I know the general idea, that tenor, baritone, and bass are high-, medium-, and low-pitched male voices. But is there a more specific definition? A test? To be a tenor, must you be able to sing a certain high note and to be a bass, must you be able to sing a certain low note? Thanks.
Well, I don’t know about singing, but the following are the ranges for saxophones (if I’m wrong on these, Uke or Uncle Beer, please let me know):
Baritone
Very Low C - Medium Ab
Tenor
Low Ab - High Eb
Alto
(pitched an octive higher than baritone)
Low Ab - High Ab
Soprano
is pitched an octave higher than Tenor (Ab - Eb)
I would assume that one in a choir would be placed according to the highest note he can safely hit. Sometimes even on saxophones, the highest and lowest notes can’t be blown until a certain level of skill is attained.
Shoot, I hate saying very low or low or medium or high. I think there’s another way to write the range (numbers?) but I can’t remember my music theory anymore.
I hope that offers some sort of guidance, however.
Alto: F below middle C – D above high C
Tenor: C below middle C – G above middle C
Baritone: G below low C – F above middle C
Bass: F below low C – E above middle C
(Low C:=one octave below middle C (131 Hz); High C:= one octave above middle C (524 Hz))
LL
Thanks, but why are tenor, baritone, and bass so close at the upper end? And why are baritone and bass so close at the low end? Maybe I don’t understand the answer.
Baritone checking in here.
My vocal range is from F below low C to F above middle C, full voice (i.e. no falsetto). If I practice, I can hit a G above middle C with full voice. A quick examination of my copy of “Alexander Nevsky” by Prokofiev shows that the highest note the Tenors have to hit in that piece is B above middle C (it is ff at that point). The lowest note the Basses have to hit is C below low C (this is a Russian piece, after all). I think baritone range is from low C to E above middle C in that piece.
Some of the general things that separate me from the Basses and Tenors:
In order to sing an E above middle C or higher with full voice, I generally have to belt the note out. A Tenor singing in this range would be able to vary his dynamics more and would be able to hit a few notes higher. I can hit a few notes lower than F below low C, but they don’t project at all. A Bass is more capable of projecting these notes and can hit a few notes lower. In general, you also want to take into account where the voice “dwells” (for lack of a better word) during a piece rather than the extremes of the range. In “Alexander Nevsky,” for example, the Tenors “dwell” around the D above middle C to G above middle C range, the Baritones “dwell” in the E above low C to B below middle C range, and the Basses “dwell” between G below low C and E above low C. Obviously nothing is written in stone here, just general guidelines.