Tori Kelly

About Tori Kelly

Tori Kelly is a light lyric soprano with a range spanning from C3-G#6. Tori's voice is naturally girly and light, with a slight raspy quality. This rasp seems to be natural, but she can sometimes try to induce it further for effect (mostly likely from throaty and growl laced singing). Stylistically she has major influences in R&B, soul, and gospel, which forms her belt heavy and run specific song style. Her preference for runs could be a result of her having a naturally agile voice to which she uses rather well. Tori

• Vocal Range: B2-G#5-F#6

Lower Register: B2-G3

Tori Kelly's lower register is really impressive. Her lowest sung note is a B2, however support seems iffy below Eb3, with some notes sounding a little shallow, or what could be a lowered larynx (which can give that deeper, artificially dark sound). Still for a very young Light Lyric Soprano, this is nothing to sneeze at. Notes below Eb3 are not bad, but not consistent enough to keep up with. With time, there is a chance Tori could extend her supported range down.

Mid Range A4-Eb5

Tori's voice shines here, and this is where her raspy quality becomes even more apparent. Tori shows consistent resonance up to around C#5, and it sounds like she can support up to D5. However Tori becomes throaty around that point, and on Eb5, her voice sounds smaller and scratchy. I think she can support up to Eb5, but I am not too sure with that. Still that scratchy quality means that she isn't able to achieve full, projected notes.

Upper Range: E5-G#5

This is where Tori's voice has the most issues. As of right now, she is able to continue to phrase, sustain, and hit high notes with little to no issue. However I think she will eventually have problems up here if she continues to sing the way she does. That raspy effect seems to hinder her upper belts from being projected. By that, the probable way she is achieving this is by not singing with a fully opened throat, which can lead to a scratchy sound. She does this on her mid range, but she is able to sing with resonance, which she is not able do above D5. Above F5, her larynx starts to rise, which can result in a small, slightly shriek like sound. Still it seems like she

Head Voice/Falsetto: E5-C6

Tori is capable of producing a connected head voice, and to no one's surprise, is quite capable of using it. She seems to be able to maintain consistency up to B5, while her highest note is a C6 which sounded less resonant, but did not have that pinched sound. Overall Tori is capable of using this part not only to sustain notes, but being able to phrase and articulate while singing. Tori's whistle register has only been used once musically and seemed to shock even herself. Despite that, she still somehow managed to not only sustain a nice F#6, she did a perfectly executed run down, like the professional she is.

Agility

Tori's singing style relies heavily on her ability to move through a song while using well placed, complex runs. Though she has problems in her upper register she is capable of singing even at her worst. During her performance of PYT, she sings an F#5. While that note was not the best, she is does a staccato like downward sequence, while in the same exact breath a run upward into head voice. Needless to say it is impressive overall. Other than that, Tori has a tendency to do runs downward into her lower register (almost like a place filler for her), and little inflections in her singing. It should also be noted that Tori's ability to transition between registers is for the most part solid, and her ability to sing in head voice and use it, is possibly one of the best parts of her singing.

Weaknesses

Tori is overall throaty above C#5/D5, and one possible cause is her preference for that raspy quality. It gives her already distinct voice a more unique and to some presents her as more soulful and raw. However because it doesn't seem completely natural to her voice, there is a chance that it is inhibiting her singing. It can be argued that this is a result of her creating that sound by not singing with a completely open throat. However as stated, she does well enough where she can still sing as high as she wants to, but without the ease that her middle has. This doesn't mean that this is good, as she is not maintaining the same qualities within all of her singing. It just means she is singing through it and able to produce okay results as 

Above E5, Tori tends to raise her larynx while belting, and there is a noticable difference in sound.

Overall/Recap

Tori Kelly is a really good singer with an overall well rounded voice. Her biggest issues are in her upperbelts, where her signature lead to a lack of freedom, and scratchy vocals. Never the less, it hasn't become an issue to where she can no longer sing or even sounds exhausted. Still there is a possibility that this can take a tole on her voice, so hopefully she can fix it. Her voice does have something naturally different to it. There is a nice twangy edge to it, and her trying to enhance that feels somewhat unnecessary. Still Tori does not seem to see this as an obstacle and embraces it as a part of her singing. Overall, Tori is very capable being able to move throughout her voice with great ease.