GOOD Vocal Runs VS BAD Vocal Runs (Part 1)

You can't have the good without also having the bad, after all. A look at various riffs and runs sung by some pop singers.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Riffs, runs, melisma... a double edged-sword
1:41 Beyonce
2:22 Fifth Harmony
3:37 Camila Cabello
3:44 Shawn Mendes
3:54 Tori Kelly
4:24 Justin Bieber
4:52 Ariana Grande
5:15 Demi Lovato
5:47 Wendy (Red Velvet)
5:58 Christina Aguilera
6:31 Halle Bailey
6:39 Keke Wyatt
6:52 Mariah Carey
7:19 Jessie J
7:55 Madison Beer
8:23 JoJo
8:52 Brandy
9:01 Morissette Amon
9:15 Steve Mackey, Avery Wilson
9:36 Little Mix
10:00 Outro

[nathengonzalez]

I love Celine's face when she messes up that run at the beginning. She's like dang that was bad and laughed at her own self 🤣

[glossiergloss]

putting tori after fifth harmony was such a breath of fresh air 😭🙏

[alisha]

As a harmonizer, camila's runs and riffs were always annoying af. She's been adding them EVERYWHERE, to EVERY song, EVERY performance always. And they are annoying just to listen. But Dinah is just WOW.

[siler]

Mariah Carey is simultaneously one of the best things and one of the worst things to ever happen to pop music. The problem is, she was SO good that everybody else started trying to sing like her.

And they can't.

She's a one-in-a-billion talent.

[shinichikudo]

I like Mariah Carey"s runs and riffs. They make me feel comfortable

[lolasmom]

What I call bad musicality is a singer interrupting their own song. That's how it feels. It's like they're saying "Hold on a min for me to do these unnecessary notes real quick". If you're doing it right it doesn't feel that way. It'll compliment the song instead of interrupt it

[rhaenyraitargaryen]

Mariah has the most fluid riffs and runs and most of the time, it's so subtle and she doesn't show it off.

[k_drive]

brandy's really incredible, she manages to be so inventive and take real risks with her runs but she always manages to resolve her notes so swiftly.

[chrissyalapo-calg]

wow, did not expect to see Wendy here :o guess it means that run at the end of RBB really is one of the more complex runs, she did so good. thanks for including her!!

[hee]

I'm so glad you added "musicality" to this. There are so many people who are great singers but they have no musicality. This is truly what sets Mariah apart from the vast majority of the singers in the world. The thing that made Mariah, Whitney and Aretha the greatest singers of all time and their musicality. It was simply unmatched. They knew how to compliment a song.

[MrSnookieCute]

I love how this shows how much Beyoncé's musicality has improved over the years 😁

[BlendedBarbieDoll]

Toris voice is just perfection
She’s literally like an angel vocally

[CyprusHot]

Mariah’s runs are so beautifully connected to the music and suits her voice

[lamblife]

Mariah has perfect pitch and perfect pitch memory, saw a bunch of live acapella mini vids during the pandemic, she sounds EXACTLY the same as the record... Perfect tempo, pitch, everything! It's insane to witness! You could play the record along the acapella performance and she doesn't miss a beat!

[ejinchina]

I think the longer a run is, the harder it is to maintain the musical structure of the song and make it sound in place, but the ones who do it well sound like... beyond amazing.

[bre_me]

Celine's face is me if I could actually sing and messed up a run

[jesusgarcia]

Normani's vocal agility has such potential. Dinah and Tori's agility though. Oh my goodness 😍

[aeong_bread]

love that wendy had improved by the second clip. it's definitely a difficult run and i love how she tries her best every time. she's a great singer but it just shows there's ALWAYS room for improvement. stan red velvet

[pizzadog]

4:31 his reaction to Justin's riff kills me lmao

[AM-dddx]

Why did I burst out laughing when I saw Demi had negative everything for the “Get Back” run 😭😭