What makes the national anthem so difficult to sing?
The recent performance of the national anthem at the Women’s Pro Baseball League went viral on social media. Experts explain what makes “The Star-Spangled Banner” such a challenge.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is a patriotic tone-setter for sports games and public events in the United States. But even the most seasoned professionals tasked with bringing this music to life can end up with a viral performance for all the wrong reasons.
Motown legend Martha Reeves is the latest performer whose two-minute rendition of the national anthem has been picked apart online – and likely won’t be the last. Experts say it’s because the nearly 100-year-old anthem is inherently difficult to sing in part due to its wide range and leaping notes.
Many performers have also been criticized for their performance of the anthem. Michael Bolton performed an echoey rendition at a Red Sox versus Yankees game in 2003, where he was also caught looking at the lyrics written on his hand. Actor and comedian Roseanne Barr shouted her version before a San Diego Padres game in 1990, to an unwelcoming crowd of boos. The jazzy performance by singer Fergie at the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend wasn’t immune to commentary on her stylistic choice.
“It is arguably the most unforgiving live audio event in America. There are no second takes, no edits, and no opportunity to recover from a mistake once the first note is heard by millions,” said Doug Bielmeier, a teaching professor in Northeastern University’s music department.
Singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” – as Reeves did ahead of the Women’s Pro Baseball League opener between the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights on Aug. 1 in Springfield, Illinois – requires more than one register of the voice, or range of notes, said Tisha Stadnicki, who is an ensemble director, lecturer and instructor in voice and piano lessons at Northeastern.
It demands that singers use the lower chest voice, mixed voice and the higher head voice, as well as maintain good pitch, strong abdomen and controlled breathing to belt some notes as needed, she said.
The song spans an octave and a fifth, “which is comfortable for trained singers in good voice,” said Prince Charles Alexander, a professor of the practice in Northeastern’s music department. In other words, it spans 19 semitones, also called half steps, which on a piano is the shortest distance between a note and the one above or below it.
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“But most people, even good singers that are out of practice, have one good octave and anything below that, or above it, can sound strained,” Alexander said.
The original is written in B-flat major, but the key can be adjusted up or down to fit a person’s range comfortably.
“Usually a singer will choose a key for a song that is comfortable for them to sing and shows off their voice well,” said Allen Feinstein, director of music performance at Northeastern.
Even so, a portion of the song may be too low or high for the singer because the song is so wide-ranging, Feinstein said.
“There is still the pesky one octave that sounds good, and below that or above that can be tricky,” Alexander added. “That’s why some people struggle with the lowest notes but sound better when the song moves to higher notes, and other people sound OK with the lower notes but screech when they go high.”
The music also has several leaps between notes. After the performer finishes singing “… gallantly streaming,” they jump nine notes to begin the next phrase, “And the rockets’ red glare.” The first five notes alone, “Oh, say, can you see,” span a single octave, which itself has 12 semitones.
The highest note, sung during “red glare” and the crowd-riling “free” is also one full octave above the starting note.
Another challenge is that some of the highest and lowest notes are also sung with a closed vowel, like “free,” which naturally doesn’t lend to space in the mouth and throat to easily sing a note, Stadnicki said.
The lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” were originally written as a poem by Francis Scott Key called “Defiance of Fort McHenry” during the War of 1812. The words were molded to match a popular song, “To Anacreon in Heaven,” written in 1799 by English composer John Stafford Smith. It became the U.S. National Anthem in 1931.
Reeves is best known for her hit-making girl group Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, which was active from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. She went on to have a solo career. The “smooth, round sound to her voice” gave the world songs like “Heat Wave,” “Nowhere to Run” and “Dancing in the Street,” Stadnicki said.
Reeves and two backup singers performed the National Anthem two weeks after her 85th birthday. While known in her career for singing in a strong chest voice but performed with her head voice, Stadnicki said, adding that she and the backup singers sang in different keys. Her vibrato, or the pulsing of a pitch, was wide “to the point where discerning her true pitch became difficult,” Alexander said. Age too has an effect on a person’s voice box.
“Put that all together, within our current viral culture, and you have a recipe for disaster,” Alexander said.
Reeves later told TMZ that the resulting performance was due to the “wet and windy” conditions and because she lacked studio monitors to properly hear herself.
The criticism of these performances typically lands squarely on the singer. But live production issues such as a missed cue, muted microphone, wireless interference, bad monitor mixes or, in Reeves’ case, no monitor mix, can make even an experienced singer struggle because they cannot hear themselves, Bielmeier said.
Despite the criticisms, experts still lauded Reeves’ legendary status and commended her authenticity and sincerity.
“When everything works, no one notices. When one small part of the system fails, it becomes a national headline,” Bielmeier said.
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