Singing Guide: Don Henley
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
Don Henley is a musician, singer, and songwriter best known as founding member of and lead vocalist for the Eagles, a rock band that defined the 1970s southern California sound. Henley has also released several hit solo recordings, and is considered one of the greatest singers in rock history.
Henley's unique vocal technique involves a smooth tenor voice but also a powerful and raspy sound, which he often employs in the climactic parts of songs. To learn singing like him, you need to first identify his voice type, which is a tenor. You can take the vocal range test available on Singing Carrots to determine your own vocal range and identify how it compares to Henley's.
Henley's distinctive voice is showcased on many of the Eagles' greatest hits, such as "Hotel California," "Desperado," and "Lyin' Eyes." To learn to sing like Henley, it's important to practice those songs, paying special attention to the climactic parts where Henley employs his powerful and raspy voice.
To further improve your singing technique, Singing Carrots offers a variety of resources. Check out the singing course to learn about singing theory, warm ups, and pitch training. The site also offers pitch accuracy testing, vocal range testing, and a vocal pitch monitor that allows you to see the notes you're singing on a virtual piano.
Other helpful Singing Carrots resources to improve your singing include articles on breath support, active breathing, and vocal registers. Practice exercises, such as the humming exercise, the diaphragm bounce, and the voice break exercise can also help. For more advanced techniques, check out articles on contemporary vocal techniques, vocal distortion, and singing with vibrato.
To improve your performance, Singing Carrots recommends working on articulation, overcoming stage fright, posture, and emotion control. The site's song search feature can help you find additional songs to practice, and the songbook tool will provide you with karaoke tracks, sheet music, and linked lyrics. Monitoring your progress with Singing Carrots' progress statistics feature can help you see your improvement as you continue to learn to sing like Don Henley.