Female VS. Male Singers
 

I was talking on another site about Renaissance and how they were essentially Yes but with a female singer. The guys response was that he thought female singers were more aesthetically pleasing to the ear.

Hmmm... I wondered...there just might be something to that!

But if that is true, then why don't we see more female lead singers? Obviously we have the Spears and Simpsons with their pop, but other than that, the music industry seems (it could be just me) to be over run by male singers! Well if female singers are more pleasing to the ear, you would think it would be the other way around...your thoughts!

Would I be wrong in thinking that women have less range than the more versatile male singers, in a pop/rock context?

Not sure if it's worth the comparison.

All I know is that there there aren't enough decent female musician-***-role models in the mainstream these days, where are the Patti Smiths? The only ones I can think of are old news - PJ Harvey, Bjork, Kate Bush (Tori Amos was from one of her hairs, fact fans) blardy blah...
I happen to thing Charlotte Hatherley is one of the finest songwriters out there right now, however. I'm her stalker.

I think the range itself (your highest and lowest notes) varies from person to person, not sex to sex.

However, you could be on to something, a male can get very low and use his falcetto to get very high (to hit the note at least, it might not sound pretty). Girls can also get very high, higher than most males, but they probably can not get very low.

So assuming a male and female both have, lets say, 20 notes in their range, the male's could be all over the staff, but the female might be restricted to the upper parts...but this is all hypothetical and probably has little science behind it :P

I think personally, a singer is a singer. there are many female singers that i love, Adele, Feist, Yael Naim,Alison Sudol,Kianna Alarid, but the same can be said for men. I just think men are traditionally given more of a chance in mainstream, rock at least. RnB and hip hop on the other hand have many more female artist.

I do not think they are given more of a chance, i feel there is just more men who get into it. Look at when you were a kid, how many girls were dreaming of being rock stars, and playing there instruments hours on end?

Emily Haines use to write songs on the piano when she was a very little kid about trees and imaginary places. I think you're being a wee bit unfair to female musicians with that statement.

there's a simple reason why you don't see more female rock singers.

mainstream rock is still rooted in classic rock and most of the songs are about getting laid. classic rock started out being about rebellion, aggression, being decadent and dirty, coming from the wrong side of the tracks. it wasn't nice and flowery, and about getting in touch with their emotions. rock music is very much based around the cack, the guitar (being the predominant instrument) is an obvious phallic symbol.

even as open and equal as our society likes to think it is, it still sounds offsetting to hear a woman being sexually aggressive as a front person in a rock band. even in genres where women are predominantly front and center they're generally passive in their sexuality, they act all coy and innocent, and assert themselves indirectly to draw attention.

it's not always the case but more often than not it's how it works out. a passive front person for a rock band generally doesn't work nearly as well as an aggressive one.

Nah, in terms of the amount of notes someone can hit it's equal but men have superior range, literally without exception. Men can go deeper and have falsetto.

I'm going with the sentiment that it doesn't really matter as far as gender goes.

Yeah I think it's a case that female vocals maybe don't have the same range or deep quality that's needed for when trying to sing over a bass, guitar and drums.

Of female singers though, some female singer songwritersare my favourite singers. Lisa Hannigan that sings with Damien Rice has a fantastic voice. My favourite overall is Gemma Hayes. Her voice is incredible.


YouTube - Gemma Hayes -Ran For Miles - Live At Abbey Road