To support this channel in its efforts to continue making quality and accessible music education content, please consider a donation: paypal.me/blackmusicarchive cash.app/$BlackMusicArchive account.venmo.com/u/milik-kashad-1 Chapters _________ 0:00 - Call To Action 0:13 - Introduction 0:31 - Early Years & Influences 1:53 - Move To Chicago & Voice Lesson 3:00 - “Move On Up A Little Higher” Mahalia’s Big Break 3:56 - Mahalia, Opera Singer? The Overlap of Gospel and Classical 7:46 - What Is Raw/Open Chest Voice 10:45 - Sarcoidosis 11:26 - Singer, Activist, Businesswoman 12:33 - Mahalia Jackson Voice Type 15:55 - Singing In Sickness (Final Years)
The NOLA to Chicago connection. I have ancestral connections to NOLA and was born and raised in Chicago, and we absolutely adore what she has done for gospel and Black music overall 🧡🧡
That professor tried it, she sang the same way, sold massive records and received love from the masses. I love when she sang “Trouble of the World”, “Didn’t It Rain”, and “Elijah Rock”.
I think it did that to ALL of us! I was scared of her voice as a small child. It was too much power for me to absorb! No other singer has ever done that to me.
Me too, When I was about 9 years old, I was watching PBS special called (Eyes On The Prize) with my great grandmother. And this lady in a hat, was singing (How I Got Over) in a clip, and I raised straight up, and asked my grannie, Who is that? She said that's Mahalia Jackson baby, That was the first time I heard or saw her, she got my complete attention.
I remember watching an Antia Baker interview, she said that Jackson was one of her inspiration. Ms. Baker said she copied Jackson's singing style as she also deep voice.
It is 2:10 am in the morning. Was trying to go to sleep and I saw this video. I have loved Mahalia Jackson since I was a little boy. Thank you so much for putting up this video.
My, my my you done it again! Thanks for this thorough and thoughtful examination of the powerful voice of Mahalia Jackson, her music and life that so many of us have been influenced and inspired by. When one thinks of the first person to do this and that, there are so many "firsts" that this woman accomplished within one of the toughest periods in black American history.
IDK if I mentioned this ... Great work!!! What is missed is this: Mahalia was in her right " a preacher, blueswoman ( like her idol Bessie Smith and Willie Mae Ford Smith- Gospel Singer!!! And quartet singer also!!?
@@BlackMusicArchive .......in New Orleans.....when she died they laid her body in state for all of us school children to see....my mother went to see her too....New Orleans went silent....eerily silent for her....i will never forget....SHE...is the voice of the AFRICAN DIASPORA.....thank you so much for this video....
i hope u can do Mariah Carey current voice classified 🙏🏻🙏🏻 because i as one of the lamb,i think her voice has dropped to mezzo or even to contralto which what i was really sad about
@2:37 That small commentary about black people at that time being adamant about assimilating into white society and being quiet. Then feeling like they're there to be seen and not heard is very very interesting. My Grandpa (born in the 30s) from the little I remember him was a very reserved man. Every once in a while exuberance would come out. Same with my Aunt Sally born in the 20s.
Milik, I hope it's not lost on you how much we appreciate this work and how important what you're doing is. Etching our legends into the future via educating through youtube. Cementing their influence even in the internet era. Their voices will echo through eternity through this kind of work and our exaltation of their greatness.
Te'Von, thank you for this message. It doesn't always feel appreciated for a myriad of reasons, I am grateful to those like you send messages of encouragement and warmth. Thank you so much ❤
Yes! I’ve noticed so many Black Music/Pop channels are coming out on UA-cam and I’m loving it so much! A lot of them are so good and uploading to UA-cam to educate our future Black children! I love that so much! We need even more of it! We should start pushing more of fellow Black community into tech spaces as we do entertainment spaces!
Man, I wish I had money right now, because I wanna support the channel, you make such great content. gone are the days of talented singers, now everybody these days is trash.
Love Mahalia , I grew up several blocks from her Southside home in Chicago. I was a member of the same Church she attended... we saw her on occasion...
Wow! That had to been an amazing sight to see her walk into church. She was one of my earliest superheroes just from the sound of her music and the way it made me feel and watching how it effected the members of my family. I believe she truly understood what the Lord had put her here to do.🌹🙏🏾
A voice annointed with such force, intensity and power!!! Thanks BMA for this! Queen Mahalia Jackson! I love the historical context insterspersed in the video! Very enlightening!
