# Popular music: singing without musical accompaniment **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424 "2020-02-03T12:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/1 "2020-02-03T12:31:05Z")
In [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU) version of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”, she seems to be singing without any musical accompaniment for the first 44 seconds or so. That seems to be an incredibly long time, and I wonder if anyone else ever had a similar feat. (For the purposes of this thread, “musical accompaniment” does NOT include a capella singing. I see that as a musical accompaniment, except that the music comes from voices instead of objects.) If any posters tell me that when Houston recorded that song, she was wearing a headset that provided her with the music to help her stay on key, well, okay, I suppose some might say that disqualifies her from this thread. But I don’t know if that’s how it happened. And the final production is still quite impressive. And I’d still wonder if anyone else has done anything similar. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/2 "2020-02-03T12:36:57Z")
Suzanne Vega, [Tom’s Diner.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wa-ZlkR-2o) ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/3 "2020-02-03T12:47:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Suzanne Vega, [Tom’s Diner.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wa-ZlkR-2o) That version came up as “This video is not available.” So I tried [the supposedly “official” video of it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP6QluMlrg), and it was full of instruments. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/4 "2020-02-03T13:02:29Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > That version came up as “This video is not available.” So I tried [the supposedly “official” video of it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP6QluMlrg), and it was full of instruments. [Try this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Nz7y26Tfs) The original version was just her; the music is from a remix. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/5 "2020-02-03T13:18:22Z")
Impressive! (would’ve been even more impressive if she had Whitney’s voice, but still…) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/6 "2020-02-03T13:19:11Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > That version came up as “This video is not available.” So I tried [the supposedly “official” video of it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP6QluMlrg), and it was full of instruments. Yeah, that’s the (popular) DNA remix. The album has an a capella version. The remix was originally released, without her or her music people’s permission as “Oh Suzanne.” Her record company, though, decided to buy it and release it themselves instead of suing DNA. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/7 "2020-02-03T13:23:47Z")
Interesting side note: the original a capella version of the song was used to test new digital compression technologies in the late 1980s, making it the first song converted to mp3. Also, I prefer Suzanne’s voice to Whitney’s. It’s less technically impressive, but more emotive. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/8 "2020-02-03T13:25:45Z")
OP, if you already know this then I apologise for the irrelevance, but classical singers are often required to sing pieces several minutes long with no other musical input and stay on pitch. Admittedly this is usually in a group, but it can also come up in solo work. So while I would agree that achieving this is impressive, it’s not particularly unusual or remarkable for professional singers. It just takes a good ear and (in most cases) lots of practice. it is of course also possible that post-production editing equalised the pitches in the example you mention, but I have no idea whether or not that was the case. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/9 "2020-02-03T13:40:55Z")
June Tabor, singing Fairport Convention’s “Genesis Hall” on the Richard Thompson tribute album “Beat The Retreat”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LcW6BHUWWwM/maxresdefault.jpg "June Tabor Genesis Hall") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcW6BHUWWwM) ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/10 "2020-02-03T13:43:34Z")
**Dead Cat** , I did suspect something like that for classical singers, and that’s why my post focuses on popular music, where it’s much more unusual. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/11 "2020-02-03T13:57:35Z")
“Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/12 "2020-02-03T14:34:50Z")
[Me and a Gun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPF_8T2pkAw) - Tori Amos ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/13 "2020-02-03T15:19:12Z")
Like the example given in the OP, here’s a song where the singer sings unaccompanied for the first 40 seconds, and then the music kicks in (and I mean _kicks_): Nina Simone, [Feeling Good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Y11hwjMNs). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/14 "2020-02-03T15:27:28Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > (For the purposes of this thread, “musical accompaniment” does NOT include a capella singing. I see that as a musical accompaniment, except that the music comes from voices instead of objects.) IIUC, yes it does. “A capella” means, by definition, any singing without instruments, whether it’s one person solo or a group. It may not be long enough to count for what you’re looking for, but Styx’s “Renegade” starts with about 20 seconds of solo a capella singing, then 20 seconds of group singing, before the instruments kick in. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/15 "2020-02-03T16:04:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > IIUC, yes it does. “A capella” means, by definition, any singing without instruments, whether it’s one person solo or a group. Yes, “a capella” can absolutely be a vocal solo without instrumentation. Isolated vocal tracks from multi-track mixes are often referred to as “acapellas,” as well. There’s Tracy Chapman’s [Behind the Wall.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huez5QyZ5lI) Sinead O’Connors [“In This Heart”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w09mDTbQoIU) is just her solo until about 40 seconds in, when another voice accompanies her. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/16 "2020-02-03T16:07:42Z")
The difficulty with finding popular music examples is that solo singing without musical accompaniment simply isn’t that popular to begin with. I would say any reasonable singer should be able to hold a tune without external input. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-music-singing-without-musical-accompaniment/847424/17 "2020-02-03T16:38:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The difficulty with finding popular music examples is that solo singing without musical accompaniment simply isn’t that popular to begin with. … which is exactly what makes Whitney stand out here. (and others in the examples given) Thank all!