Vocal Range
E3 ~ B5 (2 Octaves, 3 notes and 1 semitone)
Supported Range
A3/Bb3 ~ B4/C5
Voice Type
Soprano
Strengths/Achievements
- Second strongest vocalist in Brown Eyed Girls
- Able to consistently keep a stable larynx up into the fifth octave around C5
- Able to keep a stable larynx at times down to G3
- Support is present in the lower range around Bb3/A3 and up
- Support is quite consistent up until C5
- Resonance is present in her voice and may at times be achieved in a range around and below C#5
- Possesses a falsetto that is generally relaxed around G#5 and below
- Consistently able to produce an even and healthy vibrato
- Good at harmonizing and blending her voice with the rest of the Brown Eyed Girls’ members
- Possesses a more unusual voice type and therefore is able to stand out from most K-pop groups
Points for Improvement
- Back of the throat often closes and creates a tight pushed sound in her mix
- Breathiness is too often present and causes intonation issues
- Falsetto is at times pushed and tight with an airy improper vocal cord connection
- Larynx raises and throat closes quite considerably above D5
- Support is inconsistent even in her supported range around C#5/D5
- Notes below Bb3/A3 are often airy, quiet and unstable in placement and cord connection
- Often places her voice in her nose when not raising her soft palate
- Falsetto notes can at times be pitchy and lose control
- Vocal runs are often messy and lack proper precision and separation of notes
- Often gets tighter and more nasal on the “Aye (애)” vowel
Registers
- Lower register: Her lower range is often airy and unstable even within her supported range, around A3 and Bb3, at times. Her range below G3 is often airy, unprojected and disconnected in sound, showing almost no care for proper support and projection.
- Mixed register: Consistently able to keep support up until C5, with occasional resonance and has also been able to show a consistent stable larynx up until C#5. Notes above D5 are often pushed and strained, with a high larynx and whiny placement.
- Upper register: Falsetto is often relaxed up until about E5 but generally becomes pushed as she ascends in range and possesses an undesirable amount of airiness and disconnection of tone and support.
Agility
Jea’s voice is that of a Soprano but due to the extra weight it possesses, it may find itself less comfortable with vocal embellishments. Regardless of skill, she is a vocalist who often adds ornamentations and attempts different vocal runs in her vocal performance. For that reason, her vocal runs often lack proper pitch separation and clarity of tone, notes are often more like slides from one note to another and lack proper precision and a careful thought-through process of preparation beforehand. Examples include her runs during her performance of “고향이 남쪽이랬지” and “Because You Loved Me“.
Overall analysis
As one of Korea’s most well acclaimed and respectable vocal idol groups, it would be of no surprise to the public that someone like Jea would be one of Korea’s most respected and well praised vocalists. Possessing a light voice with a certain degree with brightness, it is Jea’s slightly darker tone that helps it stand out from most other vocalists. Having a voice that lies closer to that of a Full Lyric Soprano, her voice possesses an extra weight and size in volume that allows for it to be naturally bigger and stand out from other vocalists and from the other vocalists in her group. Although there is more of a mature sound to her voice, she has yet to show enough vocal qualities of a full lyric soprano to be classified as one, so she may either be a light or a full lyric soprano.
Starting from the bottom of her range, Jea’s voice generally is able to keep vocal tone and stay connected around G3 and above, where her voice seems to stay projected and present although lacking stability and support, as seen in her cover of “Out Here On My Own“. She generally shows a better vocal support and properly connects her vocal cords around A3/Bb3 where her voice seems less uncomfortable, although there’s still degree of instability in her voice, as heard in “고향이 남쪽이랬지” and “그대가 잠든 사이“. Her lowest extreme is her E3 from the performance of “Dancing Queen“, where the notes lack a lot in terms of vocal tone, cord connection and support, almost coming off as low whispers.
