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Julie Andrews & The Five Octave Fanatic - Part I

Greetings from the Music Bowl! I'm the Wonderfish!

Fives are fun! Am I right? High fives... Party of Five... Five Finger Death Punch... 5 Alive... Top 5 Lists... Five For Fighting... Um, okay, maybe the only one of those things that is actually "fun" is the high five, but feel free to debate that on your own time.

When I was five years old, I watched The Sound of Music* on VHS Cassette every day. Every single day. For weeks. It's true. Ask my mother. It wasn't the official VHS either, we recorded the film from when it aired on television with a VCR. We're not here to discuss that movie today, but rather the singing in it. I thought Julie Andrews was the most amazing singer I had ever seen. In the scene where she and the children are gallivanting around Salzburg, they collectively sing "Do-Re-Mi" and at the end of the song, Ms. Andrews walks up the center of the stairs while the children jump back and forth. She starts the whole progression on a low "do" and works her way up the scale to the next "do", which is one octave. Then, she repeats that note, the "do," belts up to a 5th (the "sol" of do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti) and then lets it rip on the next "do." So, she goes up another octave!  It is glorious to hear. The clip below is the exact song I'm referring to if you'd like to experience it for yourself.


At some point in my young music career, I learned about octaves and how we normal human beings typically sing a decent two octave scale. On a great day, three octaves is my limit. Which, for me, turns into a joyful day of song and you probably don't want to be around me that day. But did you know that some people can sing five octaves? Yes! Five! Walking around on our planet right this very moment are people that can sing five whole octaves! A very rare few can even hit six.

My mind was blown when I realized this. Instantly, I became a five octave fanatic and I immediately thought of my friend, Dame Julie Andrews, and that dancing-in-Salzburg scene from The Sound of Music. Based on just the end of that song, I was certain that Julie Andrews could sing five octaves.

But do you know what? Apparently, she can't!


It seems that she is around the four octave range. As some of you may know, she had surgery on her vocal cords and her range is much more limited now. To finish my story, at age 10 (when I actually started paying attention to music theory), I learned the harsh truth: the end of "Do-Re-Mi" is a span of just two octaves. Julie Andrews sings it absolutely beautifully. It's hard to do. And as my friend, Heard, says, "Just because you can sing five octaves doesn't mean you are a great singer." Shark's in the water! See you next week.         

*Disclaimer: The Wonderfish thinks The Sound of Music is one of the greatest film achievements of all time.

This week's video sources:
The Sound of Music Clip courtesy of YouTube and Fandango Movie Clips
Video Clip of Julie Andrews' vocal range courtesy of YouTube and primohomme

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