base talk Is Taylor's vocal mediocrity intentional?

[gr33dy4Ari]

We all know that Taylor isn't, by any stretch, an actual vocalist like Beyonce, Ariana, or even Gaga.

 

Nonetheless, she can carry a tune and does have a decent vocal range. Surely as one of the biggest, if not the biggest pop star of the current generation, she has access to the best vocal coaches out there. Singing, just like other performance art (i.e. dancing, acting) is a skill that can be learned and improved on. For example, Dua became a better dancer and Rebecca Black transforming into an actual vocalist.
 

Taylor, despite being in the industry for almost 2 decades has shown minimal improvement. She doesn't even sing with vibrato, studio or live and is easily outsang by pretty much everyone in the industry.

 

Is this intentional? Are vocals something that she doesn't pay attention to as she heavily focuses on songwriting? ATRL discuss.

 

 

[jadeabove]

Well painters can use different brushes for their strokes. Same goes for singers. Taylor could choose to follow a classical training in singing, but will it serve her songwriting that she honed and developed for decades? That remains to be seen. All in all, if it doesn't fit on the canvas why learn it?

 

What sets Taylor apart from her peers is that she can probably write a song from A to Z by herself… which is more to say than 90% of her pop peers. Most of the industry receives a premade demo that they rework and that is not comparable to creating a song from scratch.

Edited 15 hours ago by jadeabove

[Popboi.]

She did 3+ hour shows for 2 years straight without damaging her vocal chords cause of a bad technique, vocal coaches help you with that, they don't transform you into Aretha

[wildsidenormani]

26 minutes ago, gr33dy4Ari said:

Nonetheless, she can carry a tune and does have a decent vocal range

[Revolution]

She should be a songwriter, not a singer, if she can't sing well.

[sugarysunflower]

Yes, it enhances her relatability factor in turn parasocial relationship with her fans stays at the same level. 

[Klein]

Saying she hasn't improved vocally is just completely false. 

 

Just compare clips from the Rep tour to The Eras Tour. It's very clear that her voice has gotten richer and fuller, especially in the lower register. It's also evident that her breath control improved tremendously. Finally, if she was able to complete a 150-dates tour of 3 and a half hour performance without damaging her voice, it shows that she worked a lot to perfect her vocal technique to ensure her voice would remain healthy. 

 

She'll never be a stellar vocalist like the girls you mentioned, that's just never going to happen even with all the training in the world. But saying she has never improved or that she's a bad singer is simply unfair and untrue. Still, she does the job well enough to make her show a great experience for everyone in the audience. There's a reason why the only negative things that went viral of The Eras Tour has been her dancing, despite how hungry her haters are to drag her through the mud at every opportunity. 

[Shimenawa]

She just lacks talent besides songwriting

[The Music Industry]

Say what you want but Taylor objectively got way better vocally over the years

[wastedpotential]

Go watch a clip of her performing Tim McGraw or Our Song from the Fearless tour and then watch her do it on the Eras tour and come back and tell me with a straight face that her vocals haven't really improved. She doesn't have a Whitney range, but she sings in a healthy manner, and her tone matches the types of songs she makes (maybe it's a chicken or egg scenario as to her not having four octave songs or insane runs), but she makes and performs music that suits her voice. Others have pointed out her 150 3 hour shows over the past two years, which really can't be overstated.

[ariananext]

There are a lot of things in the OP that aren't true. First of all, you can improve your singing, but you're still limited by your natural ability. Ariana, Beyoncé, and others are born with amazing voices, and if you don't have that kind of gift, you can't reach their level. Singing is one of the few things that you can't be the best at if you're not naturally gifted.

 

Second, Taylor has improved a lot over the years. Have you seen her performances from 2007? You can hear a huge difference even compared to her performances in 2015. She's not naturally gifted or super talented, but she definitely works hard and does her best within her limits, she can't do better than what she does now and it's fine, she sings her songs good.

Edited 15 hours ago by ariananext

[NEX]

26 minutes ago, Popboi. said:

She did 3+ hour shows for 2 years straight without damaging her vocal chords cause of a bad technique, vocal coaches help you with that, they don't transform you into Aretha

She lipsynced most of it. But if I make a thread about it with concrete evidence you all gonna cry that I'm obsessed. 

[TedLasso]

52 minutes ago, gr33dy4Ari said:

an actual vocalist like Beyonce, Ariana, or even Gaga.

 

 

How kind of you to include Gaga, even

[Devin]

its not intentional. singing is just not her forte.

[skeeyee]

I mean she went from singing off-key & flat 90% of the time to like 25% so let's celebrate that. 

[Popboi.]

5 minutes ago, NEX said:

She lipsynced most of it. But if I make a thread about it with concrete evidence you all gonna cry that I'm obsessed. 

She only did bits and pieces, don't act like she lipped entire songs ala Britney. And about the second part, you are, thread made or not, glad you're at least becoming more self aware 

[The Music Industry]

3 minutes ago, NEX said:

She lipsynced most of it. But if I make a thread about it with concrete evidence you all gonna cry that I'm obsessed. 

Pop artists use backtracks during their tours, this isn't a surprise or exclusive to her. Everyone does it. Would you seriously expect zero backtrack from a 3.5-hour show that goes back to back to back most weekends?  Most of the show is definitely live. I've been there 5 times, she sounded different in all 5 of my shows. Her vocals are better than they've ever been, and it's obvious she's been training for this tour. This really isn't the gotcha moment you seem to think it is.

[prettyinpink940]

I don't think she became the biggest pop star the world has ever seen by accident. 

[liam13]

it fits her style and music. i mean, i prefer Dont Blame Me from eras tour to whatever those contestants of The Voice did on their rendition. it was a disaster, imo.

 

but i do want to hear her sing with more power

Edited 15 hours ago by liam13

[Dante Silva]

I've never heard her strain her voice. Her voice is definitely better than Addison Rae's, Selena Gomez's, Sabrina Carpenter's, Jennifer Lopez's or Madison Beer's.

 

People once levelled the same accusation against Madonna, particularly in comparison to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey but it didn't actually matter.

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Dante Silva

[RoseBud]

12 minutes ago, NEX said:

She lipsynced most of it. But if I make a thread about it with concrete evidence you all gonna cry that I'm obsessed. 

  Youtubers have shown this to be true but let the Swifties continue to believe she is all live...

[Tylerbv]

I wouldn't say it's intentional since she couldn't give a Celine or Whitney performance if she wanted to, but it has worked in her favour. Having songs that literally anyone can sing along to helps people get them stuck in their head/sing along with friends.

[Strawberry Bubble]

47 minutes ago, Revolution said:

She should be a songwriter, not a singer, if she can't sing well.

Guess she's both—and clearly the most successful at it

[alexrex]

Listen carefully, hater

 

 

[Strawberry Bubble]

Taylor actually has a nice voice that's easy to enjoy, with that candy-pitch the radio and general public loves.

You don't need to be the best vocalist to be the best pop star (look at Madonna—she wasn't a powerhouse like Whitney or Mariah, but she's still remembered as one of the biggest pop stars).

Taylor knows how to use her voice and what she's doing. That's why even bigger vocalists can't replicate what Taylor does.