Vocal Range

D3 ~ F6 (3 Octaves, 1 note and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

G3/G#3 ~ E5/F5

G3/G#3 ~ B5 (with head voice)

Voice Type

Light Lyric Soprano

Strengths/Achievements Arguably the strongest female idol singer Consistent support in the mixed voice up to E5/F5 Has shown good moments of support above F5 Very well connected head voice Transitions into head voice are nearly flawless Head voice is supported up until Bb5/B5 Good control of dynamics and mixing Runs are precise and well articulated Lower range is supported down to G#3/G3 Improvement has been clearly heard from pre-debut/debut until now Nasality is almost never present in her singing Weaknesses Vowel shaping often creates a whiny quality in her mixed voice Lower range can become muffled with a lowered larynx Head voice above B5 shows issues with support and tension Mixed voice is very unbalanced and often pushed Notes above E5/F5 lack consistency and support Lower range below F#3 is often inaudible and overly quiet Vowels such as “Eu (으)” and “Aye (애/에)” generally create the most tension in her voice Registers Lower register: Her weakest register. Improvement has been heard overtime with occasional moments of support below her supported range but generally her support only goes down to G3/G#3 due to improper larynx positions. Mixed register: Mixed voice is very consistent, support is almost always present but due to stylistic reasons and bad habits, the mix can often sound pushed and overly chest-dominant, which has shown improvement over time. Upper register: Most consistent register by far, shows the least issues and is one of the most developed head voices amongst female idols. Support and control of dynamics are easily present up until B5 consistently, although she may lack confidence above B5, with problems involving tension. Agility

Amongst idol vocalists, Ailee is one of the top vocalists in terms of agility and precision. Although possessing a chesty mixed voice, Ailee still is able to keep control and flexibility in her runs and melismas. Ailee’s runs are generally very well separated, every note is clear and the overall flow is good and natural. Her runs are also precise in pitch and hardly ever show issues with pitch, her runs flow freely through her songs and she hardly ever has issues with transitions or accuracy. The issue with her runs mostly comes from the lack of bounce they have where, although precise and quite fast and complex, they don’t generally have the lightness and freedom an R&B vocalists tends to favor when doing runs, due to the heavy use of the thyroarytenoid muscles in her voice. Generally someone who does vocal runs in R&B generally uses a more light vocal cord function and a brighter vocal approach as to allow the vocal cords to run through notes carrying less weight and therefore having more freedom. Even then Ailee has shown multiple times that she’s able to carry through complex and long runs without issues in pitch or precision, such in “너를 향한 마음“, “Georgia On My Mind” and “I Was Here” as well as being able to sing through complex vocal lines that transition from her mid-range up to Bb5, such as in “One Night Only“. She’s also shown that her runs can come in different speeds and even in different scales, such as the harmonic minor runs in the beginning of “희야“.

Overall analysis

Debuting in 2012 after a few years of training in Korea, Ailee first started off as a Youtube singer with mild success that brought her from her home in New Jersey to Korea in order to make her dreams of becoming a singer come true. From the beginning of her career up until now, Ailee has always been marketed as a strong vocalist, a title she’s been able to keep by being consistent and delivering good vocal performances throughout her career. Voice type wise, Ailee possesses the tessitura and natural range of a higher female voice, a Soprano, with a girly, youthful and light tone, therefore a light lyric. The overly chest-dominant approach used in Ailee’s mix may confuse some to think she’s got a lower voice than she does, but her natural tone is much lighter when she doesn’t try to push too much chest up in her mix.

As a Soprano, Ailee has always neglected properly developing her lower range and therefore this is by far the weakest part of her voice. During debut, Ailee would often show good support down to about A3, but would then generally opt for a lowered larynx position below A3, such as the G3’s in “보여줄게” and “빛과 그림자“, and at times she’d even show lack of stability and problems with pitch in her lower range such as in “나 어떡해“. Her lower range above A3 has mostly always been very well placed, supported and relaxed. Overtime Ailee has shown that she is able to support her voice below A3, most notably the F#3 in “사랑했지만“, however Ailee