Ascending into her mixed range, this is where Jea is given most lines to sing, as Brown Eyed Girls’ main vocalist, she is mostly in charge of the bigger and important high notes in songs. Her voice shows consistent support around C5 and even C#5, with a properly stable neutral larynx and proper breathing technique. At times she may be able to show consistency up until D5, but such consistency is lost even within her own performances, such as in her performance of “3자 대면“, where many times she will keep forward sound in her D5’s, but inconsistently able to keep an opened and relaxed throat. She is able to produce resonance in her mixed range and has done so in performances such as “고향이 남쪽이랬지“, on her opening C5 and the B4’s in “You Raise Me Up“. Support is also present on her C5’s, examples include her performance of “겨울 이야기“. Her consistency is very good around C5 and below, where she generally produces healthy and supported notes and has done enough C#5’s with support for them to part of her supported range. However so, Jea’s biggest problem in her mix is her inconsistency with keeping her throat relaxed and opened even within her supported range. Often times, her voice will sound rather pushed and tight, with the back of her throat and swallowing muscles closing around her voice, creating a pushed and often limited sound, examples include the C#5’s from “You Raise Me Up” and the D5’s of “친구여“.
At other times, her voice will just show a clear sign of strain, often pushing, raising her larynx and using little to no support. Many times, she will let the tongue tense up and make the sound of her voice become small, restricted and strained. She also has a tendency to become tense and push her voice into her nose on the “Aye (애)” vowel. Examples of her straining include the D5’s from “Note To God“, the F5’s from “Sixth Sense“, her E5’s in 친구여“, her F5 from “Because You Loved Me” and her Eb5’s from “You Raise Me Up“. It is also clear that her voice loses resonance and becomes smaller as she leans onto this bad habit when comparing her to another vocalist of the same voice type, such as Lee Young Hyun, with whom she released a duet called “Harmony” in which the size of Jea’s voice and Lee Young Hyun’s voice becomes quite contrasting due to the bigger resonance coming from Lee Young Hyun and the more pushed and throaty quality present in Jea’s voice.
Her falsetto register is generally used to create a breathier and more vulnerable quality of sound, often using a breathy onset to create a sense of weakness. Her falsetto register is generally supported and relaxed, being switched into at times for emotional value and at other times to reach notes otherwise uncomfortable for her on a not-so-good vocal day. Examples include the breathy C5’s from “니가따끔거려서“, her G#5 from “Because You Loved Me” as well as her E5’s from “All I Want For Christmas Is You“. Up until G#5, her falsetto is able to stay relaxed but as she ascends int A5 and above, her voice becomes tighter, less supported and smaller in size, with more of a push in her throat. Examples include her A5’s from “그대가 잠든 사이“, “Emotion” and her highest live note, her B5 from “고향이 남쪽이랬지“.
In terms of strengths, Jea’s voice is consistent in support up until C5 and she often is able to produce a controlled and healthy vibrato with her voice. On her weaknesses though, Jea often tenses up her voice, closes her throat and uses an overly breathy technique, which causes her intonation to at times go off, examples being her performance of “Because You Loved Me” and her sustained D5 from “Can’t Fight The Moonlight“, where her voice was being pushed with too much throat and air from her diaphragm, causing her pitch to go sharp and create a note in between D5 and Eb5.
As a vocalist, Jea has been able to go very far on her own when it comes to singing technique. She has reportedly not been given formal singing lessons and thus has come very far with learning how to use the instrument she has to the best of her own unique ability. She is often able to create emotions through an airy technique, through playing with certain dynamics and volume, but due to the faults in her technique, Jea is often left with half-complete performances, lacking precision, openness, resonance and true presence. Her voice is often praised and if she were to properly address breathing technique and opening her throat, she’d be able to take her vocal performances to a whole new level. She was reported to have regressed vocally due to improper use of vocal technique and due to a long absence from the music industry where she reportedly had not sung enough, which is not true because even as early as 2006 ~ 2008, Jea showed similar, if not the same exact vocal characteristics that she possesses today.
Musicianship
Able to properly use her voice with enough vocal control to blend her voice well with her Brown Eyed Girls’ members and harmonize well. One of her strengths is her ability to know when to properly match others’ volume of tone and to control the thickness and weight of her voice. Also able to change the melody of songs more properly when unable to sing through certain transitions and melodies, although the end result might not be as successful as the initial idea, she is able to mask any kind of vocal issues, such as in “Emotion” where Jea avoids hitting the C6, originally in the song, and instead does a descending run from A5, which was less accurate than one would desire but still managed to make up for the C6 she did not attempt.
