# Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol Source: https://pitchhighway.com/songs/snow-patrol-chasing-cars Site: PitchHighway — learn to sing your favorite songs (https://pitchhighway.com) --- ## Measured data - Key: A major - Vocal phrasing tempo: ~68 BPM (median pace of the sung phrases, measured from real uploads — it can sit below the song's beat BPM on sustained passages) - Vocal range: E3–D4 (10 semitones) - Tessitura (middle 50% of sung time): A3–C#4 - Longest note: A3 held 2.7s - Difficulty: easy - Range fit: fits inside 69% of the 1682 vocal ranges measured on PitchHighway (whole-octave shift allowed) --- ## Chasing Cars: key, vocal range, and what the vocal line actually asks of you Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars is a released studio recording people look up when they want the song’s key, vocal range, and whether it is hard to sing. This page answers those searches with the original’s commonly cited key plus measurements taken from the sung vocal line: range E3–D4 (10 semitones), a tessitura that sits mostly A3–C#4, phrasing tempo about 68 BPM, difficulty rated easy, longest note A3 held 2.7 seconds, about 0.4 notes per second, and a 221-second track. The original recording is in A major. That is the key karaoke charts and most published references use for the 2006 single. You do not need a wide compass to cover the melody as measured here. The entire sung span is a tenth from E3 to D4, so the work is not about hitting a high C or a low chest growl. It is about staying even, in tune, and unhurried inside a small window. ## What makes it easy or hard to sing Difficulty is easy because the measured range is only 10 semitones and the line moves slowly. At 0.4 notes per second the vocal is sparse: long vowels, few attacks, plenty of space between pitches. Phrasing tempo around 68 BPM matches that density. You are not racing syllable runs. You are holding pitch on open vowels while the band sits still. The tessitura is A3–C#4. That is the middle of many male speaking voices and the lower-middle of many female ones. Most of the song lives there rather than at the E3 floor or the D4 ceiling. The longest measured hold is A3 for 2.7 seconds, which is short by ballad standards. Breath is not the main limiter; steadiness is. A 2.7-second A3 still needs a quiet onset and a stable larynx, because any wobble is obvious when the accompaniment is thin. What can still feel hard is the lack of cover. With so few notes per second, every pitch is exposed. If E3 is weak, the lower phrases sag. If D4 is shouty, the top of the tenth sticks out against a line that otherwise sits on A3–C#4. The 221-second duration means you repeat that same compact range for more than three minutes. Fatigue shows up as flattening on repeated A3s, not as missed high notes. Do not invent extra difficulty. The data does not show long belts, fast melisma, or a 20-semitone leap. Hard, in this measurement set, would look like a wider span, a higher tessitura, or a much longer held note. None of those appear here. ## Who it suits Baritones who are comfortable from E3 up through D4 can sing the line in the original key without leaving chest-dominant production. Tenors who sit a little high for E3 may need a light mix on the bottom or a small downward transpose, but D4 will not tax them. Altos and mezzo-sopranos often find A3–C#4 easy; E3 may ask for a coordinated chest or a transpose up. Sopranos who rarely speak below A3 will feel the floor more than the ceiling. Voice-type fit is “compact mid range,” not “high tenor showpiece.” If your comfortable speaking pitch is near A3, this tessitura is home territory. If your chest voice stops around G3, the E3 phrases are the only real stretch, and they are brief relative to the A3–C#4 core. Register advice tied to the numbers: keep E3 in a speech-like chest without pressing, because pressing there will make the jump into A3 sound like two different voices. Keep D4 in the same color as C#4. The span is only a whole step above the tessitura top, so a sudden head-voice flip on D4 will sound like a different song. On the 2.7-second A3, aim for a still jaw and a constant airflow rather than a dramatic swell the measurement does not require. ## How to practice it Work the 10-semitone map first. Sing a slow siren from E3 to D4 on a neutral vowel and mark where tone thins. Then isolate the tessitura: loop A3–C#4 at 68 BPM with a metronome until those three pitches feel identical in volume. Add the 2.7-second A3 as a timed hold: inhale for two beats, sing A3 for 2.7 seconds, release without a gulp. If the tone dips, shorten the hold and rebuild rather than pushing air. Because density is 0.4 notes per second, practice connecting pitches with almost no consonant noise. The line will expose scooped attacks. Count the 221-second shape in sections of about a minute so you do not only polish the first chorus and then flatten later. If E3 is the weak end, speak-sing those phrases at pitch before adding sustain. If D4 is the weak end, place it as a continuation of C#4, not as a climax. When the range, the A3 hold, and the slow 68 BPM phrasing are stable, upload the song to PitchHighway and learn it phrase by phrase.