To think the singing in Frozen is terrible

[mumski]

Ok so it's great film, good story my kids love it BUT whoever they picked to sing are flipin aweful. Screechy, nasel twang and shouty. Such a shame as the songs are (as we all know) are really good. Next time you hear the songs close your eyes and actually listen to the voices.... ouch!

I find her voice very harsh and nasal. I want her to use her head voice more and stop belting out higher notes from her chest voice.

I don't think the songs are for the audience.
Its obvious that children will emulate them and it can be dangerous for girls to sing these songs, so I'm told by various vocal specialists.
Having this knowledge makes me wince when I see another primary aged child trying to belt this out and struggle to reach the low notes, where they really shouldn't be going.
But hey ho, Disney have no conscience.

Yabu, the singing is great.

Oh ok fractals. I don't actually know what fractals are I'll give you that one then Menzel!

morethanpotatoprints my primary aged child has a very mature voice, and can sing "let it go" without straining as she has the range to do so, but I totally get what you are saying. I have heard it sung extremely badly by lots of girls.

As for Idina Menzel, she is extremely talented. Let it go is definitely very much like defying gravity but it is a formula that works for her voice.

Yabvu

YABVVVU!

I like the singing but I HATE thatAnna sings the word 'totally' about 6 times in that "first time in foreveeer" song. I really notice it now, could they not have thought of a different word?

Note - I may have exaggerated the amount of times she sings 'totally'

I agree she's very nasal.

But that being said she's a trillion times better than me. Or most humans.

Little fish you shouldn't (and Idina doesn't) belt notes using her chest voice.

In what some people call chest voice you vocal folds are thick. The technique for belting is a high energy voice quality that is much more similar in the set up of the larynxt to opera. The larynx is in a high position & the body is anchored as well as other things. In "chest voice or speech quality" the larynx is in a lower more neutral position.

So called chest is a very safe way of singing but there are problems when people try to take that set up too high in the mistaken belief that that is how you belt. It's certainly much safer than the breathy, sweet singing that people often associate with good children's singing. The breathiness indicates that the vocal folds may not be closing properly which can cause problems such as nodules.

It is meant to be used for emphasis so just on a few notes. Many singers chest & use a twang voice quality instead of belt if they are having an off day or haven't got the technique yet.

I actually think Idina is very much a one trick pony type of singer. Her voice sounds the same no matter what she sings.

Kristen Chenoweth on the other hand (original Glinda) is amazing.

Also Kerry Ellis, Willemijn Verkaik, & Nikki Davies-Jones are all fabulous singers.

DS2 does a pretty good cover of 'let it go' whenever he does a poo.

He finds himself hilarious.

Pictures - I'm a former professional singer. I know what I'm talking about.

So is my dh (classically trained)

He now specialises in teaching voice to musical theatre actors & the rehabilitation of singers who have damaged their voices in the past.

Hi pictures.

The young girls I've heard singing it have to change their voices to reach the bottom notes and try to belt out the higher ones.
I know its the wrong song for any primary child whoever thinks their child is safe singing this, because a low G is not a natural voice for a child. I'm told its just low B to E so only a range of 10 notes or so.

I too heard it from the horses mouth, similar to the explanation you have given.
But hey what do the conservatoire voice specialists and your dh know

The "chest" or speech quality I'd advocate for young children would probably be around the middle c range. G below is very low. I'm an alto so have always had a low ish range.

Belting is quite an advanced technique so of course it shouldn't be attempted by beginners /young children. And as I said before it should be for emphasis on a few notes, not a whole verse/song.

Idina does it correctly. Those imitating her probably don't.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with the singing but I did think there were just far too many songs!!!

Yanbu. Hate this sort of nasal singing that seems to be very common amongst American singers these days.

Slight tangent but is she called Anna or Arna? And if she is called Anna why do they pronounce it so weirdly?

I dislike most Disney princessy type films but was pleasantly surprised by Frozen. And the songs are growing on me because DD sings them all the bloody time

Apparently the characters names Hans, Kristoff, Anna & Sven are meant refer to Hans Christian Andersons name!

So what may work really well in a musical won't necessarily work (and doesn't in Frozen) when signing in a cartoon as it is far too "belty" - in a nutshell. It sounds as if they require totally different techniques and skills.

She's Anna but it's pronounced differently because the film is set in a Scandinavian type country.

YABU.

I've seen Idina Menzel live and she is incredible. Her acoustic version of 'No Day But Today' from RENT, and her cover of 'Both Sides Now', are well worth a listen. She's one of my favourite performers!

Five I love Idina, I also like a variety of other artists. Bastille, Annie Lennox, Pentatonix, Sia, Train, George Ezra to name a few.

She's Ana

Thanks Moomin, there are a couple I'm not that familiar with on that list, I shall look them up .