Label (Type of Vocalist)
MB Vocalists: Mid-Range Belters
Best Vocal Performance
Vocal Range Video(s)
Video by: Josias (Eternalsilverlight)
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Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)
K-pop Vocalists' Vocal Analyses 
Jea’s is finally out ! Thank you AhMin !! 🙂
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Confesso que estava esperando no mínimo um ‘competent vocalist’, mas enfim, você pode me explicar porque ela parece ser uma vocalista melhor do que realmente é?
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Ela nao parece melhor, inventaram que ela eh melhor e todo mundo acreditou sem questionar.
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I never imagined it was going to be out so soon. Well…this is a surprise and not pleasant one. I thought she was so much better. Comparing this analysis to Narsha´s i just don´t understand why Narsha isn´t the main vocalist. I would love Queen Narsha to get the recognition she deserves. Back to Jea, well, i think she has an incredible voice and i hope she takes the lessons and improves. I would love to hear her true colours and, like you said, take her performances the a new level.
Love reading Jea´s analysis! Thank you very much for your hard work! ^^
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Thank you and it wasnt a pleasant surprise to me either… But it had to be done… Narsha definitely deserves more recognition.
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Wow, this is really an eye opener! Her voice is getting strained! I guess I’m just not realizing how much she regresed. I’m sorry about all my claims. I love Jea I listened to her since about BEG’s debut and you know how you love a singer so much and you’re like their so good? That’s how I was with Jea. Thank you so much for this!
Oh btw the Raina video is working great, I’m almost done with it! I know this is really random but do you know what Perrie Edwards would be ranked. I really like her!
As always thanks Ahmin!
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Whos that? And yeah i was surprised when analyzing as well lol but thanks for helping with raina!
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She’s a British singer. I don’t listen to her that much but I like her voice. She’s in the group little mix, they won X Factor UK. Here is Perrie Edwards:
She has huge range. She is the main vocalist of Little Mix. What do you think she will rank?
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I think not good, nobody in little mix ever came off to me as good
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No I mean what category is she in? Like good? I didn’t mean rank her lol
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I feel like nobody’s good only 3 Korean people. I’m talking about the world, nobody’s good! Only 3 women are good and they happen to be Korean. Everytime I hear someone that is a main vocalist I’m automatically like they’re above average or compentent or good. Then I go on this website and I’m like what. But it’s an educational what so that’s ok. That’s one of the reasons why I like this website, I get to be very wrong and I like that. I know that sounds really weird but because I’m right with a lot of things people depend on me and think I’m a genuis or something so I like to feel wrong! Thank you for making me feel wrong(trust me that was not sarcastic)!
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I have a question, I know I’m the one who should find out this stuff but I know you find very rare vids. Do you know a video where Raina does anything higher than a G5 in falsetto or head voice? If you do can you link it? Her range currently is E3-G5. Also if you find anything lower then a E3 that would be great too! I feel like she has a wider range and the range she currently has is nothing!
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I have no idea of anything, have you listened to her full discography? What bout covers? Has she sung something like a gooses dream? Or stand up for love? Or when you believe?
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Yes, I’ve been looking. I’ll check those songs one more time. She might of hit a D3 in gooses dream. Thanks for reminding me!
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On a variety show, she attempted an opera song from Queen of the Night Aria.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzU1Mzc5MDIw.html
[4:29]
I can’t tell if it’s higher than what you’re looking for though.
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Oh my god. LOOOOL she was hitting Bb5’s in the first line and she hit F#6, a very high larynx F#6 but she hit it. Wow Raina’s range is really wide then lol Thank you for this video!
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Oh thanks so much! I’ll add it to the range!
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Weird flex but ok XD
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The same as Junsu’s, a really overrated vocalist. Her timbre is really unique, and she sounds really powerful most of the time, but GOD, that F#5 hurts my ears, it’s so whiny. Very informative analysis as always. Between Narsha and JeA, which one has the best middle register?
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I think Narsha has the best everything as a whole tbqh.. She’s more…consistent with support, head voice and stability. I feel like she has a tiny edge over Jea but she still is kind of stronger as an overall vocalist. Yeah she’s overrated like Junsu but even worse since she was believed to be good by people who know vocals.
