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Most difficult Beatles songs to sing
18 July 2014
7.59pm
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Matt Busby
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Bulldog said

@Bulldog 

I will say this: when it comes to This Boy and Yes It Is , John’s vocal stands out a bit because he sings the basic melodies, so try getting his down and just singing that. George does some really weird harmonies though, going really low then suddenly jumping up to a high note… And actually, I used the same video alabamaa posted to realize how they go and just how complicated they are.

That’s how I eventually got Don’t Let Me Down right, by focusing on John’s low melody.  But even following it is hard because he when he gets that urgency in his voice (the last refrain, for example) he has so many high harmonics in his voice that it sometimes sounds like two different singers (Paul does this too sometimes).

Right now my voice can go fairly high, I can even manage falsetto occasionally. (High range>low for me) I usually sing quietly though, because I’m insecure and I’m home alone with no other sounds in the house. I have trouble holding long notes (like the ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh in Lucy in the Sky…) when singing quietly, which makes it hard, but I can do it pretty well when I sing loudly. I have to sing really loudly to try the forced vocals, but it generally sounds pretty weird when I try it too. 

There are a couple sets of vocal lessons on youtube that look pretty good.  Breathing is very important.  You take a big belly breath all the way up to your shoulders.  This is not to be able to sing louder, but longer between breaths.  To sing louder and with good timbre, you need to apply some force to your vocal chords.  But this isn’t the same as lots of air.  In fact, one of the exercises is taking a breath, letting out a quiet “hiss” for 45 seconds!  The simple explanation is that you control your diaphragm so that you’re pushing it up to provide the force for volume, but at the same time aren’t letting it relax and let all your air out (if that makes sense).  With various exercises, you can increase your range, improve your falsetto, and make the transition between them more transparent.

I have been trying to learn to sing harmony for 35 years.  I just can’t hear it!  I thought I had the harmony for Two of Us worked out, only to find it was Paul’s melody (which, like many darkish harmonies (“we’re goin’ HOME”), sounds like they’re both harmony parts).  My son who sang choir and barbershop quartet said he just learned his harmony parts on his own, then sang them without really paying attention to how they blended with the other parts.  But in the spirit of the Beatles, I want to just be able to join in anytime!

I had a pretty good voice at 16.  Then I smoked for 28 years 🙁  Thankfully that ended 6 years ago, and my voice is starting to get back to decent (but, it’s not a 16 yo voice anymore :(

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18 July 2014
8.13pm
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alabamaa
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Matt Busby said

 

I had a pretty good voice at 16.  Then I smoked for 28 years 🙁  Thankfully that ended 6 years ago, and my voice is starting to get back to decent (but, it’s not a 16 yo voice anymore :(

Best of all, drink water in every moment, pequeños tragos( I don’t know how its writed in english, sorry)

I smoke too, 20 cigarretes per day  for 24 years and I feel I have almost same voice. I think it genetic, but drink water its essential

 

Edit: I am 46

19 July 2014
6.01am
Wigwam
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It comes naturally to me and I don’t personally find any of the Beatles songs hard to sing……….

 

………It’s just the people around me find it hard to listen!! 

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21 July 2014
5.45am
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parlance
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I belong to a Beatles singalong group that got together tonight for the first time in a few months. We don’t really have problems singing most of the songs, but quite a few are difficult to harmonize. We attempted “Yes It Is ,” which I knew would be a disaster, but I was surprised to find that we still had a hard time connecting the harmonies on “Baby in Black.”

Nevertheless, we have fun signing no matter what. As one member put it, “this is feeding my soul.”

parlance

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21 July 2014
10.13am
Wigwam
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What a lovely way to get to know the songs………. Good for you lad!

21 July 2014
1.54pm
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parlance
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Lass, but thanks! :-D

parlance

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23 July 2014
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Molly Jones
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when I started reading this post I was listening to Oh! Darling and (since I’m home alone) attempted to sing it, and sing it loud! I just had to laugh at how ridiculous I sounded!ahdn_george_08 I also agree that in Happiness Is A Warm Gun that high part near the end is definitely hard. Also when I still had my Beatles Rock Band game, I could never get low enough to do the part in Dear Prudence where they sing “look around ’round ’round ’round ’round…”, I haven’t tried it in a while, so it could have just been my younger voice that couldn’t go that low.

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Bulldog

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23 July 2014
11.02pm
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Starr Shine?
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Because is tough and Within You Without You is also tough

On rock band, I can’t pass The End and I don’t do well with Norwegian Wood

https://youtu.be/52nwiTs7bk8

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24 July 2014
6.49am
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alabamaa
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Atlas said
It comes naturally to me and I don’t personally find any of the Beatles songs hard to sing……….

 

………It’s just the people around me find it hard to listen!! 

Haha good that!

Maybe it looked like I was talking to vanity, but it’s true, and either sing well or sing badly, I have still the same voice as when I was younger, but really often and drink water in small sips is vey good to sing.

Only my Mom said I sing well  🙁 like all Moms say about their children

24 July 2014
11.37am
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Gornton Tulog
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This Boy
I can’t harmonize with You Really Got A Hold On Me
I can’t sing any part of I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party

24 July 2014
3.14pm
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24 July 2014
10.29pm
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Annadog40 said
Because is tough and Within You Without You is also tough

On rock band, I can’t pass The End and I don’t do well with Norwegian Wood

Kind of depends which harmony of Because I’m singing along to. Have never tried to sing along to Within You Without You , now I’m thinking about it.

I can’t really sing Norwegian Wood either. All is well until ”she once had me”. It’s too low. And when I try to sing it in a higher key, it just sounds ridiculous.

24 July 2014
11.38pm
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When Im 64
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Helter Skelter definitely, or any throat could such as, Long Tall Sally or Oh darling.

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28 July 2014
10.59pm
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yoko-oh-no
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As strange as it is, since I am female, I cannot sing pretty much any Beatles song with higher notes. My singing voice is so low that I usually end up singing songs like Good Night .

I also have trouble singing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da . I have no idea why on that one. I just get the lyrics so mixed up.

29 July 2014
12.25am
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Zig
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I love hearing people sing – good, bad or otherwise. If someone is singing, they are happy. I dig happy. 

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29 July 2014
12.59am
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meanmistermustard
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a-hard-days-night-ringo-8So do i. 

Happy-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-6199676-255-350.jpgImage Enlarger

Tho i prefer Grumpy.

dwarf.jpgImage Enlarger

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29 July 2014
1.08am
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Zig
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Last week, I had a killer cold which made me

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But, we digress.

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29 July 2014
8.21pm
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MrMoonlight
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Can You Take Me Back. Paul’s really good at the falsetto, but my voice is a semitone too short of the higher notes of it. I can sing all the notes, but the highest is a bit weak for my voice.

29 July 2014
10.47pm
batbear
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A lot of Beatles songs are actually pretty difficult to sing. Paul and John had really amazing vocal talent. Helter Skelter is definitely a fun song to sing though :D

30 July 2014
2.23am
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badbartimus
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Because . Those harmonies are ridiculous and the high end is tough to hit.

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