How to Sing “Golden”: 8 Vocal Techniques Singers Can Learn From EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI.
If you’ve ever wondered how to sing “Golden”, you’re not alone. It’s an incredibly emotional, technically demanding song that asks singers to move between low chest voice, breathy head voice, mix, and high belt — often in the same performance.
When EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI performed Golden live, they showed exactly why this song is so powerful: not because it’s perfect, but because it’s honest, human, and vocally challenging in all the right ways.
If you want to learn to sing “Golden” or improve your own ability to handle songs like this, there are several important vocal lessons singers can take from this performance.
1. Low Notes Need Low Volume, Not More Force
One of the first things you notice in Golden is how low some of the opening phrases sit for female voices.
Notes around F3 and even D3 can feel very low depending on the singer. When you sing that low, it’s tempting to try to make the sound fuller by pushing harder.
That usually backfires.
A much better approach is to keep:
- the larynx low
- the breath flow controlled
- the volume very soft
That’s exactly why a microphone is so useful in this kind of performance. You do not need to force low notes to make them sound rich.
Tip for singers
If you’re singing low in your range:
- keep the sound quiet
- let the tone stay grounded
- avoid trying to “manufacture” depth by pushing extra air
Low notes usually sound better when they’re understated and stable.
2. Different Singers Can Sing the Same Song in Completely Different Ways
One of the most important takeaways from this performance is that all three singers bring completely different vocal qualities to the same song.
That matters, because many singers assume there is one “correct” way to sing a difficult pop ballad.
There isn’t.
There may be healthy technique principles, but there is no single sound every singer has to copy.
That’s one of the things that makes Golden so compelling: you hear three distinctive voices, three different timbres, and three different ways of expressing the same emotional world.
Tip for singers
When you work on a song like this, don’t ask:
“How do I sound exactly like them?”
Ask:
“How do I sing this in a way that fits my voice?”
That mindset makes training much more effective and much more sustainable.
3. Twang and Slightly Thicker Vocal Folds Help the Voice Carry
In some of the stronger phrases, you can hear a more twangy vowel shape and a slightly thicker vocal fold setup.
This is what helps the sound carry without the singer needing to shout.
A lot of singers confuse loudness with force, but powerful contemporary singing usually comes from:
- efficient vocal fold closure
- resonant vowel shaping
- well-managed breath pressure
Not from yelling.
Tip for singers
If you want a brighter, more projecting tone:
- let the vowels become slightly more speech-like or twangy
- allow the sound to focus forward
- avoid pushing excess breath
This gives you more cut in the sound without wearing the voice out.
4. Breathy Head Voice Works Best With Short, Efficient Breaths
When the voice lifts into lighter phrases, the singers use a breathy head voice quality with thin vocal folds and a small amount of airflow.
What’s especially useful here is that the breathing stays short, sharp, and high rather than overly dramatic.
That works because these are not endless classical phrases. The voice does not need huge lungfuls of air to make this sound work.
In fact, too much breath would make the tone unstable.
Tip for singers
For lighter contemporary phrases:
- take small, efficient breaths
- keep the airflow controlled
- don’t over-breathe
Too much breath often makes high, delicate singing harder — not easier.
Inside The Vocal Academy, this is something we help singers refine a lot, because breath strategy changes depending on the style and vocal quality you’re aiming for.
5. Mix Voice Is Often a “Thicker Thin” Setup
One reason Golden is so difficult is that it sits in that uncomfortable area where singers often need a mix voice quality.
The problem is that “mix” gets talked about so vaguely online that many singers don’t really know what they’re aiming for.
A useful way to think about it is this:
mix is often a slightly thicker version of a thin vocal fold setup, combined with lots of thyroid tilt and relatively low breath flow.
It’s not full belt, and it’s not pure head voice either.
It sits somewhere in the middle.
Tip for singers
If you’re learning to mix:
- don’t try to belt everything
- don’t flip too early into falsetto
- think of the voice as moving along a sliding scale between thinner and thicker coordination
That middle coordination is what lets singers bridge into powerful high notes more smoothly.
6. High Notes Often Go Wrong Because the Setup Wasn’t Ready
One of the most useful lessons in this performance is that even an excellent singer can miss a note when the setup isn’t quite there.
That is not failure. That is singing.
In high phrases, especially around F5 to G5 territory, the body has to prepare for:
- the right breath pressure
- the right tongue position
- the right vocal fold thickness
- the right amount of acoustic volume
If one of those things is slightly off, the pitch can wobble or the note can miss.
Tip for singers
When a high note goes wrong, don’t just think:
“I can’t sing that note.”
Instead ask:
- Did I prepare the breath well enough?
- Was I pushing for too much volume?
- Was the tongue too high or too tense?
- Did I try to “grab” the note instead of set it up?
That kind of thinking is what actually improves technique.
7. Quiet Belt Is an Advanced Skill
A lot of singers hear a high note that sounds less aggressive and assume it must be easier.
Usually it isn’t.
A quiet belt is often harder than a full, obvious belt because it requires the singer to maintain a very thick vocal fold setup without pushing the natural amount of volume that usually comes with it.
That means resisting the instinct to shove more breath and more sound at the note.
Tip for singers
If you cannot yet belt comfortably at a fuller, natural intensity, then trying to sing a quiet high belt may feel almost impossible.
That’s normal.
This is a more advanced skill that usually needs to be built gradually through:
- chest voice strengthening
- mix coordination
- semitone-by-semitone training through the upper range
That’s why songs like Golden are not beginner songs, even if they sound emotionally simple.
8. Recovery Is One of the Most Important Singing Skills
Possibly the most powerful lesson in this performance has nothing to do with vocal mechanics at all.
It’s the ability to recover.
Any singer can have a note go off. The real professional skill is being able to keep going, reset, and come back stronger on the next phrase.
That is incredibly difficult.
And it’s one of the best reminders singers can get that live performance is not about robotic perfection. It is about staying connected, staying present, and continuing anyway.
Tip for singers
If you miss a note in performance:
- do not spiral
- do not apologise with your face or body
- do not mentally abandon the rest of the song
Just keep singing.
That recovery skill is as trainable as anything else in voice work.
And honestly, that mindset work is a huge part of what helps singers progress long term.
Final Thoughts: Why “Golden” Is Such a Hard Song to Sing
Golden is one of those songs that sounds emotional and direct, but vocally it asks for a lot:
- low chest voice
- flexible breathy head voice
- stable mix
- bright upper resonance
- high belt coordination
- emotional resilience under pressure
That’s why it’s such a brilliant training piece for singers — and also why it can expose technical gaps very quickly.
If you want to learn to sing “Golden”, the key is not trying to muscle your way through the whole song. The key is learning how to build each vocal quality step by step, and then learning how to move between them without panic.
That’s something we work on a lot inside The Vocal Academy — not just helping singers hit the notes, but helping them understand why a sound works, how to practice it, and what to adjust when it doesn’t.
Because anyone can improve their singing, but difficult songs like this require coordination, patience, and really smart training.