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Not gonna lie, I’m really disappointed with this analysis. Not because anything you said was wrong, it’s a great and thorough analysis, but I’ve always considered JeA one of the top vocalists. I always thought JeA was better than Narsha, and it’s surprising to see that they’re equal if not better. Really thought she was at least Competent with Taeyeon. All the way back to the Allkpop forums when somebody posted this picture that had all the kpop vocalists and I saw that JeA was extremely close to the top, like 4th, I was like “Yeah JeA slay!” Seeing how down I feel right now makes wonder if Gain is my bias XD, didn’t think I’d be so disappointed…
It’s kinda like when you’re young and you find out Santa’s not real
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That’s exactly how I felt too. But I talked with Ahmin about this so many times and he did not agree with me so I knew this was coming! I always thought she was on top too, I thought she was good level! If you hear her now you can see what Ahmin’s talking about. It’s so unfortunate that she became worse, lets just hope for the best!
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To be quite honest, I was always lead to believe she was quite good so when I started listening to her performances, I was quite shocked with the vocal qualities I was hearing and I can’t say I wasn’t angered and frustrated…and confused lol Oh I feel you exactly lol
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You did a really good job ahmin, once again. I’m always amazed at how in-depth your analyses are. I talking with my other kpop-addict friends and we were trying to decide the best male vocalists. We basically got to 1. Kyuhyun 2. Junsu 3. Jonghyun 4. Chen. What’s your input on the top 5 male vocalists you’ve heard so far?
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The ones that are best currently
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It would probably be like 1. Kyuhyun 2. 2AM Changmin 3. Sandeul 4. JYJ Junsu 5. Ryeowook 6. Jonghyun 7. Chen wouldn’t it? Or is chen better than jonghyun? Idk
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No no, NOT AT ALL. 2AM Changmin should NOT be that high at all, also Ryeowook > Junsu as well as Yesung > Junsu, KRY are all in the top vocalists. Sandeul is also a top one, I just don’t know who else.
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Oh ok. I guess I’ve fallen prey to the overrated-junsu virus. After Kyuhyun, sandeul, ryeowook, yesung, and junsu it would probably be jonghyun and then chen right?
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I’d say Jonghyun and Chen are technically superior to Junsu, or at least Jonghyun might be?
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I have messaged you privately on Youtube. Please read carefully and reply after thinking well about it.
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Hi there thank you so much for your kindness! Oh mhmm, some people have said Changmin of 2AM and GO of MBLAQ, I think Kyuhyun, Yesung, Ryeowook and Sandeul are definitely at the top but im not sure about the 5th or if anybody else should be here!
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Nice Job! When I heard her voice I thought she was one of the best but her lives shocked me. I also wanted to ask are you guys doing one for Baekhyun? Would you say he is better or worse than d.o? I knew Chen is definitely better than the both of them.
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Hes bout the same as Kyungsoo i believe and im not sure, that analysis is not my duty so i cant promise, sorry!
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Por que a analise do D.O está demorando tanto? Há várias analises que têm que ser feitas ainda esse ano (de acordo com a página de futuras análises), além do gráfico, tudo está tão demorado. D.O aumentou ou reduziu sua técnica vocal?
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Amor, se eu soubesse o porque, te falaria. Se dependesse de mim, eu já tinha analisado a Wendy, a Seulgi e o D.O. eu mesmo..mas não são minhas analises então a gente tem que ser paciente. Eu não sei responder a sua pergunta e de resto para ser analisado esse ano, da minha lista ainda da para acabar. ^ ^
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I’m just asking because there were couple of questions in regards to this but where would you place 2am’s Changmin? Above Junsu, Jonghyun or same? Below?
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I think below them.. Im not sure yet but changmin might not be competent but im not sure
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Honestly from reading both JeA’s and Narsha’s analysis i think Narsha is the strongest from what you’re saying? I might be wrong and they’re tied but Narsha just seemed better from your analysis…
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She is better yes.
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So aren’t you guys going to change that? 😮 or is it because they’re both AA so they’re under the same category
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I meant that they were under the same category..but I guess it can be confusing so I’ll go change it. ^ ^
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Como assim? Podemos ver que em Sixth Sense a Jea alcança várias notas que nem nos sonhos a Narsha alcançaria, ela tem uma voz muito pesada e bonita, e, apesar de você achar que elas estão no mesmo ranking, eu acho que não… por quais motivos Narsha é melhor que JeA? Se Narsha fosse melhor, teria se tornado a vocalista principal… mas, você é profissional e eu não, você fez um bom trabalho.
