Singing Guide: Thunderbolt
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
How to Sing like AC/DC's Brian Johnson: Tips & Resources
Brian Johnson of AC/DC is known for his powerful and gravelly voice. In order to sing like him, you will need to:
Work on your breathing: Johnson has incredible breath control which he uses to hold long, sustained notes. To improve your breath control, try these breathing exercises and practice holding notes for as long as possible.
Master your chest voice: Johnson has a powerful chest voice which is integral to his sound. Check out this article on chest voice and these vocal exercises to help you develop your own chest voice.
Utilize your falsetto: Brian Johnson's falsetto is a big part of his signature sound. Learn more about falsetto and how to use it with these exercises.
Work on your pitch: Pitch accuracy is important in any singing style, and especially so for Brian Johnson's distinctive sound. Take this pitch accuracy test to assess your current abilities and practice improving with these pitch training exercises.
Sing with passion and energy: Lastly, when singing like Brian Johnson, it's important to deliver your performance with the same passion and energy that he brings to every song. Learn more about how to do this from this article and these performance tips.
In addition, here are some specific vocal techniques that Brian Johnson uses in his songs and how to learn them:
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"Thunderbolt" growls: In many AC/DC songs, Johnson uses growls and distorted vocal techniques to add aggression and power. Learn how to do this with this video on vocal distortion and this exercise on growling.
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High-pitch singing: Johnson is also known for his high-pitched singing. To learn how to do this yourself, practice with these vocal exercises on mixed voice and voice registers and check out this article on voice registers and vocal breaks.
Some of Brian Johnson's most popular songs featuring his unique vocal technique include "Thunderstruck," "Back in Black," and "Highway to Hell." To find more AC/DC songs that suit your vocal range, use Singing Carrots' song search tool and view the vocal ranges of famous singers to learn more about Johnson's vocal range.
By following these tips and utilizing Singing Carrots' variety of resources, you can learn to sing like Brian Johnson and bring the thunder just like he does.