Pick out the challenging songs that will earn you respect if you can nail them at karaoke!
Have you ever thought, “I’d look so cool if I could get through this song at karaoke,” only to crash and burn halfway through?Songs that are hard to sing hide plenty of tough spots—wide vocal ranges, complex rhythms, and blisteringly fast phrases that barely leave room to breathe.But that’s exactly why the sense of accomplishment when you nail them is second to none.In this article, we introduce a wide variety of challenging songs that are worth taking on at karaoke.If you want to test your limits or are looking for a spark to help you level up your singing, let this guide you to your next song choice!
- [Taking on a song with a wide vocal range] An S-class challenge track
- Must-see for men: Songs that look cool if you can sing them at karaoke—numbers that women can’t help but be captivated by.
- [High-pitched warning!] Songs with high notes that are hard to sing
- [For Men] Tough Karaoke Songs: A collection of tracks that look cool if you can sing them!
- Cool If You Can Sing! Popular Karaoke Songs Recommended for Women
- [For Women] Sing challenging songs at karaoke and steal the spotlight!
- [For Men] Masterpiece Enka Songs with High Difficulty
- [Challenge] A compilation of Vocaloid songs that are difficult to sing
- [For Women] Masterpiece Enka Songs with a High Degree of Difficulty
- [Karaoke] Songs That Make It Easy to Score High | From Classics to the Newest Hits
- Even karaoke beginners can relax! Easy-to-sing songs for men
- Feel-Good Songs: Belt Them Out at Karaoke! A Roundup of Popular Numbers
- Recommended karaoke songs for male vocalists with high voices
Picked difficult songs that’ll earn you respect if you can nail them at karaoke! (271–280)
BuddhaRADWIMPS
RADWIMPS’ 10th single released digitally in January 2009.
The song is built largely around fast, rap-like vocals, which makes it very difficult to sing at karaoke.
It’s not pure rap, though—there is a melody, albeit with little inflection, and that actually adds to the difficulty.
Even if you manage the rap-style parts, the original track uses heavy vocal processing, and it’s nearly impossible to recreate that vibe live at karaoke.
It’s probably best not to fixate on reproducing the original and just enjoy it as a straightforward rock song.
Even then, it’s a thoroughly captivating track!
Wings of SteelRADWIMPS
This is RADWIMPS’ sixth digital-only single, released on April 5, 2021.
It’s a very gentle ballad with a fair amount of range in the vocal melody, and I think it requires considerable expressive ability to sing it well.
The end of the chorus and the B-melody sections are particularly challenging.
Start by carefully tracing the original melody as you sing.
It’s an important song in which keeping a consistently soft, tender tone—without getting rough even in the high notes of the chorus—will make it sound really good.
Take It BackReiko
Born in 2002, REIKO was born in the Philippines and raised in Aichi Prefecture.
Although she narrowly missed passing SKY-HI’s audition program “THE FIRST,” SKY-HI himself later recognized her talent and helped her debut as a solo artist.
She is a highly anticipated young singer-songwriter.
Released in April 2025, her track “Take It Back” revives a distinctly New Jack Swing–inspired sound in a modern style, resulting in a killer tune that maximizes REIKO’s superb vocal ability and outstanding sense of rhythm.
Beyond the melody line that moves across a wide vocal range, songs like this demand a strong feel for groove; simply singing the notes as written will never capture the vibe.
Listen closely to the track and try singing with conscious attention to its groove.
The beauties of nature — flowers, birds, wind, and the moon (a poetic expression appreciating nature’s elegance)SEKAI NO OWARI
Overall, the pitch and rhythm aren’t particularly difficult, but the problem is the chorus.
The lyrics come one after another without a break, so there’s no chance to breathe.
It seems that in live performances two people take turns singing, but if you try to sing it solo at karaoke, you’ll likely run out of breath unless you’re very confident in your lung capacity.
ALL MY TRUE LOVESPEED
This is SPEED’s eighth single, released in October 1998.
Even among idol-style groups of the time, SPEED had a strong reputation for their vocal ability, and this song is no exception—their natural vocal prowess is fully on display.
Combined with the members’ youthful energy back then, the bright high tones in this track are so vibrant that very few people today could probably reproduce them as-is.
If you strain your throat to force out the high notes, it’s hard to capture that sense of openness, so be sure to set the key carefully when singing it at karaoke.
KiLLiNG MESiM
The song starts with death growls, and the English lyrics along with occasional shouts make it a challenging track.
It’s popular among live-show kids, but when it comes to actually singing it, I think it’s a difficult piece that requires considerable technique.
PresenceSuperfly
This is Superfly’s seventh overall digital-only single, released in August 2022.
It was written as the opening theme for the second cour of the NHK E-TV anime Aoashi, which began airing on July 2 of the same year.
Over an expansive, refreshingly airy backing track, Shiho Ochi’s shape-shifting vocals truly shine.
To really pull off this song, of course the chorus—packed with high notes and frequent falsetto—is crucial, but I think what matters just as much is how solidly you can deliver the sections built around mid-to-low range melodies, like the A verse.
If you mumble from the mouth and sing half-heartedly, you’ll spoil the song, so be sure to practice resonating a firm chest voice as you sing!