# Human vocal range--questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838 "2003-07-11T22:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/1 "2003-07-11T22:35:53Z")
I was listening to a Bee Gees song the other day (“Too Much Heaven”) and started wondering what notes they were hitting. I know they sing pretty high, and it seems to me that some of the notes were off the treble clef-- in other words, higher than the “E” above middle “C”! But I am really not sure… So I thought I would pose the question to the board! Can men using falsetto regularly hit the soprano notes? What about Mariah Carey? When she hits those stratospheric high notes, what are the exact notes she is hitting? It seems that a lot of male pop singers (Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Franki Valli, Roy Orbison, Art Garfunkel, etc.) sing just as high as most female singers do. Can most guys do this with practice, or does it take a particular type of voice to easily hit those soprano notes? What are the upper limits of the human vocal register? I would appreciate any information about this! ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/2 "2003-07-11T23:03:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Can men using falsetto regularly hit the soprano notes? What about Mariah Carey? I’m fairly certain Mariah Carey isn’t a man singing flasetto. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/3 "2003-07-11T23:07:18Z")
Check [this chart](http://music.theory.home.att.net/insrange.htm) for more than you want to know about ranges. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/4 "2003-07-12T00:05:29Z")
According to the Guinness Book of Records, > [@](#): > > Madeleine Marie Robin (1918-60), the French operatic coloratura, could produce and sustain the B above high C in the Lucia mad scene in Donizetti’s _Lucia di Lammermoor_. Ivan Rebroff, the German singer, has voice that extends easily over four octaves, from a low F to a high F, one and a quarter octaves above C. Dan Britton of Branson, MI, can produce the note E-O (18.84 Mz). ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/5 "2003-07-12T00:15:43Z")
No, Mariah’s high notes are in what’s called “super head voice” or the “whistle register”. It’s kinda like a man’s falsetto. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/6 "2003-07-12T01:07:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*According to the Guinness Book of Records, Dan Britton of Branson, MI, can produce the note E-O (18.84 Mz). \*\* I just thought I’d say that while this was the record not too long ago, it has been beaten by a man named [Tim Storms](http://bransondotcom.com/musicnews.html), also of Branson, who can sing whatever note occurs at 8 Hz. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/77aa72/32.png) [@Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_On_My_Sleeve)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/7 "2003-07-12T01:55:08Z")
I’m pretty suprised at some of the ranges of some men’s falsetto. I used to know a guy who would play through operas on the piano, you could hear a really weird-sounding soprano voice coming from the practice room… Don’t know if you noticed when Mariah sings up high, it’s not full voice, and I agree with DeVena on this. It has kind of a thin quality. Not that I don’t think it’s impressive. I think, generally, in pop music, the range used is usually rather limited (unless you’re the bee gees or Mariah), so you don’t hear the full vocal range of singers in pop culture very often and it may be surprising when you do. Range also changes with practice and age. A couple years ago, when I was out of practice, I was straining to sing treble D in the staff and now after a few lessons and some practice I can sing a Bb above the treble staff in performance (different than screeching out unusable high notes in practice). I always knew the range was there because I used to sing that high in college, but you lose touch with how it “feels” to sing in that register. I’ve also heard of women’s voices getting lower after they’ve had a baby, I don’t know what the biological explanation of that is. I would venture to guess that Mariah is hitting notes around C above the treble staff to E or so. Which is high for a woman. One last thing and I’ll shut up. I think the timbre of a voice or instrument can make it sound higher or lower than it actually is. I had a friend who was unquestionably a soprano, and when she sang notes that really weren’t that low, they sure sounded low. Probably, when a man sings falsetto, it sounds higher than it actually is. With musical instruments, when you (IMO) listen to an oboe vs. a flute playing the same note, to me the oboe sounds higher. I think a violin also sounds higher than a flute. Obviously, they don’t sound like different pitches, but they may sound like different octaves or if you hear the notes with a significant interval of time between them (and you didn’t have perfect pitch), you might guess them to be different notes from each other. Maybe the overtones are stronger on an oboe or violin… Fun, fun! ---
**Author:** ![BellaVoce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@BellaVoce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellaVoce)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/8 "2003-07-12T03:58:02Z")
Finally! A question regarding my area of expertise. