Overwhelm with vocal sustain! Songs with long tones that make you want to sing them at karaoke
Ever find yourself thinking, “I want to belt it out and feel amazing at karaoke!” or “How do they sustain their voice like that for so long?” Long tones—sustaining your breath while letting your voice resonate beautifully—are one of the elements that can seriously elevate how a song is received.
If you want to refine your expressiveness or sing with emotion and feel great doing it, you’re probably looking for songs that feature long tones and are perfect for practice.
Here are some songs where long tones really stand out—ones that will make you want to sing along.
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Overwhelm them with vocal sustain! Long-tone songs you'll want to sing at karaoke (1–10)
Last SongNEW!Ofisharu Higedan Dism
A wistful yet beautiful ballad, written and composed by vocalist Satoshi Fujihara, it’s a masterpiece highlighted by piano and strings that evokes farewells and final moments with someone precious.
With an overall vocal range of E3 to C5, it’s not among the highest in Higedan’s catalog, making it fairly approachable for male singers.
The tempo is relatively relaxed, so the general image is to sing with sustained, elongated lines.
Be sure to support firmly with your diaphragm so your voice doesn’t waver, and focus on delivering a straight, steady tone.
ignited -Ignited-NEW!T.M.Revolution
Takanori Nishikawa’s vocals have a solid core and are known for their sustained long tones.
This time, let’s focus on T.M.Revolution’s “ignited.” The overall range of the song is G#3 to B4, which is surprisingly not too wide, so I think it’s easy for the average male singer to handle.
However, the parts that require strong projection are where Nishikawa really shines, so if you make a conscious effort to articulate every phrase clearly, your chest voice will come through more distinctly.
The long tones come at the ends of the chorus lines, so make sure to take a solid breath leading into them and keep it going all the way to the end.
powder snowNEW!Remioromen
Released on November 16, 2005, this single became a huge hit as an insert song for the drama “1 Litre of Tears.” It’s a classic ballad written and composed by vocalist Ryota Fujimaki that portrays winter scenery and the bittersweet distance between a man and a woman.
Many people, regardless of gender, love to take on this song.
I actually sing it with the key raised, and the sustained notes in the chorus feel amazing to sing—highly recommended.
Rather than holding a long tone at the ends of phrases, this song’s image is to sustain from the start of the chorus while shifting the pitch.
Don’t forget to take a breath before the chorus, and enjoy singing!
Overwhelm with vocal sustain! Long-note songs you’ll want to sing at karaoke (11–20)
bow knotNEW!Aimer
When it comes to modern ballad queens, many people probably think of Aimer.
She’s known for her husky voice, but her vocal production is actually quite unique: unlike most vocalists, she sings using chest breathing.
Generally, chest breathing tends to produce less airflow during phonation, but in her case it’s the opposite.
As a result, even replicating a standard long tone becomes significantly more difficult when trying to sing like her.
In this song, the long tones in the chorus are extended, and she sings from the late first half of the chorus through the middle of the latter half without any rests, making the piece feel more challenging in terms of sustained notes than it might sound at first listen.
Only HumanNEW!K
An epic ballad that became a long-running hit, staying in the Oricon Top 10 for seven consecutive weeks as the theme song for the drama “1 Litre of Tears.” Centered on the themes of setback and hope, and produced by Kiyoshi Matsuo, it powerfully and poignantly conveys both the strength to live and life’s fragility, becoming one of K’s signature songs.
As a ballad, it has a relaxed tempo, and the long tones and vibrato really shine.
Since the song builds toward the end, it’s fine to gradually switch from falsetto to chest voice.
At the very end, sing out with full power and keep your voice steady.
LemonNEW!Yonezu Kenshi
When you think of Kenshi Yonezu’s biggest hit song, many people probably think of “Lemon.” While the song fully emphasizes a sense of longing, it surprisingly features many sections where the voice is projected powerfully.
Among them, the part that especially demands sustain is just before the first falsetto in the chorus.
Although it’s a high register right on the verge of head voice, it’s sung with an emphasis on sound pressure, making it perfect for showcasing vocal sustain.
As for long tones, there aren’t any particularly conspicuous spots, but you sing a fairly long stretch from the section I mentioned up to the falsetto without any rests, so it can definitely serve as a good practice piece for long tones.
The BeginningNEW!ayaka
Ayaka’s classic song “Hajimari no Toki,” released in 2012.
The piece is characterized by a structure that develops from Japanese-style A and B verses into a chorus with a pop sensibility that carries a sense of seriousness, and compared to recent songs, it features a lot of long sustained notes.
If you aim to replicate Ayaka’s singing style, you’ll be sustaining with rich overtones, which makes it far more challenging than ordinary long tones.
Because the dynamics are quite dramatic, you can train not only your vocal sustain but also your expressiveness.