Pretty good video Milik, you always do a good job. Mahalia legacy and spirit will live on because people are still giving her tributes today. A good while back i saw a documentary on Mahalia on here a good while back. I could see why she was a legendary gospel singer. Here a fun fact...Areatha actually admited in one of her interviews that use to listen to Mahalia when she was younger
I was blessed to meet the late Great Haley Mahalia in kcmo 1969 l cried in her lap she said to me “Don’t cry baby! When she came out on stage you felt the spirit come over you! Then the whole house went UP ! Mahalia Jackson changed my Life for the better, kept me out of jail and away from negative things, l did attend her funeral in Chicago 1972 l’ll never it all my days
It's funny how black people singing loud was an affront to white sensibilities but the "screaming" of opera was totally acceptable. Inconsistency at its zenith.
Another layer of context is women utilizing "open chest voice," which Mahalia liked to do, was generally frowned upon in classical music regardless of color, it was considered "unladylike."
Classical music, till this day does not approve of using your chest, voice to sing, particularly women. So it doesn’t mean they don’t like a powerful sound, but they don’t like something that comes across as shouting, because that’s basically what belting is, controlled shouting. They have a different aesthetic. Far too rigid, which is why a lot of people are not interested in listening to or becoming singers of that genre. A lot of people who learned I only using it as a steppingstone to improve their technique so they can get back into contemporary singing, lol. That being said, there’s also other reasons, people are not into opera, but that will make this conversation far too long.
@@Rosannasfriend Basically to each his own. To the untrained ear opera is as much screeching as its fans ascribe to gospel and pop wailing. "Elites" always feel they can justify their preferences. I have noting against opera or classical music. I was just pointing out the flagrant foolishness of thinking "mine is better because I say it is."
The gift of the Holy Spirit dwelled in Ms. Jackson's body when she sings. I still can feel this Spirit when I listen to her songs. When I was a child, we would have gospel groups preforming at our church. They would sing until they were exhausted. When I got older I asked a cousin, who was a gospel singer why she would only sing only a few songs. She told me that it was hard on her body. With your explanation I now understand what she was trying to tell me. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of music with us. ♥
I sat here and cried watching and listening to this video. What a beautiful piece of work you did with this. We are white and I grew up hearing Mahalia Jackson because my dad was a fire baptized pastor and evangelist. He said Mahalia Jackson was one of THE greatest musical evangelists in the history of the Gospel. (We don’t compare gospel workers against each other because that’s evil.) This created did a beautiful job here. Just great.
I always learn something from these videos! They're very educational, very informative, very well-done! Thank you for putting them together. I always enjoy them. Keep them coming, please! (By the way, I'm still waiting on one on my favorite singer, period, WHITNEY HOUSTON!)
That was a really wonderful exploration of Ms. Jackson and her voice. I learned a lot about vocal power and strength, and in the meantime got to enjoy her unique artistry. Gospel is so important now with the world so crazy and upsetting. It is feels like a shelter in a storm.
Mahalia doesn't cover the sound. As Mahalia ascends, you'll notice the sound, and her mouth begins to spread. That's how she gets the "calling out" quality, which is more appropriate to her style of singing.
She learned to sing ballads listening to Enrico Caruso. Mahalia loved Caruso’s voice as a child. She listened to his recordings when her aunts would clean homes for a living. You can hear the tenor influence on how she sings inspirational ballads and negro spirituals.
Chicago when Mahalia arrived in 1927/ 1931 was the Gospel worship where she listened, learned from other artists too!!!! ( From Michael Harris' Book " Rise of Gospel Blues"...
That was awesome, Milik! Although i have a doubt about something: You'd said in the previous videos (more specifically in "what is a soprano voice" and "How can I ease the pain explained") that the most singing of a soprano voice is done in the upper middle (something between E5-G5), because this is the region that shines. In this video, the soprano's middle fifth (where a singer feels most at home and sounds the best) is between A4-E5. I also can see a lot of mezzo-sopranos that sings, mainly in pop music, that can sing in this soprano's middle fifth and they really shines, then i supposed that it would be the mezzo's upper middle. So I really get confuse when you said that fifth middle (in the mezzo's voice sitting between F4-C5) is where it sounds best. So, my questios are: What would you say is the difference between middle fifth and upper middle in a voice? Is there a functional difference between these two regions in a song? Where will a voice sing the most? Where will a voice shine the most? And where would the upper middle and middle fifth be located within male voices? Thank you for the videos, i really love it! All support from Brazil for the channel to grow and keep doing this great work! ❤
Great question. If you want to apply the middle fifth to the "What Is A Soprano" video, there is a portion that compares sopranos and mezzos. Patti LaBelle and Whitney Houston are singing a gospel tune acapella. This means both should start the song in a place where they are comfortable so it doesn't get too high or too low. Whitney starts, "A Quiet Place" on F4, and she stays around F4-C#5 (that's the mezzo-soprano middle fifth) majority of the song before scaling up to one high F (F5). Patti LaBelle starts "A Little Bit More" on A4 and immediately sings lines of E5 (A4-E5 is the soprano middle fifth) and stays on E5s before scaling off to sing A5s, because a soprano "has the energy to sustain lines E F G at the top of the staff before scaling off into the high range." The middle fifth/declamatory compass means the singer is going to sing many of those notes, and when we lay the sheet music out, you'll of notice most of these singers in pop give 1 or 2 E5s a song, they are not living on the note like Lisa in "How Can I Ease The Pain" or any of the women in the "What Is A Soprano" video. Thanks for watching. I hope this helps.
