18.117.231.160
User Stats:
Today: 0
Yesterday: 0
This Month: 0
This Year: 0
Total Users: 117
New Members:
18.117.xxx.xxx
Server Time:
| Vocal ranges |
| Female ranges
Male ranges |
Contents |
Vocal range defined
Despite its intuitive clarity, vocal range is not easy to define, nor is it easy to compare the vocal ranges of singers in different genres. The tonal quality of the voice is as important in determining voice type as the range of notes themselves.
The broadest definition of vocal range, given above, is simply the span from the highest to the lowest note a particular voice can produce. This broad definition, however, is quite often not the one meant when someone speaks of "vocal range." This is because some of the notes a voice can produce may not be considered "musically useful" for a particular purpose. For example, when speaking of the vocal range of a male opera singer, one usually excludes falsetto pitches, which are not used in most opera. A male doo-wop singer, on the other hand, might quite regularly deploy his falsetto pitches in performance and thus include them in determining his range.
For this reason, it is important to clearly define what is meant when discussing a vocal range. For example, one might say of a man that he has a one and a half octave range in full voice and an additional one half octave in falsetto. Similarly, when discussing the range of a woman one might say that she has a "useful" two octave range with an additional major third on the bottom that is only audible with amplification. Unfortunately, there is no standardization in this nomenclature.
Vocal range in classical music
Vocal range is generally very important in classical music. In opera, two considerations are paramount in determining vocal range: consistency of timbre across the vocal range, and ability to project the pitches (that is, to be heard clearly over an orchestra without amplification). Thus the vocal range for a man is generally determined by the pitches that he can produce in full voice - that is, excluding falsetto, which sounds too harshly different from lower notes in most men's voices. Vocal range for women is only slightly more freely determined: The same criteria broadly apply, but women of the highest voice type (soprano) can on occasion deploy their flageolet register to reach very high notes despite a typically noticeable difference in timbre. Of course, if any pitch cannot be properly projected, it is not considered part of the range.
Choral music is somewhat less stringent. In contrast to opera, the large number of voices that can be deployed in each group make it somewhat less important that each individual voice be flawlessly produced and completely audible. Thus, for example, choirs can often deploy notes that are lower than those that might be deployed in an operatic performance - no single member of the choir might be able to project such a low note individually, but taken together the note might be quite audible.
Classification of vocal range in classical music
The following vocal range classifications are typically used in classical music (from highest to lowest). The ranges listed are prototypical but actual vocal range differs from person to person. Those listed below should not be taken as a restrictive category but as a general guide (source: [1]):
- Soprano: C4-A5
- Mezzo-soprano: A3 - F5
- Contralto (often abbreviated to Alto): F3 - D5
- Tenor: B2 - G4
- Baritone: G2 - E4
- Bass: E2 - C4
The first three ranges are usually sung by women, and the last three are usually sung by men. Occasionally men will sing in the three female registers. When sung by men, they are renamed:
- Sopranist (soprano range)
- Countertenor (mezzo-soprano or contralto range)
- Alto (contralto range)
In addition to these general classifications, additional subdivisions are very commonly deployed in opera and other classical music for solo voice. There are a number of such detailed classification schemes, many of which are country-specific. See, for example, the articles on individual voice types above or the article on Fach.
Induced vocal range
Where the above are largely achieved through practice and natural aptitude, vocal ranges can be achieved by means of physiological modification. Only the example of the castrato is particularly notable.
Vocal range in popular music
Vocal range in popular music is usually more generously defined than in classical. Because of the use of amplification it is possible for singers to produce musically useful pitches that are much lower than might be possible for classical singers. Similarly, consistency of timbre is much less important in popular music. Thus in many popular genres falsetto is acceptable for men, deep growling pitches can be deployed, and flageolet notes (commonly referred to as the whistle register in popular music) can be freely used by any female or male who can produce them.
The importance of vocal range varies in popular music. At one extreme, to choose a well known example, genres such as punk show little concern for technical proficiency of any sort and thus no particular concern for vocal range. Similarly, many roles in the musical theater, while requiring rather more skill, call for only vaguely determined voice types. At the other extreme, vocal range is considered extremely important by many singers and fans of pop and R&B. There is often intense discussion among fans of precisely what a particular singer's vocal range is, and singers or their press representatives often claim extremely wide ranges.
