If your voice is low, the best karaoke songs keep their melody in the middle and bottom of the range and never ask for a big high belt. For women with low (alto) voices, vocal guides keep naming Amy Winehouse ("Back to Black", "Rehab", "Valerie"), Adele's "Someone Like You", Lorde's "Royals" and Shania Twain. For men with deep (baritone or bass) voices, Johnny Cash is the classic answer, with "Friends in Low Places", "Ain't No Sunshine" and Leonard Cohen's own "Hallelujah" close behind. And any song can be moved into a lower key with one button.
Key takeaways
- Low voices aren't a problem; high keys are. Most modern pop sits high, which is why low voices struggle at karaoke. Choose low songs, or lower the key.
- Women with low voices do best with soul, jazz, country and low-pitched pop where the melody stays in the chest voice.
- Men with deep voices do best with country, crooners and folk singers who sing low themselves.
- Lowering a song 2 to 4 semitones is normal and rarely noticed. Karaoke machines have a key button; the free key changer does it for your own files.
- Check that you really are low with the free vocal range test: 1 minute, nothing recorded.
Are you really a low voice?
Take the vocal range test. As a rough guide, women whose comfortable range is around F3 to F5 are altos (the lowest women's voice), and men around E2 to E4 are basses, with baritones at about A2 to A4. If your comfortable top note is below the high notes of most songs you like, this list is for you. More on reading your result: how to find your vocal range.
Karaoke songs for women with low voices
These come up again and again in lists of karaoke songs for altos and low female voices.
| Song | Artist | Why it suits a low voice |
|---|---|---|
| Back to Black | Amy Winehouse | Jazzy, low and no high notes |
| Rehab | Amy Winehouse | Low, punchy and more attitude than range |
| Valerie | Amy Winehouse (with Mark Ronson) | Low verses and an upbeat chorus |
| Someone Like You | Adele | The verses start low and deep; build to the chorus gently |
| Royals | Lorde | Limited note range, half-spoken verses |
| That Don't Impress Me Much | Shania Twain | An easy sing for a lower range |
| Man! I Feel Like a Woman! | Shania Twain | Alto-friendly and beat-driven |
| Believe | Cher | Low verses and an upbeat feel |
| Crazy | Patsy Cline | Medium-tempo ballad that suits low voices |
| Fast Car | Tracy Chapman | Appears on lists of songs for contraltos |
Guides disagree on a few big ballads. "Rolling in the Deep" (Adele) appears on some alto lists but has a belted chorus; "At Last" (Etta James) suits low voices with a strong lower register. Try them, but have the key button ready.
Karaoke songs for men with deep voices
Baritones and basses get the most consistent advice of all: sing what low singers sang.
| Song | Artist | Why it suits a deep voice |
|---|---|---|
| Ring of Fire | Johnny Cash | Cash's whole catalogue sits in baritone territory |
| Folsom Prison Blues | Johnny Cash | Another Cash staple; low and steady |
| Hurt | Johnny Cash | Low and slow; emotion over range |
| Friends in Low Places | Garth Brooks | Built for a low voice, as the title promises |
| Ain't No Sunshine | Bill Withers | Short, low and repetitive |
| Stand by Me | Ben E. King | Steady and in a comfortable middle-low range |
| Hallelujah | Leonard Cohen | Cohen's own version sits far lower than the famous covers |
| Sweet Caroline | Neil Diamond | Stays below the top of most baritone ranges, and the room sings along |
| My Way | Frank Sinatra | Low enough, but long and exposed; for the confident |
Make any song low-voice friendly
The list above is a shortcut. The real trick is that almost any song can be moved into your range:
- Find the highest line of the song and sing it along with the original. If you strain, note roughly how far off you are.
- Lower the key. On a karaoke machine, press the key or "♭" button down; each step is usually a semitone. With your own song file, use the free key changer (up to 6 semitones, speed unchanged, nothing uploaded). See how to change a song's key to fit your voice.
- Women with low voices singing men's songs: many men's songs already sit in an alto range. Try them in the original key before changing anything.
- Men singing women's songs: sing the melody an octave lower. If that's too low, raise the song a couple of semitones from there.
- Don't push for the high note. If one note is out of reach, it's fine to take it down an octave or let the crowd sing it.
Songs to avoid (or lower a lot)
Songs built around a sustained high belt are the hardest for low voices in the original key: big power ballads and most current pop hits that live high in the singer's range. Songs that start low and end very high are a trap too: the opening feels perfect, then the last chorus is out of reach. Check the last chorus, not just the first verse.
Hear a song in your low voice first
If you're unsure whether a song suits your voice, hear it before you sing it. Tera Studio sings any song in your voice: record about a minute of your normal singing (2 minutes sounds more like you), upload the original song, and listen. It keeps the original singer's notes, so for the most natural result pick songs from this list, or move a song into your range first. See karaoke in your own voice.
Current price and limits
Every new account can make and hear 2 whole songs free, once per account, each up to 4 minutes, with no card. Downloads need a paid plan. Starter is $8.99 a month for 30 finished minutes (about 7 songs) and Creator is $19.99 a month for 90 minutes, or $89.99 and $189.99 paid yearly. Both include WAV and song-card video downloads, one guided correction per song and free re-downloads. Minutes refresh monthly without rollover. Prices show in your currency where available; pricing and Stripe checkout confirm the total before you pay. See the refund policy.
Frequently asked questions
What karaoke songs are good for women with low voices? Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black", "Rehab" and "Valerie", Adele's "Someone Like You", Lorde's "Royals", Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" are among the most recommended.
What karaoke songs are good for men with deep voices? Johnny Cash ("Ring of Fire", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Hurt"), "Friends in Low Places", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Stand by Me" and Leonard Cohen's own "Hallelujah".
Is it OK to lower the key at karaoke? Yes, and it's common. Two to four semitones lower is rarely noticed by the audience and makes a high chorus comfortable.
Why do low voices struggle with modern songs? Many current pop songs are written high in the singer's range, so their choruses sit above where a low voice is comfortable. Lowering the key fixes most of them.
How do I know if I'm an alto or a baritone? Take the free vocal range test. It names the voice type closest to your comfortable range in about a minute.
Hear any song in your own voice. Your first 2 songs are free to make and hear.