Can you sing Best Thing I Never Had by Beyoncé?

Beyoncé gives this kiss-off ballad a deceptively wide footprint: the researched range runs D3 to E5, a 26 semitone span, though the extremes are decoration on a melody that mostly lives in the middle. The verses sit low and matter-of-fact, the chorus lifts into sustained upper-middle territory, and the deciding moment is the last chorus, where ad-libs push out toward the E5 ceiling while the written line keeps churning underneath.

At 26 semitones this is a choose-your-battles song. Altos are the named best fit, but honestly they are squeezed on both ends: two semitones over the ceiling and three under the floor, so an alto sings the written line and lets the extreme decorations go. Mezzos clear the top with a semitone to spare and simply lift or skip the D3 cellar, which sits seven below their floor. Tenors clear the bottom but face seven semitones over the top, past the honest transposition limit, so the last chorus becomes lower-octave territory for them. No verified key is stored on this entry; set it from the sustained chorus notes, not the outlying ad-libs.

Practice cue: learn the chorus with zero ad-libs first, plain as sheet music. Only after five clean passes do you earn the decorations, and you keep only the ones that cost nothing. Hold Up rewards the same restraint.

Written from this song's researched range on file, D3 to E5 (26 semitones). July 2026.