# Octaves for Dummies (meaning me) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111 "2015-06-09T23:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/41 "2015-06-10T23:28:03Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > On “chest” he’s rising a fifth. On “got” he is stretching an octave from the lowest to highest note. > > By the way, he is unambiguously a tenor. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about. And he’s definitely singing in falsetto several times, notable at 1:18, whatever he may say. It may be a “reinforced” falsetto, but it’s a falsetto. I figured he was a tenor and this is not even my area, as you no doubt can tell. When I think of falsetto, I think of Barry Gibb. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/42 "2015-06-10T23:29:51Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > I wouldn’t have thought so; I was just responding to **vivalostwages** ’s question in post 17. The link in that post leads to a thread where several people are debating it. > > ETA: This is the first time I’ve heard of Sam Smith. Wow. > **[Sam Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Smith_%28singer%29)** > > Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they\[a\] rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. The following year, they featured on Naughty Boy's single "La La La", which became a number one single in the UK. > Smith's debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour (2014), was released through Capitol Records UK and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. Th... Saw him at the Forum in January; seeing him again in August in San Diego–provided that he is recovered by then from vocal cord surgery. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/43 "2015-06-10T23:31:20Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > What he’s switching, by the way, is _[registers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_register)_. That may be part of the confusion. Singers (especially pop singers) often switch registers when they jump an octave, but it’s not (always) necessary. Yes, that is confusing. But I am learning a lot from this thread. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/44 "2015-06-10T23:34:46Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Is this some kind of debate people have about his voice or something? > > It seems clear to me too that it is unambiguously tenor, and that “chest” is a clear case of falsetto. Others disagree?! Yes, some call him a “Baritenor.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/45 "2015-06-10T23:39:21Z")
And then there are chest voices, head voices, screechy voices, grating voices, etc. Sigh. And Brian Johnson of AC/DC, who sounds like he’s screeching through sandpaper. Baritone? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/46 "2015-06-11T00:10:39Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Wow. > > [Sam Smith - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Smith_%28singer%29) > > Saw him at the Forum in January; seeing him again in August in San Diego–provided that he is recovered by then from vocal cord surgery. I am more or less pop-illiterate. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/47 "2015-06-11T08:47:38Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > It’s also an octave from the _first_ note in “The Star-Spangled Banner” to the _highest_, although - and this also makes it challenging for most ordinary singers - there is a leap of a major tenth mid-song. > > “The Londonderry Air” also has a range of a twelfth (as does TSSB), and so does “We Plough The Fields and Scatter”, while “Old Man River” spans a thirteenth. No commonly-sung song ranges as wide as three octaves, though - although Minnie Riperton, for one, would have been able to manage it with room to spare; she could hit _four_ (and pronounce lyrics at the top end of it too, which is very rare indeed). Footnote: “When You Wish Upon A Star”, as performed at the start of _Pinocchio_, spans a full two octaves. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/48 "2015-06-11T16:13:20Z")
Slight tangent (well, large tangent), but [this article](http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmessitte/2015/05/19/did-sam-smiths-vocal-technique-contribute-to-his-hemorrhaging/) just popped up on my newsfeed. As a vocalist and voice teacher, I find this rather … unsurprising. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/49 "2015-06-11T16:56:10Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Old Come All Ye Faithful does that a couple times. It’s a challenge unless you got a good voice to do it. It’s not a big deal for a pro singer. Just another day at the office for them. What parts have the same note different octave? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/50 "2015-06-11T17:02:15Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > What parts have the same note different octave? “O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful and Triumphent, O Come Ye O Come Ye To Bethle **hem** **Come** and behold him” That’s the only part, though. (ETA: Well, and in the following verses that repeat the same melody, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/51 "2015-06-12T01:20:49Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Does a falsetto not “count” in some way? It’s just that it’s easier to hit high notes in falsetto without much training. Plus there’s this desire to sound like you have one voice throughout your entire range, and you can’t really do that with falsetto. Even those who train their falsetto so much that it sounds like a normal voice sound completely different than when singing in their speaking register. (They generally sound a lot like women in falsetto but still like men in their speaking voice.) Oh, and the song we were always taught for octaves in school was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The original version, not those newer versions where the first two syllables are the same note. Same with “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which also works. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/52 "2015-06-12T04:40:07Z")
When the [Seven Dwarves sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qG2A9EN5T4&t=1m15s) “\*\*\*Heigh Ho … Heigh Ho \*\*… _Heigh ho, heigh ho_, _it’s off to work we go_…” \*those preliminary “Heigh Ho’s” are a full octave span. Can you hear how they’re the same note, but one is just sung higher? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/53 "2015-06-12T20:30:01Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Yes, some call him a “Baritenor.” 😕 Well, a baritenor can sometimes be used to refer to range rather than sound quality. If he has some bass notes, maybe they think that’s enough. I had a friend in High School who sounded like a tenor but had a low Bb–and made first chair Bass 2 at All State his senior year. I have no problem calling him a baritenor. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/54 "2015-06-13T03:47:45Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > An octave is a set of eight notes (in the western style of music notation)… There are 12 notes over an octave. Hence the black keys on a piano and 12 half steps on a guitar. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/55 "2015-06-13T11:06:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “O Come All Ye Faithful, > Joyful and Triumphent, > O Come Ye O Come Ye > To Bethle **hem** > **Come** and behold him” > > That’s the only part, though. (ETA: Well, and in the following verses that repeat the same melody, of course.) I remembered that octave jump because I struggled with it at first. Didn’t have enough breath control. I eventually got it right with my teacher’s instructions and some exercises she taught me. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111/56 "2015-06-13T13:11:58Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > There are 12 notes over an octave. Hence the black keys on a piano and 12 half steps on a guitar. Which is why the so called “simple” explanations are inadequate. its not about numbers of notes or keys on a keyboard, it is about the frequency of the note. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octaves-for-dummies-meaning-me/722111.md?page=2)