KaraokeList › What to sing › Karaoke songs for a low voice
What to sing Karaoke songs for a low voice
A low voice does not need a low song so much as a song that never leaves. Plenty start deep and then jump for the chorus. These stay put.
The trouble for a deep voice is rarely the verse. It is the chorus that climbs, or the last chorus that goes up again for drama. Most men sit in this part of the voice, and plenty of women do too, and the songs worth learning are the ones where the quietest verse and the loudest chorus live in the same place.
Old country and early rock and roll are full of them, because the singers talked as much as they sang. So is a certain kind of crooner, and so are more pop hits than people expect. Where a pick does lift, the reason says where, so you can decide in advance whether to go for it or let the room take it. If your voice goes the other way, the high-voice page is its mirror.
Low country
Country that stays down
Songs from singers who talked as much as they sang, at about the depth most low voices speak.
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Folsom Prison Blues
Johnny CashSits at talking depth the whole way and never rises for a chorus, because it barely has one.
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Ring of Fire
Johnny CashLow and steady, with the horns filling every gap and the room taking the title each time it comes round.
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Friends in Low Places
Garth BrooksThe chorus drops rather than climbs, right down to the title, and the whole bar goes down with you.
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Your Man
Josh TurnerMade for one of the deepest voices on country radio; if you can reach the bottom of it, the room will notice.
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King of the Road
Roger MillerHalf-spoken at a stroll with finger snaps, and it never once asks you to reach.
Crooners
Crooners and slow ones
Warm, unhurried songs that sit in the lower middle and let the band do the showing off.
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Fly Me to the Moon
Frank SinatraSwings along in the lower middle at an easy stroll, and it is over before you have had time to worry.
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Unforgettable
Nat King ColeSlow and warm, with no big finish to land; the whole thing is sung at the volume of a conversation.
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What a Wonderful World
Louis ArmstrongSlow, low and gravelly on the record, so a rough edge in your voice is part of the song, not a flaw.
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Sixteen Tons
Tennessee Ernie FordSung close to speaking depth over finger snaps, and nothing in it ever lifts.
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Ain't No Sunshine
Bill WithersShort, slow and low; the stretch where one phrase repeats and repeats is easier than it looks, as long as you count.
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Hallelujah
Leonard CohenChoose Leonard Cohen's original over the high cover versions in the book: it sits deep and moves slowly.
Low rock
Rock that stays low
Murmured, growled or half-spoken — the singers here kept their voices down and let the band get loud.
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People Are Strange
The DoorsJim Morrison kept it low and lazy, and it is done in a little over two minutes.
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Personal Jesus
Depeche ModeLow and mostly murmured over a stomping beat the room claps along to.
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Bad to the Bone
George Thorogood & The DestroyersGrowled rather than sung, with the stuttered title doing half the work.
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Come Together
The BeatlesMurmured in the lower middle over a slinky groove; the chorus rises a little and comes straight back down.
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Walk on the Wild Side
Lou ReedLou Reed barely sings it at all: low and spoken, with the backing singers carrying the famous wordless part.
Lower than you think
Hits that sit lower than you'd think
Pop songs people assume are high, or never think to check, that stay comfortably low.
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Dreams
Fleetwood MacNarrow and unhurried in the lower part of Stevie Nicks's voice, and the chorus barely rises.
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Back to Black
Amy WinehouseSits low and dark from start to finish, and the slow pace leaves time for every word.
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These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
Nancy SinatraHalf-talked, low and sassy, and done in under three minutes.
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Royals
LordeSits low for a pop hit and is mostly rhythm; the chorus lifts a little and then settles again.
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Budapest
George EzraMade for one of pop's deeper voices, and the chorus stays close to where the verse left it.
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Fast Car
Tracy ChapmanLow and steady, with a chorus that lifts only a little; the verses are long, so know the words.
How the app learns where you sit
Low is relative, and the only way to find where your voice sits is to sing and notice. KaraokeList asks after every song: Too high, Just right or Too low. It never asks you to name anything musical, only how it felt.
Those answers add up. After a few nights the app knows whether your comfortable songs sit low, and which choruses keep catching you out. Tag the ones you can genuinely sing as Skill, star the night, and flag the one that climbed away from you as Not again.
When you want something new, consult the crystal ball. It reads your list and your answers and suggests songs you don't have yet, each with a one-line reason — and one of those reasons is often simply that the song sits where your voice does.
Questions
What are good karaoke songs for a deep voice?
Songs that stay low through the chorus, not just the verse. Folsom Prison Blues, Sixteen Tons and Your Man sit deep the whole way, and Budapest and Dreams are pop songs that do the same.
What pop songs are good for a low voice?
More than people expect. Dreams, Back to Black, Royals, Budapest and These Boots Are Made for Walkin' all stay in the low part of the voice, chorus included.
Why does the chorus always feel too high?
Many songs sit low in the verse and climb for the chorus, and the chorus is where everyone is listening. Check the chorus before you pick, or choose songs like Ring of Fire and Friends in Low Places whose choruses stay down.
Can the karaoke host make a song lower?
Many karaoke setups can shift a song lower, so it is worth asking the host. It helps most on a song that is nearly right; a song that climbs a long way will still climb.
Know what you’re singing before you’re called.
KaraokeList keeps every karaoke song you can actually pull off — and when the list runs dry, it finds you new ones, each with a reason.
