How to Sing “What was I Made For” by Billie Eilish

It’s no secret Billie Eilish is one of the most popular vocalists around. Springing on to the scene at the ripe age of 16, she captivated audiences, not with powerhouse vocals, but a decidedly unique tone that at first listen, you need to turn up to hear. Her breathy tones took the world by storm and she and her brother, Finnea, have been capitalizing on their own momentum ever since winning major awards. Most recently, the Grammy for Best Music (Original Song,) for the song “What Was I Made For” from the 2023 movie Barbie. 

Naturally, as a vocal teacher, I’ve been paying attention to Billie Eilish’s releases as she grows vocally and musically. While imitation is one of the first ways we learn to make noises as children, and one of the easiest ways to learn how to sing, it’s important to also learn the technique behind what they’re doing. Believe you me, Billie Eilish has some fabulous technique. 

So let’s break down what “falsetto” means. 

Obviously, Billie Eilish begins the song with her breathiness. Some other ways to describe this method is “whisper-tones,” or “falsetto.” A falsetto or “false voice” can be described in a few different ways. For male voices, it can be described as the tone used to reach higher notes a la Adam Levine “Sugar,” or Sam Smith “Stay with Me.” For the female voice, it’s also used to access higher notes but it can also be used to describe the “breathy” tones that we will be focusing on today. 

So how do you create the tone Billie Eilish uses so often?

Two words: BREATH. SUPPORT. Imagine you’re whispering to someone next to you. You don’t need much air to get your sentence across, right? Now imagine you’re whispering to someone a few feet away. You’re going to take a deeper breath, and use more air to create a louder, but still “quiet” tone. This is the same type of breath support you need to recreate Billie Eilish’s tone on “What Was I Made For.” 

So how exactly does that work when the vast majority of vocal registers can be explained with breath support? I’m so glad you asked! When you create a sound, your vocal folds vibrate together based on how much air you’re letting out of them. The closer they are, the clearer the tone. The farther apart, the breathier the tone. This is called “phonation.” When trying to create the breathy tones, your vocal folds are farther apart, allowing more air to escape which means, you need even more air to support the tone you’re trying to create. 

Let’s try something: 

Pick a note, any note will do! Sing it on an “ah” as you normally would. Now, on the same note, try to “whisper” the note. Take note of how you can feel the air coming out of your mouth more so than when you did singing it normally. You needed a little more effort to sing the breathier note, right? Right! As you can imagine, this is a very difficult tone to sustain which is why it’s impressive can move between her falsetto and chest voice so flawlessly. 

Why does it impact us so much?

The falsetto Billie Eilish uses in the vast majority of her songs is to evoke emotion in a new and unique way. A song like “What was I Made for?” Is an introspective, self-doubting song, specifically, about how Barbie has no idea why she exists or what her purpose is in this world. The flawless movement between her different registers while keeping the emotion solemn is the perfect way to represent Barbie’s inner monologue throughout these scenes. 

Want to learn more?

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