@@BlackMusicArchive what is Halle Bailey's voice type, I thought that she was a light mezzo-soprano because she doesn't sing above F5 and that you said that sopranos must sustain lines of E5, F5, G5 before scaling in the higher range but then mariah carey , tori kelly and Halle Bailey are sopranos but they don't sing above G5 all the time
Thank you for this! Love her voice so much! Could you please also do Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Angela Winbush, Stephanie Mills and Mariah Carey? I absolutely love these videos!
She had amazing power no doubt. Disagree the comment about modifying the hollering to racism. I think the coach heard what l hear- there is not enough room for much else. In other words she could have been more expressive with less power. Think of Al Green. He is not a powerful singer but a very expressive one who draws you in. Aretha had a lot more variety of expression, more light and shade.
But it absolutely was racism……not to mention Mahalia was a fat Black woman all her life, so there was layers of racialized and gendered fatphobia on top of it. It’s more than just a regular person being told that their voice is *uncontrollable* and too “loud”. Given the social and political context of her upbringing, and the generation and time period she came up in, she would’ve still faced that and become caricaturized even if she was naturally softer and lighter in the overall caliber of her voice and expression. And STILL influenced whole generations of singers and musicians, and still hailed as THEE greatest gospel singer of all time. AND rock n’ roll wouldn’t be such without her. So yes, her musical upbringing is wholly political because it already was and still is.
@@ashantidouglass9014 I don’t disagree with any of that and it is all a matter of taste. Ella Fitzgerald was a brilliant technician but l prefer a voice with less polish, more feeling, soul if you will. Similarly some of Mahalias recordings are among my all time favourites. I was just agreeing with the voice coach who tried to rein her in a bit to include more expression. This is not to deny racism but maybe the view of the coach and myself was shared by other people. Many black artists were acceptable to white audiences cos people just loved their voice. Just think of Nat King Cole.
@@jontalbot1 you sorta proved Mahalias and the videomakers point by comparing her to singers who are considered pillars of "refinement" who were a hit with white people, and wondering why people told her she would never be liked by them, because to appease white folk one has to be subdued/toned down, or else they are making a caricature of Black people.
Unfortunately Dubois, her coach or teacher was trying to make her sound like everybody else. And if he would have been successful we would not have been able to enjoy her raw God given vocal style that in 1947 sold 8 million records. Wondered if any of his sing pretty students became that successful. Sometimes teachers in any profession need to get out of the way and nuture the talent and not the technique.
@@Trackstar2000 All l was saying is to see everything through the prism of race is an over simplification, there is more at play, including sad to say, good looks and also presence. Mahalia was a great talent for sure although l would take Aretha any day of the week. She had the power but so much more. I also really love Bobby Bland. He never crossed over as he should have done
I know folks won’t agree, but I have shared this before, you won’t find any commentary, news article, or biography written about Mahalia during her lifetime where she is referred to as anything other than an untrained contralto with a very limited vocal range. The people that heard her while she was alive obviously heard something different to what this generation hears today. Even her last surviving, and most musically educated accompanist Dr. Charles Clency said in his own words that Mahalia was a contralto, she just avoided the proper training to build her voice to it’s full potential.
