The Vocal Range of Kurt Cobain: (F1-)E♭2-D5(-C6)

Kurt Cobain was probably the most legendary figure of 90's. The lead vocalist and guitarist of Nirvana, Cobain's classic singing style was one of the big reasons why Nirvana brought grunge to mainstream and changed the history of music forever.

Cobain's singing style was far from technical and he often harassed his voice without caring much about its health. Cobain was a high baritone and his timbre was quite deep which resulted in screamy and dramatic high notes and pretty deep lows. Cobain may not have been the most skilled singer out there but he surely had his better moments. Many songs by Nirvana feature great singing by Cobain and that is all that matters.

1. 0:00 - Lots of easy B2s from the live version of "Sliver".
2. 0:14 - Quick B♭2s from "Downer".
3. 0:25 - Easy B♭2s from "In Bloom", what a song!
4. 0:38 - Mumbly A2 from "Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip".
5. 0:45 - Strong A2s from "Here She Comes Now" originally by The Velvet Underground.
6. 1:03 - Short A2s from "Hairspray Queen".
7. 1:15 - Strong G2s and F2s from "Spank Thru", classic tune.
8. 1:43 - Quiet F2s from "Love Buzz".
9. 2:03 - Really short full F2 and fry F1 from "Moist Vagina".
10. 2:13 - Really weak and fryish E2s from the live performance of "Plateau".
11. 3:06 - Lots of solid lows from "Downer" bottoming around E2.
12. 3:48 - Some solid low singing first bottoming around F2 and then around E♭2 (the lowest full note Cobain has showcased) from the live playback of the legendary "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with only vocals being on: Cobain rebels against the playback and sings the song humorously one octave lower, while sounding a bit like Morrissey.
13. 4:24 - Time for Cobain's high notes: powerful F♯4s from "Aneuyrysm", Kurt sounds fantastic here.
14. 4:52 - Raspy G4s from "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle".
15. 5:10 - Awesome G4s from "In Bloom".
16. 5:27 - Great G♯4s from "Heart Shaped Box".
17. 5:53 - Powerful A4s from "Sliver".
18. 6:05 - Good A4s from "Scoff".
19. 6:21 - Screamy A4s from "Stay Away".
20. 6:34 - Strong A4s from the demo version of "Here She Comes Now".
21. 6:48 - Powerful B♭4s from Nirvana's most unknown song ever called "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
22. 7:14 - Strained B♭4s from "Swap Meet".
23. 7:34 - Lots of raspy B4s from "Rape Me".
24. 7:52 - Really good B4s from "School", probably one of Kurt's best vocal performances.
25. 8:16 - Streak of good B4s from "Ain't It a Shame".
26. 8:30 - Powerful highs topping at B4 from "Sifting".
27. 8:51 - I thought this was gritty C5 but it actually slides up to non-modal C6, Kurt's highest non-full note (the song is "Spank Thru")!
28. 8:59 - Powerful C5s from "Lounge Act".
29. 9:18 - Clean C♯5 from "Beeswax".
30. 9:27 - Painful C♯5 and falsetto F♯5s from "Scentless Apprentice".
31. 9:32 - Kurt's highest full note ever, D5, from "Help Me, I'm Hungry".
32. 9:37 - Great falsetto F5s from "Mr. Moustache".
33. 9:53 - Falsetto G5 from "Blew".
34. 9:58 - Quick falsetto B5, from "Beeswax".

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[terretetetito]

What are the notes that Kurt hits at the end of the Drain You chorurs ("I.. Like... You")? Cause he seems to have a really hard time singing them live

[GoodGuitarSolos]

@terretetetito E3-D3-C#3 - Definitely not tricky for Cobain range-wise, maybe the darkness and phrasing of the original notes made him struggle with them?

[srs7593]

Don't forget the funny spoken head voice d5 in the beginning of territorial pissings. the word is smile.

[GoodGuitarSolos]

@srs7593 That is actually a full D5 by Kris Novoselic!

[tonyfelbs]

wow, now do a video on the variety of Ramones chord progressions....

[GoodGuitarSolos]

@tonyfelbs That sounds great! Or maybe a video about the immense vocal power and versatility of Johnny Rotten?

[Isle0fRed]

Brilliant.

[Jstinb]

do dave grohl PLEASE

[canorjohn]

@Astbruchgefahr First of all, what you're talking about is half step DOWN tuning and I'm talking about a half step higher tune. And besides that, they started to tune down to Eb in the second half of 92 not 93.

[Astbruchgefahr]

@canorjohn No, they're in standard there. They started tuning down to Eb after 93.

[canorjohn]

If I'm not wrong, for the Paramount Theatre show, the guitars were tuned to a half step up. During the "School" performance from that show (especially the "You're in high school again" part) Kurt sounds so fuckin' amazing. I don't know which note that is but when he screams "agaiiinn!" it's just so clear that he hits a damn high note with an absolutely amazing power in his voice. He just had a unique one.

R.I.P.

[youwinoneinternets]

Thanks for this video (: Kurt's my favourite singer of all time.

[shit311]

pretty sure he was a skilled singer in many ways. i, just another fan of them, not a worshiper

[1111111one]

My favorite singers 1.Layne Staley 2.Robert Plant 3.Kurt Cobain, have you done a Plant vocal range video cuz i cant find it.

[stpfan729]

@stpfan729 Sorry for the stupid grammatical errors im trashed

[stpfan729]

Although he is the voice of Gen X I believe (not to shit on die hard Cobainheads) that musically he was the least talented in the seattle scene buit one of the more talented writers, no doubt about that. IMO Staley was overall considering the main attributes of a musician, especially rock, the most talented and second most underrated considering Cornell had the most powerful voice and opne of the most indie or cult followings of the seattle scene. Hope I spelled Seattle right or im retardard.