# How would Frank Sinatra's voice be characterized? Bass, tenor or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682 "2007-02-03T18:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/1 "2007-02-03T18:04:19Z")
I’m listening to Frank Sinatra and he has (to me) an uttlerly unique sound. How would his tonal range be characterized? Use simple terms, I’m not up on technical music terms. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/2 "2007-02-03T18:05:18Z")
He’s the middle category between your two: baritone. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Mongoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8dc957/32.png) [@Hugh\_Mongoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Mongoose)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/3 "2007-02-03T18:07:45Z")
I would say he’s on the lower end of the baritone range. I’ve discovered that Ol’ Blue Eyes and I have very similar vocal ranges, and my voice teacher dubbed me a “Bass-Baritone.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/4 "2007-02-03T18:21:39Z")
You might enjoy this article on [Baritone](http://www.answers.com/topic/baritone) for some insight into the topic. You’ll be able to find Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby among the examples of popular baritones. Other fascinating topics are covered. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/5 "2007-02-03T22:00:24Z")
When Sinatra met Pope Pius, the Pope asked him what tenor parts he had sung (presuming Sinatra was an opera singer) and Frankie had to correct him - “I’m a baritone, your holiness”, or so the story goes. It’s also possible Frank had Jilly Risso beat the Pope up for making the mistake too, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/6 "2007-02-03T22:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=mamboman] When Sinatra met Pope Pius, the Pope asked him what tenor parts he had sung (presuming Sinatra was an opera singer) and Frankie had to correct him - “I’m a baritone, your holiness”, or so the story goes. It’s also possible Frank had Jilly Risso beat the Pope up for making the mistake too, I guess. [/QUOTE] This reminds me of the Shecky Greene bit where he said that Frank saved his life one time. Shecky said a couple of guys were beating the shit out of him in the casino parking lot and Frank came up and said, “That’s enough.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/7 "2007-02-04T06:24:26Z")
Definitely baritone. I know a guy whose voice is almost identical to Sinatra’s. I’ve heard him sing, and there’s an amazing similarity. And he’s a baritone. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/8 "2007-02-04T14:33:05Z")
Sinatra’s vocal genius–aside from his inimitable phrasing and timing–was more than his being a baritone. His voice had exceptional resonance, timbre and shading. As he aged and smoked cigs and drank scotch, the coloring of his voice grew darker, smokier and richer, just like a good wood-fired molasses. Listen to Sinatra’s early years. He was much closer to being a tenor. By the late 80s, he was a deep baritone. **Figaro** could expound on this better. ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-frank-sinatras-voice-be-characterized-bass-tenor-or-what/390682/9 "2007-02-09T20:00:44Z")
[QUOTE=Carnac the Magnificent!] [snip] **coloring of his voice grew darker, smokier and richer, just like a good wood-fired molasses.** [/QUOTE] ::summoned by Carnac…:: Now _that’s_ love talking! (complete aside…just the other day I got an email from someone who took offense at my having described a certain soprano’s voice as “silvery” in a biography I wrote. “Creamy, warm,…even a hint of mint, maybe, but CREAMY?!” she said. I love that stuff. Wood-fired Molasses indeed!) Anyhooo…chalk me up as a “baritone” vote for Sinatra. Even though his voice was lighter in tone quality when he was younger, he still had a warmth in the middle and low range that would be uncharacteristic for a true tenor, and the climactic notes in songs (I’m thinking for instance of “Everything is Rosy Now” from his Count Basie sessions) don’t tend to be any higher than F or F# above middle C. Compare that with a genuine pop tenor, like, say, Sam Cooke, who routinely popped out As and B-flats and who never relied on the lower end of his voice for expressive effect. It simply wasn’t as interesting. On a more general note, I think it’s easy to overlook how high male singing in the pop realm tends to be. A voice with **any** richness – Sinatra is a prime example, as is Elvis – tends to strike listeners as being much lower in pitch than it actually is.