Audioslave’s Chris Cornell: Singing Techniques and How to Learn Them

Audioslave was a band that fused genres, combining the sound of 1990s alternative rock with 1970s hard rock. They were active from 2001 to 2007 and during their short career, Chris Cornell showed us his incredible vocal range, from the lowest notes to the high pitch screams. In this article, we will show you how to learn to sing like Chris Cornell, one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time, through his style, the techniques he used, and the songs that best showcase his unique vocal abilities.

Belting and Vibrato

One of Chris Cornell’s signature vocal techniques is belting. Belting is when you push your chest voice higher than its natural range, producing a strong, powerful sound. Cornell also used a well-established vibrato style that he used to great effect in many iconic tracks such as "Cochise" and "Like a Stone."

The Cornell Method

Cornell’s singing style was also defined by his ability to perform vocal acrobatics effortlessly and change between styles and ranges smoothly, namely going from low lyrics to high belts to screams in one phrase. Cornell developed a technique that helped him achieve this, labeling it as “The Cornell Method”.

Warm up

Just like most professional singers, warming up before singing is crucial if you want to achieve that smooth transition from chest to vocal register, vibrato, belting, and scream. If you’d like to learn more about effective warm-ups, Singing Carrots offers multiple options to get you started. Here are two useful exercises derived from twang and breath control:

Singing like Cornell

To delve into Chris Cornell’s unique style, you need to know his most popular tracks. Here are our picks:

"Black Hole Sun" - his signature song. A great track to work on achieving the airy vocal sound that he became known for.
"Outshined" - known for the high belting chorus. A perfect track to work on belting technique.
"Spoonman" - for practicing vibrato technique and dynamic range.
"Rusty Cage" - showcases the Cornell Method, with smooth transitioning from chest voice to a more heady one, plus effective songwriting with some lyrics that follow the music, others that contrast very sharply.
"Like A Stone" - a song that beautifully features Cornell's ability to sing in head voice/special tones, with a part (which makes a harmonic change) switching to chest voice.

Continuing Your Learning Journey

Keep in mind that building a good singing technique takes time and requires practice and dedication. If you’re serious about taking your singing abilities to the next level, be sure to take advantage of Singing Carrots’ helpful resources:

Remember, practice makes perfect, and building a good technique requires time and patience. Keep practicing and soon, you’ll be belting, adding vibrato to high notes, and transitioning vocal registers like Chris Cornell in no time!

Learn more about this artist vocal range, voice type and repertoire.