For these various reasons, it is extremely difficult to speak of vocal range in popular music generally. For more information, see the articles on individual genres.
World records and extremes of vocal range
As noted above, claims of exceptionally wide vocal ranges are not uncommon among some singers. Fortunately, in 2006 the Guinness Book of Records published several categories relating to extremes of "Human vocal range." It stated the following:
Females
- Greatest range: Eight octaves, G2-G10, Georgia Brown, Brazil
- Highest vocal note: G10, Georgia Brown, Brazil
Males
- Greatest range: Six octaves, Tim Storms, USA
- Highest vocal note: Eb8 Adam Lopez, Australia
- Lowest vocal note: B-2 (nearly two octaves below piano's lowest note), Tim Storms, USA
Guinness also lists the highest demanded note in the classical repertoire as G6 in 'Popoli di Tessaglia,' a concert aria by W. A. Mozart and the lowest demanded note in the classical repertoire as a "Low D [three Ds below Middle C] in Osmin's aria in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail." This latter claim is incorrect in several ways, though. First, the low D in question is the second D below middle C, not the third. Second, though that note is the lowest demanded and commonly performed in the operatic repertoire, Leonard Bernstein's Candide has an optional low B (a minor third below the low D) in a bass aria of its opera house version. Finally, some choral works call for notes lower than the low D.
Another work by Mozart, namely the "Queen of the Night" aria from The Magic Flute, is often regarded as having the highest note in classical music - it being an F6. However, this is false.
Bass range, the microphone, and the basso profondos of Russia
The advent of the microphone provided singers with a way to extend their range downward. This is why the lowest notes hit by basses in pop music are often much lower than any notes called for in classical repetoire. The lowest notes in opera repetoire are around D2 or C2 (for an example of this see Cesare Siepi's recording of "Seigneur, rampart et seul soutien" by Meyerbeer.) However, with amplification baritones, and even some tenors can reach these tones. To sing even lower some singers combine a technique called vocal fry or creaky voice, along with amplification to produce notes well below the normal range of the human voice. Vocal fry is the low clicking sound that vocal chords produce when pushed below their natural limit. It is commonly used in gospel quartets and a capella groups. The bass J.D. Sumner popularized the use of vocal fry in gospel, and he can be heard in recordings with the Stamps Quartet hitting notes as low as F1. The current Guinness record holder for the lowest note, Tim Storms, also uses this technique. Basses that implement this technique are often called sub-basses.
Notes produced using vocal fry are only effective when using a microphone, as they have little volume, not unlike whistle notes. Guinness is often loose with what they categorize as a "note" so extreme vocal technique is often used to produce notes in a range that the singer could not actually sing in. Vocal fry and whistle notes are techniques effective in pop music. However, there is a distinction between these tehcniques and the normal full voice used by singers in classical repetoire.
The lowest notes that need no amplification and are produced with normal vocal technique are sung by the basso profondo or, oktavists from Russia. Such singers sing notes as low as A1 or G1. Vladimir Pasiukov of the Male Choir of St. Petersburg, and Vladimir Miller of the Valaam Choir are two good examples of true basso profondos. Although the lowest notes called for in opera are around C2, there are Russian choral works that call for basso profondo soloists to sing notes as low as Bb1 as in Chesnokov's composition "Do Not Cast Me Off in Time of Old Age". Composers such as Rachmaninov, Alexander Gretchaninoff and the aforementioned Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov employ basso profondo's extensively. Recordings of such basses in a choral setting can be found on almost any recording of Russian choral music, although recordings of basso profondo soloists are rare.
Side note - Tim Storms does not use the vocal fry technique for sub-bass notes, as previously mentioned. JD Sumner also did not use this technique. Where many bass singers use the fry techinque, it should not be automatically assumed that all sub-bass singers employ this technique. There is a difference between vibrating ones vocal cords to produce clear tone and accurate pitch, and warbling ones vocal cords (fry technique) to "harmonize". Singers who utilize the fry technique do not have near the control of pitch or tone (when using the fry techinque) than singers who do not use the fry technique to achieve sub-bass frequencies. -just one way you can tell if someone is using the vocal fry techinque or not.
External links
Categories: Vocal ranges
