Vocal Range

E3 ~ F6 (3 Octaves and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

A3 ~ C#5

A3 ~ G5 (with head voice)

Voice Type

Soprano

Strengths/Achievements

• Strongest vocalist in Brown Eyed Girls
• Notes down to A3 possess proper projection and support
• Able to support her mixed range up until C#5
• Shown resonance and support up until C5 consistently
• Possesses a head voice that has been used up until G5 with enough consistency
• One of the highest vocal ranges amongst idol female vocalists
• Possesses good note separation and accuracy in her vocal runs
• Very extensive mixed range up until A5/Bb5
• Notes down to F3 and F#3 at times possess enough clarity and vocal tone
• Healthy vibrato often produced through proper breath support
• Intonation is often quite accurate
• Able to harmonize and blend her voice in well

Points for Improvement

• Notes below A3 are often unsupported and unclear
• Lacks support on her lower notes in general, often becoming airy and disconnected
• Seems to often sing with a small mouth shape and throat shape, causing her overall voice to be very small
• Her voice can oftentimes project partially through her nose
• Notes above C#5 are generally more pinched, whiny and strained, even if extensive in range
• Falsetto is often employed and switched into instead of head voice
• The higher she goes, the more strained and screamed notes become in falsetto and mix
• Raises her larynx on higher belts and often sounds throaty and thin

Registers

• Lower register: Generally very airy and unsupported below A3, with occasional support down to G3 and tone still present down to F#3 at times. She has correct projection and placement on A3’s and above only though.

• Mixed register: Very evenly mixed with a nice resonant sound consistently up until C5 and support still present on C#5 and occasionally D5. Above C#5 the consistency is lost and the larynx raises, where a more strained and pinched sound comes out.

• Upper register: Very pure and full, capable of producing a nice controlled head voice even as high as G5, but also able to transition into a weaker, more fragile falsetto at times. Above G5, though, the sound of the voice turns more into a falsetto and becomes more pushed and squeaked as she ascends higher.

Agility

Narsha’s voice is bright and very light. It possesses ease and a certain degree of agility, possibly the most agile voice amongst the Brown Eyed Girls vocalists. With a tone that’s so light, agility comes to her more naturally and when she sings, there’s not only a clear ability to sing slow and mid tempo runs, her voice shows a clear control of accuracy and note separation, hitting every single tone individually with a very nice flow and control of legato throughout. Her most notably accurate and best vocal runs include the ones in Brown Eyed Girls’ cover of “Emotion“. Other times, however, her runs may lack precision and control when higher in range, such as her descending run from her F6 in “Sixth Sense“.

Overall analysis

Debuting in 2006 and maintaining a steady career as a vocalist of one of Korea’s top female vocal groups, Narsha is no stranger to the public. Possessing a very unique and recognizable tone, Narsha’s voice is usually the Soprano of group in terms of harmonies and shows a very light, bright and high texture, able to mix quite high and sit comfortably in a high range. She is a light lyric soprano who has the necessary understanding of how to use her vocal instrument appropriately for the material she chooses to sing, for the most part.

Starting from the bottom of her range, her voice is generally very quiet and lacks a clear support. From the E3 to the F#3 range, example being “Dancing Queen“, her voice seems to lack proper vocal cord connection and does not project very well, the tone is sometimes present on F#3’s but there’s also a very obvious disconnection of sound coming from the air through her vocal cords. Although at times she’s been able to show a more steady sound even on G3, such as in “친구여” where the sound is focused and the cords are connected but projection and placement still lack in terms of fullness and presence of sound. The sound is however very steady anywhere above A3, where proper cord connection and placement are found and her voice becomes stable and supported.

