazing!!


.. and if you count the woohoos in the beginning, after Bono takes his shades off, he hits 2 high falsetto Ab's
but I suppose it's easyer to reach these notes, when you shout it out like that and it's not part of a melody.

Well if you want hear him scream in falsetto listen to this one

http://www.send space.com/file/6eehex

listen in the end of the song.

Also how high is the falsetto note in One and Night And Day(in the end of the song)?

 

[beachball]

Wow, what a scream, be careful if you listen to that one with your headphones on

I wouldn't call it falsetto, but if you want to know how high that one was, it's a high A, and the 'I'll bring you roses' part is an F# here. It does sound as if the audio is played a little too fast, though, so I don't know, if it's accurate.

At the end of One, Bono hits a D in falsetto and at the end of Night and Day, I think we have a record (if we don't count the screams and woohoos from Mysterious Ways). Bono sings a beautiful falsetto D and G

To compare he is above the highest note for an alto, which is the high F!

 

[U2DMfan]

'DAYS on the run' from Sweet Fire of Love is a strained A

The highest note in the song sounds like the 2nd "Didn't we?"
which sounds like a C

 

[kristbg]

Wow, what a scream, be careful if you listen to that one with your headphones on

I wouldn't call it falsetto, but if you want to know how high that one was, it's a high A, and the 'I'll bring you roses' part is an F# here. It does sound as if the audio is played a little too fast, though, so I don't know, if it's accurate.

At the end of One, Bono hits a D in falsetto and at the end of Night and Day, I think we have a record (if we don't count the screams and woohoos from Mysterious Ways). Bono sings a beautiful falsetto D and G

To compare he is above the highest note for an alto, which is the high F!

Wow, I must admit I'm a little lost now.
Where exactly are those notes located on a 88-key keyboard? Is the "high C" from "Bad" the first C above middle C? What about the falsetto notes from N&D and MW?

Also, anyone care to find out what are the LOWEST notes he's sung? (Your Blue Room, New York, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, maybe?)

 

[Joey788]

Well if you want hear him scream in falsetto listen to this one

http://www.send space.com/file/6eehex

listen in the end of the song.

Oh my God! How the hell did he manage to hit that?! That was an amazing falsetto. I've never heard anyone hit a note that high.

 

[U2girl]

the notes in Don't give up live. In particular "keep my EYES down below" and "WHATEVER may go".

Can't get enough of these two. What note is that?

Also in Hands that built America in the "opera" part, any big notes hit too?

Is a falsetto high note easier to do than normal chest voice or not?

 

[ChargedVT]

Could someone here say wich key Bono hit in(keys were there is no falsetto at all, just clean keys):

Wide Awake(Bad)
don't you look back(WGRYWH)
Highest key in SHFWILF
Highest key in WOWY
Higest key in Wire
Hightest in Pride
Highest in RHMT
Sing(SYCMIOYO)
Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee(Native Son)
Feel(Vertigo)
Highest key in Mercy
Take me higher(EBTTRT)
Highest key in GP2
l'amoure(Miss Sarajevo)
Highest key in Spanish Eyes
Highest key in Unchained Melody
Highest in key Stay
Highest key in Unforgettable fire
Highest key in Ultraviolet
Highest key in Electrical Storm
Love in UTEOTW


Whats the highest key he had hit?

Thanks!

Wide Awake(Bad) C# full,open voice NOT falsetto
don't you look back(WGRYWH) C
Highest key in SHFWILF Bb
Highest key in WOWY A
Higest key in Wire D (not falsetto, and highest note he has hit in non-falsetto voice in recorded song I believe)
Hightest in Pride B but lots of times! (very hard to sing this one)
Highest in RHMT C
Sing(SYCMIOYO) A
Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee(Native Son) B
Feel(Vertigo) B
Highest key in Mercy not sure, sounds about A though?
Take me higher(EBTTRT) studio version A, live version is a falsetto C#
Highest key in GP2 Bb
l'amoure(Miss Sarajevo) G#
Highest key in Spanish Eyes ???
Highest key in Unchained Melody B i heard
Highest in key Stay G#
Highest key in Unforgettable fire ???
Highest key in Ultraviolet B i think
Highest key in Electrical Storm B
Love in UTEOTW not sure but not very high

 

[ChargedVT]

Can't get enough of these two. What note is that?