I do not disagree with you; however, I don't recall the biographies, articles, or documentaries breaking down the music and vocal arrangements of her music. Where the frequency of the notes lay on paper is the true determinant of one's voice type, and Mahalia lives in the A4-D5 range in the center of the staff, the contralto voice does most of its work below the staff. Also, we hear her singing, "He's Got The Whole World," directly beside a contralto Marian Anderson. Marian sings on C, and Mahalia sings a third higher on Eb. The difference between mezzo-soprano and contralto is a third. Cross-comparing Jackson's and Anderson's shared repertoire, Jackson's music sits consistently higher. Jackson's shared repertoire with her contemporary Bessie Griffin also sits higher by a second (i.e. Motherless Child). There is; however, a voice type called a mezzo-contralto (the lowest mezzo-soprano voice) that sits in between mezzo-soprano and contralto, it's heavier in tone and less flexible than the mezzo-soprano with its best qualities being around G3-F5 but lacks the resonance and depth at the bottom. Jackson was not generating much volume below G3 (refer to the D3 and E3 at the end of "The Green Leaves of Summer" or when she has to sustain Low Gs in "Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow.") The quality (heft, power, and tone people past and present refer to) and range of that voice type most certainly fit Mahalia's music. But, I am open to discussion. Could you please refer me to Mahalia singing in the keys of contralto, or doing a lot of work in the D3-F3 range below the staff? Maybe I missed something as I was researching and putting this together. Thanks for watching, I look forward to discussing this further ♥
@@BlackMusicArchiveIs it safe to say that the Mezzo-Contralto voice is the female counterpart to the Bass-Baritone, yes? And if that is the case, the Bass-Baritone voice is invariably classified as a high lying bass or low lying baritone. So why wouldn’t the same rules apply to the Mezzo-Contralto voice type?
To support this channel in its efforts to continue making quality and accessible music education content, please consider a donation:
paypal.me/blackmusicarchive
cash.app/$BlackMusicArchive account.venmo.com/u/milik-kashad-1
Chapters
_________
0:00 - Call To Action
0:13 - Introduction
0:31 - Early Years & Influences
1:53 - Move To Chicago & Voice Lesson
3:00 - “Move On Up A Little Higher” Mahalia’s Big Break
3:56 - Mahalia, Opera Singer? The Overlap of Gospel and Classical
7:46 - What Is Raw/Open Chest Voice
10:45 - Sarcoidosis
11:26 - Singer, Activist, Businesswoman
12:33 - Mahalia Jackson Voice Type
15:55 - Singing In Sickness (Final Years)
please do one for Luther Vandross
i love hearing your #louisiannaaccent... some accents are so musically nuanced
Thank you for this information; it's very important.
The Queen of Gospel!! Such a legendary sound in the music industry💗
The NOLA to Chicago connection. I have ancestral connections to NOLA and was born and raised in Chicago, and we absolutely adore what she has done for gospel and Black music overall 🧡🧡
That professor tried it, she sang the same way, sold massive records and received love from the masses. I love when she sang “Trouble of the World”, “Didn’t It Rain”, and “Elijah Rock”.
I loved Mahalia Jackson since I was 5 years old. Her voice literally stopped me in my tracks when i first heard her voice.
I think it did that to ALL of us! I was scared of her voice as a small child. It was too much power for me to absorb! No other singer has ever done that to me.
Me too, When I was about 9 years old, I was watching PBS special called (Eyes On The Prize) with my great grandmother. And this lady in a hat, was singing (How I Got Over) in a clip, and I raised straight up, and asked my grannie, Who is that? She said that's Mahalia Jackson baby, That was the first time I heard or saw her, she got my complete attention.
When she belts out those strong notes you see something beautiful. She was something special; a different type of great ❤
I don’t know about you all, but I cry like a baby whenever I see & hear her sing “Trouble of the World” when she was in “Imitation of Life”.
Me 2 ❤
Mahalia's Voice and Singing Bring me UP to the Heaven's WITH CHRIST... My FAVORITE Gospel Singer!!! NOW she is Singing for her Savior, FOREVER!!!
Amen 🙏🏿
One of the Greatest Voices of All Time. The Best Gospel Singer hands down. Love Her!💜❤️
Amen 🙏🏿
Probably the Best Female vocalist of the 20th century. 8 Million units in 1947.
Right? And all this time here I thought rock n' roll took from gospel purely out of appreciation 💰
I used to wake up at 6:00 am to listen to her sing gospel, gave me shivers!
I definitely believe it in my opinion RIH MOTHER QUEEN
Queen of gospel ❤️
They don’t make them like that any longer. She was a phenomenon.
4 REAL SHE IS 1 of akind❤
I never knew this about Mahalia Jackson. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I am in literal tears
I remember watching an Antia Baker interview, she said that Jackson was one of her inspiration. Ms. Baker said she copied Jackson's singing style as she also deep voice.
I think Sarah Vaughan, not Mahalia
@@ponnsabaldan8133 You are right. The host was saying he can hear Sarah Vaughan from Anita Baker. It was Anita Baker who brought up Mahalia.
She said she copied Sarah Vaughan.