As she ascends, her voice sits quite comfortably in the low fifth octave, with a lot of consistency and ease on C5’s and below, where her voice shows good placement and resonant most of the time. Most notable moments include her resonant Bb4 from “착한 사랑” and her C5’s from “You Raise Me Up” and “하루하루“, where a clear support and resonance are shown. She is consistently supported up until C#5 and occasionally shows an ability to support notes as high as D5, although there’s more of a push to the voice and the stability starts to be lost, such as in “대전 블루스“, “홀로 된다는” and “착한 사랑“, where the support is being used but the notes seem to not sit as comfortably and stable in her voice. Her mixing is generally very balanced and around D5 and above, her larynx starts to raise and the support starts to be lost. Notes start to have a certain push and lack the ease she has below, examples include her E5’s in “친구여“, her F5 in “Sixth Sense” and the peak of her mixed range, her A5/Bb5 from “Can’t Fight The Moonlight“. Another issue in her mixed range is that, although resonance is achieved and support exists, she has a tendency to keep her mouth closed and create less space for her voice to properly project, causing the sound of her resonance to be at times still very small and not as amplified as much as she could.

One of the highlights of Narsha’s voice is her falsetto and head voice register, which are easily accessed and very well developed until G5, with control and precision. Notes below G5 are generally easily switched into, possess ease and project well, with a control of when to use falsetto and when to use a head voice. Her head voice is pure, clean and resonant, and although small in volume, still possesses more presence than most Sopranos’ falsettos. She is able to control her head voice well up until G5, examples being her G5 from “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and her F#5/G5 from “착한 사랑“. Above G5, however, her voice becomes more of a disconnected and pinched falsetto, losing the ease and resonance present in her head voice, generally becoming more squeaked. Examples include the F6 of “Sixth Sense” and her C6 in “싫어“.

One of Narsha’s good assets is her improvement in pitch and stability, which could at times hinder her voice and cause projection issues, but with time have shown a more steady and consistent approach in sound, with her voice being very supported, in tune and controlled throughout performances. Her vibrato is also very healthy and produced with proper support, showing a good relaxed sound when in her supported range, but either becoming absent or overly fast as she ascends above her supported range. Her most notable flaw however is her tendency to create a more narrow space for sound, where her voice doesn’t project as much and consequently, she may at times place her voice more in her nose than in her mask, causing a more blocked sound to come out and less resonance is achieved.

Narsha’s strongest asset is her ability to freely control her voice in her supported range and play with dynamics quite well. She can control her breath well and generally uses a slightly chestier sound for fuller notes, a more balanced mix for her brighter and lighter notes and can control the usage of falsetto, head voice, airiness and brightness in her voice to fully travel through the emotions of a song throughout her vocal delivery and performance.

Showing a very consistent vocal delivery, but not as much improvement, it is only expected that one of Korea’s most respected vocal groups would have consistent vocalists. Narsha, being Brown Eyed Girls’ lead vocalist, is able to show resonance, control and support her voice well for her own style of music and her own musical choices, given they’re within her supported range. She’s a vocalist who’s got enough vocal skill to be respected as a vocalist, but also enough skill to survive as a solo artist and maintain a long and fulfilling artistic career as a singer in Korea, if perhaps she is to further develop her technique, it would allow her voice to bloom into a bigger and wider range of sounds, notes and skills than she possesses today. Perhaps more focus on opening her mouth and throat, also more focus on breath support could allow her to improve her vocals and earn a name as one of Korea’s top vocalists.

Musicianship

Not a very adventurous vocalist, Narsha is one who does not try and change songs without knowing exactly what she is doing. She does, at times, sing songs differently and has the ear to stay in pitch and control her voice within her supported range, but most of the time, her most notable skill is her ear for harmony and ability to blend in well with other voices. That is her strongest skill in her musicianship, her ability to hear and change her tone, voice and volume so that she can match and deliver music more effectively through the use harmony, instead of trying to show off and stand out but not blending in well with her other members.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

MH Vocalists: Mid-Range Head Voice Vocalists

MB Vocalists: Mid-Range Belters

Best Vocal Performance

Vocal Range Video(s)

Video by: Josias (Eternalsilverlight)

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Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)