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gytalf2000 \* > \*\*I was listening to a Bee Gees song the other day (“Too Much Heaven”) and started wondering what notes they were hitting. I know they sing pretty high, and it seems to me that some of the notes were off the treble clef-- in other words, higher than the “E” above middle “C”! But I am really not sure… So I thought I would pose the question to the board! Can men using falsetto regularly hit the soprano notes? \*\* Yes. I have a male friend who can hit notes that most altos would struggle for. He is an exception, rather than the rule, however. > [@](#): > > \*\*What about Mariah Carey? When she hits those stratospheric high notes, what are the exact notes she is hitting? It seems that a lot of male pop singers (Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Franki Valli, Roy Orbison, Art Garfunkel, etc.) sing just as high as most female singers do. Can most guys do this with practice, or does it take a particular type of voice to easily hit those soprano notes? \*\* Yes and no. All men have a falsetto, and can sing hella-high with some practice. But, obviously, an counter-tenor is going to have a much better mastery over his falsetto than a basso-profundo. It should also be noted that overextending ones range by using a lot of falsetto can damage one’s vocal mechanisms. Some of those pop guys just have high voices (Listen to some old Queen songs. It didn’t sound like it, but Freddie Mercury sang really, really high). Some of them just have really good mastery of their falsetto range. Of course, the castratti should be noted. Durring the Baroque period in Europe, if a boy was a really good soprano in the boys choir, he might encounter an unfortunate “farming accident” that removed his naughty-bits. The result was a full-grown man, with the vocal power thereof, but the voice range of a little boy. Historical accounts tell us that women would swoon over hearing them sing in operas. Amazingly, this tradition endured into the latter half of the nineteenth-century, and a castrati actually survived long enough to make a crude recording. But, I digress. \*\* > [@](#): > > What are the upper limits of the human vocal register? I would appreciate any information about this! \*\* Its pretty high. ---
**Author:** ![barbershop\_tenor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@barbershop\_tenor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbershop_tenor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/9 "2003-07-14T16:42:04Z")
I can definately say yes to that question. I sing tenor in a barbershop chorus and most often we find ourselves in that range. For some strange reason song arrangers like to kill us tenors in that manner. I was just at the International Barbershop Competition in Montreal and a song we sang put us tenors on the high E above high C. We can do it but don’t want to do it repeatedly. You tend to lose your voice very fast. Myself, I can sing up to the high C naturaly before I have to go falseto but not all men can. To really throw you for a loop I also sing bass in a quartet and can sing notes down in the low F and E range. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/10 "2003-07-14T17:36:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Tim Storms, also of Branson, who can sing whatever note occurs at 8 Hz. If I’m not mistaken, that’s the C six octaves below middle, and rather flat. Meanwhile, 18.84 MHz would be 15 or 16 octaves above middle (but I suspect that was a typo). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/11 "2003-07-14T19:33:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*Meanwhile, 18.84 MHz would be 15 or 16 octaves above middle (but I suspect that was a typo). \*\* My error. Dan Britton of Branson, MI, can produce the note E-O (18.84 **Hz** ). ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/12 "2003-07-14T21:00:47Z")
I forgot – there’s a good scale somewhere at [www.contrabass.com](http://www.contrabass.com) – I love that site. Tim Storms used to have a site at [eighthertz.com](http://eighthertz.com) – don’t go there now, you’ll get about eight _pop-ups_ and a homepage re-routing request. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/13 "2003-07-14T22:05:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbershop tenor \* > \*\*I can sing up to the high C naturaly before I have to go falseto but not all men can. To really throw you for a loop I also sing bass in a quartet and can sing notes down in the low F and E range. \*\* Guys like me hate guys like you. My range is less than 2 octaves (not counting falsetto). Bums me out. I bet I have more kids than you, so there–and they’re cute, too. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/14 "2003-07-15T00:40:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Heart On My Sleeve \* > [BOne last thing and I’ll shut up. I think the timbre of a voice or instrument can make it sound higher or lower than it actually is. I had a friend who was unquestionably a soprano, and when she sang notes that really weren’t that low, they sure sounded low. Probably, when a man sings falsetto, it sounds higher than it actually is. With musical instruments, when you (IMO) listen to an oboe vs. a flute playing the same note, to me the oboe sounds higher. I think a violin also sounds higher than a flute. Obviously, they don’t sound like different pitches, but they may sound like different octaves or if you hear the notes with a significant interval of time between them (and you didn’t have perfect pitch), you might guess them to be different notes from each other. Maybe the overtones are stronger on an oboe or violin… > > Fun, fun! \*\* More anecdotal evidence for this: I used to sing tenor in choir, due to a shortage of guys. Because the notes were low for me and high for everyone else, it sounded lower when I sang than it did when, say, Dan sang. (However, we must have blended decently when we sang together, or I’d have been moved back to alto II) ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-vocal-range-questions/187838/15 "2003-07-15T02:38:21Z")
Women pop singers tend to sing low in their ranges, and men sing high. I also constantly want to thwack the same singers who obviously have no vocal training who hit their passagio and their voices just disappear. (Around the second D above middle C. It’s an awkward transition spot in women’s voices. I HATE Ds!) There used to be a guy in my college choir who could sing soprano, and I swear he wasn’t in falsetto. He was just a really, really, really high countertenor, or else maybe a castrato! Not that I asked about THAT. 😃 I’m a high soprano – in a group I always sing first, I am not bragging, singing high does not equate to singing BETTER – and have a very hard time following a lot of female pop singers. They sing so LOW. I don’t know how they do it! I’ve gotten as low as the F below middle C, and two Es above, to the point where I was just screeching and hoping I was on the note. Both of those are way extreme for me, but I’m comfortable when I’m in practice anywhere from about middle C to a high C.