Also in Hands that built America in the "opera" part, any big notes hit too?

Is a falsetto high note easier to do than normal chest voice or not?

Yes, it is MUCH easier to sing in falsetto. Try singing the "I'm wide awake" part in BAD in falsetto, and it isn't very hard, however try to do it in chest voice and I guarantee it will sound rather second-rate!
From what I've seen and experienced the highest note usually a man can reach in falsetto would be around about a high E, whereas chest voice would be around about the A-B below that, unless you are an experienced singer.

 

[beachball]

Wow, I must admit I'm a little lost now.
Where exactly are those notes located on a 88-key keyboard? Is the "high C" from "Bad" the first C above middle C? What about the falsetto notes from N&D and MW?

Also, anyone care to find out what are the LOWEST notes he's sung? (Your Blue Room, New York, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, maybe?)

You're right, it's confusing when we consequently use the word 'high'. Cause all these notes are pretty high.

If you look at an 88-key keyboard, you can use the terms C1, C2, C3, C4 and so on up to C8, where C4 is middle C.

Here is a link to wikipedia:

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

And like you said, the C in Bad is the C above middle C, and it's normally called C5.

The high F note in Mysterious Ways Zoo TV Sydney, 'I'll bring you roses'... is F5 (falsetto).

The high D and G in Night and Day, D5 and G5 (both falsetto).

 

[beachball]

Sorry, double post

 

[beachball]

Higest key in Wire D (not falsetto, and highest note he has hit in non-falsetto voice in recorded song I believe)

According to wikipedia, C5 is also called the Tenor C, because this is the highest note of a tenor

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

So bono actually hits D5, non-falsetto, which is 2 half notes above the highest tenor note, that is amazing!

And in Don't Give Up, 'Keep my EYES down below' just the other day, Bono hit a B4, non-falsetto, just one half note below C5 or Tenor C, the highest Tenor voice. It sounded great, so I think people, who worry about Bono's voice can relax now!

 

[kristbg]

You're right, it's confusing when we consequently use the word 'high'. Cause all these notes are pretty high.

If you look at an 88-key keyboard, you can use the terms C1, C2, C3, C4 and so on up to C8, where C4 is middle C.

Here is a link to wikipedia:

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

And like you said, the C in Bad is the C above middle C, and it's normally called C5.

The high F note in Mysterious Ways Zoo TV Sydney, 'I'll bring you roses'... is F5 (falsetto).

The high D and G in Night and Day, D5 and G5 (both falsetto).

Thanks for the info, beachball!

So we've established that Bono's highest recorded notes are:

D5 in Wire (Open Voice)
G5 in Night and Day (Falsetto)

Still wondering about the lowest notes...

 

[U2DMfan]

I still contend that D note in Wire is not full open throat.

 

[kristbg]

I still contend that D note in Wire is not full open throat.

Hmmmm... I agree it sounds a bit weird...

 

[beachball]

I didn't check the D5 in Wire yesterday, just took ChargedVT's word for it. Now, I don't think that note is in full voice.

I think the highest note, full voice, must be in Bad (WIDE awake): C#5
and the highest note, falsetto, is in Night and Day: G5

I think the deepest note is in If You Wear That Velvet Dress (glass of WATER): C#2
Blue Room is 'only': D#2

If this is correct, Bono's vocal range is from C#2 to C#5, that is three octaves in full voice plus an additional one-half in falsetto, more precisely 6 half notes up to a G5.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't listened through the whole U2 catalogue today!

Just thought it was interesting to research, but in my opinion, Bono's voice is unique, even if he couldn't reach these notes or if his voice is raspy or whatever. I think the secret lies in the way he expresses feelings and he can do that without the high notes. But the high range, especially the falsetto is a great tool to have in expressing feelings. He doesn't sing falsetto all the way through, for instance, as in some disco music or some sixties type songs (like Edge does in the Wanderer, live). Even in Lemon, Bono uses full voice some of the time. And I love what he does in Dirty Day, where it's like a conversation he has.