It is 2:10 am in the morning. Was trying to go to sleep and I saw this video. I have loved Mahalia Jackson since I was a little boy. Thank you so much for putting up this video.
My, my my you done it again!
Thanks for this thorough and thoughtful examination of the powerful voice of Mahalia Jackson, her music and life that so many of us have been influenced and inspired by. When one thinks of the first person to do this and that, there are so many "firsts" that this woman accomplished within one of the toughest periods in black American history.
Thank you ❤
Do you know where I can see the list?👀
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 If you really want to know Goggle her and you will see!
@@BlackMusicArchive where does a contralto shine
Thank you so much for this! Elijah Rock is officially my jam.
Bookmarking this one!
IDK if I mentioned this ... Great work!!! What is missed is this: Mahalia was in her right " a preacher, blueswoman ( like her idol Bessie Smith and Willie Mae Ford Smith- Gospel Singer!!! And quartet singer also!!?
great essay man thanks a lot. I've got some new info and perspective.
Your videos are helping get through college. I can watch these videos for hours.
May you please do one of these thorough reviews of Twinkie Clark’s voice from the 1970’s -2007
One of my earliest superheroes 🌹🙏🏾
Thank you.
Thank you for watching ❤
@@BlackMusicArchive Ur welcome
@@BlackMusicArchive .......in New Orleans.....when she died they laid her body in state for all of us school children to see....my mother went to see her too....New Orleans went silent....eerily silent for her....i will never forget....SHE...is the voice of the AFRICAN DIASPORA.....thank you so much for this video....
i hope u can do Mariah Carey current voice classified 🙏🏻🙏🏻 because i as one of the lamb,i think her voice has dropped to mezzo or even to contralto which what i was really sad about
Donna Summer also said her biggest musical influence was Mahalia Jackson in this interview 2:50 ua-cam.com/video/6muiJVxMzwU/v-deo.html
AMEN AMEN 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏
Hey BMA, do you think you can do a video on Lalah Hathaway and her polyphonic singing? They call it 'splitting' the voice.
Please, do one on Shirley Caesar!
Great Analysis.
THE VIDEO IS BACK! 🙏🏾
Can you do Minnie Riperton
@2:37 That small commentary about black people at that time being adamant about assimilating into white society and being quiet. Then feeling like they're there to be seen and not heard is very very interesting.
My Grandpa (born in the 30s) from the little I remember him was a very reserved man. Every once in a while exuberance would come out. Same with my Aunt Sally born in the 20s.
Bessie, Mahalia, Ella and Aretha; The untouchables in my opinion. Though NO ONE can work gospel like Ms. Jackson. Thanks 🙏🏾
I move to add Whitney to this list
AMEN!
@@MsDedemc FACTS ! Bessie, Mahalia, Ella, Aretha... ☝🏾And Whitney.
@@newblue2468 ty for the rewrite, Whitney is just 😬😬🤌🤌
@@MsDedemc She isn’t in their generation. 😭 I think that’s why she wasn’t added
Milik, I hope it's not lost on you how much we appreciate this work and how important what you're doing is. Etching our legends into the future via educating through youtube. Cementing their influence even in the internet era. Their voices will echo through eternity through this kind of work and our exaltation of their greatness.
Te'Von, thank you for this message. It doesn't always feel appreciated for a myriad of reasons, I am grateful to those like you send messages of encouragement and warmth.
Thank you so much ❤
Yes! I’ve noticed so many Black Music/Pop channels are coming out on UA-cam and I’m loving it so much! A lot of them are so good and uploading to UA-cam to educate our future Black children! I love that so much! We need even more of it! We should start pushing more of fellow Black community into tech spaces as we do entertainment spaces!
Man, I wish I had money right now, because I wanna support the channel, you make such great content. gone are the days of talented singers, now everybody these days is trash.
Love Mahalia , I grew up several blocks from her Southside home in Chicago. I was a member of the same Church she attended... we saw her on occasion...
Wow! That had to been an amazing sight to see her walk into church. She was one of my earliest superheroes just from the sound of her music and the way it made me feel and watching how it effected the members of my family. I believe she truly understood what the Lord had put her here to do.🌹🙏🏾
A voice annointed with such force, intensity and power!!! Thanks BMA for this! Queen Mahalia Jackson! I love the historical context insterspersed in the video! Very enlightening!
