Justin Bieber: His Changing Voice & The Transitions Of Young Stars Into Adulthood

by Cari Cole
Yesterday I had the pleasure of being a guest voice coach on WYNC.org’s Soundcheck hosted by John Schaeffer. We talked about the transitions of young male pop voices and careers in the industry and more specifically Justin Bieber’s current cracks and vocal flub-ups. The truth of the matter is, whether you are a fan of the Bieb or not, he is still a kid at 16 and the pressures in the music business are ginormous.

The fact that the general public is so unrelentingly judgmental in regards to singer’s voices frustrates me at times – I’ll often say “you get up there and do it.” But because I’m a voice coach and know what’s going on, I can sort through the bad voices singing off pitch, who I am unforgiving about, and the good ones who are just having a bad day – or a situation like puberty.

In today’s blog I’m going to share with you the realities of what’s going on during these changes, including the physical and psychological realities, what you can do about it and the bigger tasks at hand in terms of career.

Numero uno is the fact that the vocal shift in puberty for male voices will most likely involve cracks and flubs. The only male vocalists who get away with very little of this are the ones who become high Tenors, and even they can experience some bumps. But there are some things you can do.

Here’s what’s happening.

During puberty the vocal folds grow longer and thicker in the male voice (girls, yours just grow a little longer) deepening the voice. So the beautiful highs that were once resonant and strong, start to come down and lower. It is a very confusing and frustrating time because there is nothing you can do about it except watch it happen and wait until your “new deeper voice” settles in.

So, that said, do you understand that it is not a matter of skill but nature?

Ok good.

So what to do?

The way to get through this with finesse, is first off to accept that this change is completely natural, that there is nothing you can do about stopping it from happening, and to make the proper adjustments. The first thing is to bring the song keys down (from E to C or more) and find the right place for your “new” or “changing” range. The next thing is to ramp up your vocal technique to improve your vocal technique so you don’t develop bad habits and can gain back some of the lost range.

When a young male singer is in training when the change happens, and if they work hard at their technique, they can gain back some range – and sometimes it can be considerable.

You see, vocal technique raises the range (good vocal technique I might add). A good vocal training makes the voice go higher not lower (in general).

So that’s definitely the answer. No, you will never get the “choir boy voice” back – but do you really want to sound like that as you get older? Kind of creepy?

The next thing is the psychological aspect of how to deal with the pressures and changes.

In the case of Justin Bieber where there is a multi-million dollar career burgeoning, the pressures are enormous. It is important to stay grounded, know that you can get through it as long as you don’t freak out, and bring your fans along to grow with you. There is a lot you can do for that to happen in terms of staying creative, reaching out, and being authentic. This is where lowering the keys is important. If you don’t, you’ll be cracking and squawking. It’s also important that the people in the camp are super supportive, make sure that vocal technique is practiced every day (sans one or two), and talk about how to face it together.

There is a lot of pressure for a young performer transitioning into an adult performer and there are so few artists who are able to make the leap into an adult career on solid ground.

The truth is, it is so much more than just the voice: it’s about the career choices one makes and the artistry – song choices – musicianship. The artists who are able to make the transition rank high in these areas – it’s definitely not just talent or luck.

To listen to the discussion on Soundcheck, click here:

Boys to Men: A Mature Discussion on Soundcheck, WNYC.org