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E que notas são essas? F5’s? Os F5’s que a Jea canta no final da música antes dos F6’s da Gain e da Narsha? Os mesmos F5’s que a Narsha tem completa habilidade de cantar, como você pode ver no vídeo do alcance vocal dela? Você sabe muito bem que o tom da voz não nada a ver com a habilidade vocal de uma vocalista, sim a Narsha tem uma voz mais leve porque ela não é uma Full Lyric, ela é uma light lyric, o que não quer dizer nada. A resposta para a sua pergunta esta nas analises, se você as ler você vai achar as respostas. A Narsha tem uma voz mas level mas ela tem melhor suporte e é mais consistente do que a Jea. Ela tem melhor intonação e menos problemas de strain, sem mencionar que ela tem um voz da cabeça, algo que a Jea nunca pode mostrar. Being the main vocalist has nothing to do with being a better vocalist, Taeyang is the main vocalist of Big Bang and Park Bom is the main vocalist of 2NE1, but they’re not the vocalists with the best technique.
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I love JeA but reading this analysis, what’s keeping her in the Above Average category rather than Average to Above Average? From reading her analysis and comparing it to Boa’s, I would assume BoA would be the better one since it seems she has the better lower register (and overall a wider supported range), has a head voice and seems to strain and push less than Jea does. BoA is more nasal and doesn’t quite know how to balance her mix, but isn’t nasality one of the less terrible habits you could have as it doesn’t damage your voice but rather prevents you from achieving resonance? Is JeA’s ability to achieve resonance up to C5 what bumps her up? I might also be comparing apples to oranges here, but i chose to compare those two since you’ve stated Jea is the worst one in the AA catergory and Boa is the best in the A to AA category.
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BoA has a lot of nasality that stays throughout her range and it’s very consistent but quite honestly…I’ve had thoughts about moving Jea down, quite often actually. She is like borderline Above Average tbh. Jea’s mix up to B4/C5 is better than BoA’s, her placement is better, BoA’s lower range is better and her head voice are better, mostly her lower range. Sometimes I wonder too.
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The inner Everlasting in me is kinda glad you’re keeping her there, even if she is hanging in there by a thread. I was simply curious as reading BoA analysis in depth made the thought jump in my head. All i can hope is that she chooses to improve, as her ranking is really in her hands not yours.
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Interesting enough this is my first time reading this analysis and I was also wondering what saved her from the A-AA category considering her supported range matches that rank and there’s other soprano vocalists in there that can support lower as well. But now I see from your previous comment that her placement is better. Could it be possible that she can be the strongest of the A-AA rank?
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She could fall on either tbh, I’ve heard more consistent support and placement from her than the others but honestly if she were to start having issues, BoA could easily be a better overall vocalist. (Even though she’s a lot shoutier.)
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What makes her an above average when her supported range is even narrower than many average vocalist? was that because of her better musicality?
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It’s not her musicality. It’s purely technical. A vocalist’s rating is not 100% directly related to their supported range at all. It has to do with how they support, how their tone production is done, how their placement is found, Jea just falls under the patterns of the above average category, even if barely. She has the correct amount of vocal grasp that most AA vocalists have, even though it may be the least like the rest.
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JeA e Ben, como Above Average Vocalits, elas regrediram? Qual foi o pico mais elevado delas? Já vi em algum lugar que Ben poderia ter sido Proficient no seu auge… qual seria o pico mais elevado de JeA?
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Eu não sei quem disse isso mas eu discordo. Não teve auge, eu uma vez achei que ela poderia ser proficient sem conhecer ela direito mas isso muda quando a gente começa as análises. Ela nunca foi mais que AA e nem a Jea, teve quem falou que a Jea era good e regrediu mas não. Elas nunca regrediram, os hábitos vocais delas sempre foram os mesmos.
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sounds like she improved her low range with that G#3s
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No offence, but Jea’s voice is superior to Narsha’s in almost every respect… and don’t get me wrong Narsha is an amazing vocalist but Her strengths and qualities are not as great as Jea’s. I will go into a more detailed rebuttal when it’s not 4 am here.
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I shall be waiting for your rebuttal.
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