Pretty good video Milik, you always do a good job. Mahalia legacy and spirit will live on because people are still giving her tributes today. A good while back i saw a documentary on Mahalia on here a good while back. I could see why she was a legendary gospel singer. Here a fun fact...Areatha actually admited in one of her interviews that use to listen to Mahalia when she was younger
Thank you 🙏
I was blessed to meet the late Great Haley Mahalia in kcmo 1969 l cried in her lap she said to me “Don’t cry baby! When she came out on stage you felt the spirit come over you! Then the whole house went UP ! Mahalia Jackson changed my Life for the better, kept me out of jail and away from negative things, l did attend her funeral in Chicago 1972 l’ll never it all my days
I will never forget that moment
Sayyyyyyyyyyyy that GOD BLESS YOU🙏🏿
Nobody has ever been able to belt the way she does
It's funny how black people singing loud was an affront to white sensibilities but the "screaming" of opera was totally acceptable. Inconsistency at its zenith.
Another layer of context is women utilizing "open chest voice," which Mahalia liked to do, was generally frowned upon in classical music regardless of color, it was considered "unladylike."
@@BlackMusicArchive Understood. Classical music, like most institutions, was full of sh*t. Bottom line.
Etta James said some people float on top of the music ladylike and then others sing into the music.
Classical music, till this day does not approve of using your chest, voice to sing, particularly women. So it doesn’t mean they don’t like a powerful sound, but they don’t like something that comes across as shouting, because that’s basically what belting is, controlled shouting. They have a different aesthetic. Far too rigid, which is why a lot of people are not interested in listening to or becoming singers of that genre. A lot of people who learned I only using it as a steppingstone to improve their technique so they can get back into contemporary singing, lol. That being said, there’s also other reasons, people are not into opera, but that will make this conversation far too long.
@@Rosannasfriend Basically to each his own. To the untrained ear opera is as much screeching as its fans ascribe to gospel and pop wailing. "Elites" always feel they can justify their preferences. I have noting against opera or classical music. I was just pointing out the flagrant foolishness of thinking "mine is better because I say it is."
I feel Pasty Cline learned from Mahalia Jackson as well. She mixed it with country music.
The gift of the Holy Spirit dwelled in Ms. Jackson's body when she sings. I still can feel this Spirit when I listen to her songs. When I was a child, we would have gospel groups preforming at our church. They would sing until they were exhausted. When I got older I asked a cousin, who was a gospel singer why she would only sing only a few songs. She told me that it was hard on her body. With your explanation I now understand what she was trying to tell me. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of music with us. ♥
I sat here and cried watching and listening to this video. What a beautiful piece of work you did with this. We are white and I grew up hearing Mahalia Jackson because my dad was a fire baptized pastor and evangelist. He said Mahalia Jackson was one of THE greatest musical evangelists in the history of the Gospel. (We don’t compare gospel workers against each other because that’s evil.) This created did a beautiful job here. Just great.
Hi! Can you post more videos like this about male singers like Luther Vandross, Peabo Bryson, Stevie Wonder, etc.?
I love these so much 🔥
What a voice! What a woman! So cool to learn about the lady i was named after. ❤
The Queen Of Gospel Music!❤️
Love her
Thank you for doing this on Mahalia Jackson she is the all-time great gospel Queen. Voice just soothes my soul
Can you do one with Brandy’s voice?
Yes! The Vocal Bible.
Yes please
Thank you so much!!!! Mahalia is my favorite singer.
WE GET MAHALIA JACKSON?!! you guys are AMAZING!! thank you!!!
I always learn something from these videos! They're very educational, very informative, very well-done! Thank you for putting them together. I always enjoy them. Keep them coming, please! (By the way, I'm still waiting on one on my favorite singer, period, WHITNEY HOUSTON!)
@@zazzilady He actually did have Whitney and Mariah! But I’m sure they’ll be coming and we’ve only been waiting on them for a year. Not 3 😭
@@zazzilady Why do they cost so much? Omg 😭
That was a really wonderful exploration of Ms. Jackson and her voice. I learned a lot about vocal power and strength, and in the meantime got to enjoy her unique artistry. Gospel is so important now with the world so crazy and upsetting. It is feels like a shelter in a storm.
Excellent as always!❤
Nobody moves me like mahalia Jackson. And i am not even Christian
Love this video
Please do Rachelle Ferrel
Mahalia Singing "We Shall Overcome" at that dirge tempo knocked me out, especially when she was walking off stage and you heard her loud and clear.
Isn't her style of belting called overdrive or maybe its like covering the voice (like male opera singers do on their high notes)
Mahalia doesn't cover the sound. As Mahalia ascends, you'll notice the sound, and her mouth begins to spread. That's how she gets the "calling out" quality, which is more appropriate to her style of singing.
She learned to sing ballads listening to Enrico Caruso. Mahalia loved Caruso’s voice as a child. She listened to his recordings when her aunts would clean homes for a living. You can hear the tenor influence on how she sings inspirational ballads and negro spirituals.
Awesome video again! I never realized that Tina sounded so much like Mahalia.
Chicago when Mahalia arrived in 1927/ 1931 was the Gospel worship where she listened, learned from other artists too!!!! ( From Michael Harris' Book " Rise of Gospel Blues"...
Her voice will make you want to repent ❤
Explained? Seriously? Pure unadulterated talent beyond compare….no explanation needed…she had it!
Mrs Jackson was one of God's chosen vessels, when you hear her sing, she will make you feel like you are in the throng room of God! ❤
I feel like shouting too Sister Jackson
That was awesome, Milik!
Although i have a doubt about something: You'd said in the previous videos (more specifically in "what is a soprano voice" and "How can I ease the pain explained") that the most singing of a soprano voice is done in the upper middle (something between E5-G5), because this is the region that shines. In this video, the soprano's middle fifth (where a singer feels most at home and sounds the best) is between A4-E5.
I also can see a lot of mezzo-sopranos that sings, mainly in pop music, that can sing in this soprano's middle fifth and they really shines, then i supposed that it would be the mezzo's upper middle. So I really get confuse when you said that fifth middle (in the mezzo's voice sitting between F4-C5) is where it sounds best.
So, my questios are: What would you say is the difference between middle fifth and upper middle in a voice? Is there a functional difference between these two regions in a song? Where will a voice sing the most? Where will a voice shine the most? And where would the upper middle and middle fifth be located within male voices?
Thank you for the videos, i really love it! All support from Brazil for the channel to grow and keep doing this great work!
❤
Great question. If you want to apply the middle fifth to the "What Is A Soprano" video, there is a portion that compares sopranos and mezzos.
Patti LaBelle and Whitney Houston are singing a gospel tune acapella. This means both should start the song in a place where they are comfortable so it doesn't get too high or too low. Whitney starts, "A Quiet Place" on F4, and she stays around F4-C#5 (that's the mezzo-soprano middle fifth) majority of the song before scaling up to one high F (F5). Patti LaBelle starts "A Little Bit More" on A4 and immediately sings lines of E5 (A4-E5 is the soprano middle fifth) and stays on E5s before scaling off to sing A5s, because a soprano "has the energy to sustain lines E F G at the top of the staff before scaling off into the high range."
The middle fifth/declamatory compass means the singer is going to sing many of those notes, and when we lay the sheet music out, you'll of notice most of these singers in pop give 1 or 2 E5s a song, they are not living on the note like Lisa in "How Can I Ease The Pain" or any of the women in the "What Is A Soprano" video.
Thanks for watching. I hope this helps.
@@BlackMusicArchive what is Halle Bailey's voice type, I thought that she was a light mezzo-soprano because she doesn't sing above F5 and that you said that sopranos must sustain lines of E5, F5, G5 before scaling in the higher range but then mariah carey , tori kelly and Halle Bailey are sopranos but they don't sing above G5 all the time
@@BlackMusicArchive what is the difference between a high mezzo soprano and dramatic soprano
Keep going guys!
Your channel's amazing! 💕
Beautiful. Thank You Lord
Kathy Taylor is another singer who uses straight chest voice
Love momma Mahalia ❤️. That voice. That soul.
This should have millions of views
Thank you for this! Love her voice so much! Could you please also do Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Angela Winbush, Stephanie Mills and Mariah Carey? I absolutely love these videos!
He used to have a Whitney and Mariah one! I’m sure he’s perfecting them like he did the others 🤭
YESSSS BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONEE
AMEN AMEN AMEN 🙏 🙌 👏 ❤️ ☺️ 😊 🙏 🙌
Just an idea can you do a luther vandross video pls
Amen🙏period 😊
Thanks for this amazing episode
I love when musicians explain the intricate workings of their craft. It's fascinating to me.
Her voice makes me ugly cry.
Pleaseee keep making these!!! Do Whitney Houston’s voice next!!!!
Please make one video to explain Barbara steinstand voice i think its worthwhile
This is one of favorite videos from you. I’ve always loved Mahalia but did not know what a special talent she was or how successful her career was.
Ugh I love this channel. So educational 🥹🙌🏾
I love these videos! Thank you!
do Rochelle Ferrell next pls
Please do etta James
This channel is a music mine.
She had amazing power no doubt. Disagree the comment about modifying the hollering to racism. I think the coach heard what l hear- there is not enough room for much else. In other words she could have been more expressive with less power. Think of Al Green. He is not a powerful singer but a very expressive one who draws you in. Aretha had a lot more variety of expression, more light and shade.
But it absolutely was racism……not to mention Mahalia was a fat Black woman all her life, so there was layers of racialized and gendered fatphobia on top of it. It’s more than just a regular person being told that their voice is *uncontrollable* and too “loud”. Given the social and political context of her upbringing, and the generation and time period she came up in, she would’ve still faced that and become caricaturized even if she was naturally softer and lighter in the overall caliber of her voice and expression. And STILL influenced whole generations of singers and musicians, and still hailed as THEE greatest gospel singer of all time. AND rock n’ roll wouldn’t be such without her. So yes, her musical upbringing is wholly political because it already was and still is.
@@ashantidouglass9014 I don’t disagree with any of that and it is all a matter of taste. Ella Fitzgerald was a brilliant technician but l prefer a voice with less polish, more feeling, soul if you will. Similarly some of Mahalias recordings are among my all time favourites. I was just agreeing with the voice coach who tried to rein her in a bit to include more expression. This is not to deny racism but maybe the view of the coach and myself was shared by other people. Many black artists were acceptable to white audiences cos people just loved their voice. Just think of Nat King Cole.
@@jontalbot1 you sorta proved Mahalias and the videomakers point by comparing her to singers who are considered pillars of "refinement" who were a hit with white people, and wondering why people told her she would never be liked by them, because to appease white folk one has to be subdued/toned down, or else they are making a caricature of Black people.
Unfortunately Dubois, her coach or teacher was trying to make her sound like everybody else. And if he would have been successful we would not have been able to enjoy her raw God given vocal style that in 1947 sold 8 million records. Wondered if any of his sing pretty students became that successful. Sometimes teachers in any profession need to get out of the way and nuture the talent and not the technique.
@@Trackstar2000 All l was saying is to see everything through the prism of race is an over simplification, there is more at play, including sad to say, good looks and also presence. Mahalia was a great talent for sure although l would take Aretha any day of the week. She had the power but so much more. I also really love Bobby Bland. He never crossed over as he should have done
I know folks won’t agree, but I have shared this before, you won’t find any commentary, news article, or biography written about Mahalia during her lifetime where she is referred to as anything other than an untrained contralto with a very limited vocal range. The people that heard her while she was alive obviously heard something different to what this generation hears today. Even her last surviving, and most musically educated accompanist Dr. Charles Clency said in his own words that Mahalia was a contralto, she just avoided the proper training to build her voice to it’s full potential.
I do not disagree with you; however, I don't recall the biographies, articles, or documentaries breaking down the music and vocal arrangements of her music. Where the frequency of the notes lay on paper is the true determinant of one's voice type, and Mahalia lives in the A4-D5 range in the center of the staff, the contralto voice does most of its work below the staff.
Also, we hear her singing, "He's Got The Whole World," directly beside a contralto Marian Anderson. Marian sings on C, and Mahalia sings a third higher on Eb. The difference between mezzo-soprano and contralto is a third. Cross-comparing Jackson's and Anderson's shared repertoire, Jackson's music sits consistently higher. Jackson's shared repertoire with her contemporary Bessie Griffin also sits higher by a second (i.e. Motherless Child).
There is; however, a voice type called a mezzo-contralto (the lowest mezzo-soprano voice) that sits in between mezzo-soprano and contralto, it's heavier in tone and less flexible than the mezzo-soprano with its best qualities being around G3-F5 but lacks the resonance and depth at the bottom. Jackson was not generating much volume below G3 (refer to the D3 and E3 at the end of "The Green Leaves of Summer" or when she has to sustain Low Gs in "Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow.") The quality (heft, power, and tone people past and present refer to) and range of that voice type most certainly fit Mahalia's music.
But, I am open to discussion. Could you please refer me to Mahalia singing in the keys of contralto, or doing a lot of work in the D3-F3 range below the staff? Maybe I missed something as I was researching and putting this together.
Thanks for watching, I look forward to discussing this further ♥
@@BlackMusicArchive where does contralto voice sits because I think that the contralto voice sits in the F4-B4 belting range
@@BlackMusicArchiveIs it safe to say that the Mezzo-Contralto voice is the female counterpart to the Bass-Baritone, yes? And if that is the case, the Bass-Baritone voice is invariably classified as a high lying bass or low lying baritone. So why wouldn’t the same rules apply to the Mezzo-Contralto voice type?
@@HlombeSiswana The middle fifth chart is in the video at 13:39. The notes you mentioned are the mezzo-soprano middle fifth (F4-C5).
@@BlackMusicArchive so what is contralto's middle fifth since I couldn't get to able to read