Voice Ranges

what are the official voice ranges for saprano, alto, tenor, etc.?

First of all, there are three basic voice types each for male and female singers. These are, from the top down: tenor, baritone, and bass for males; soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto for females. There is a now-uncommon higher range for males – the countertenor – which used to be sung by the castrati; it can be done with a regular adult male, however, and it’s an absolutely astounding experience to hear live.

With that out of the way:

[ul](Hoffman, Miles. The NPR Classical Music Companion, ©1997, pp. 271-273)[/ul]So, with “pitch ranges often overlap significantly,” Hoffman conveniently sidesteps the issue of how to assign exactly each voice based on sonic frequency. He does mention, though, that color and texture are used in addition to tonal range in the classification of voices, and these factors determine the specific voice type you’ll see listed in an opera program (e.g., coloratura, basso profundo). Perhaps, then, there is no official range-based classification of voice types.

How’s that for a non-answer?

Well, slap me silly. I should’ve looked more closely at my other books. Here are the normal ranges of the various voices:[ul][li]Soprano: Approximately two octaves upward from the B-flat below middle C.[/li][li]Mezzo-Soprano: Between Soprano and Contralto.[/li][li]Contralto: Also simply known as Alto. Approximately two octaves upward from the E or F below middle C.[/li][li]Tenor: Approximately one octave upward from middle C.[/li][li]Baritone: Approximately a sixth upward from middle C.[/li][li]Bass: Approximately a third upward from middle C.[/ul](Kupferberg, Herbert. The Book of Classical Music Lists, ©1985, pp. 113-115)[/li]
A Google search on “middle C” reveals that it’s often cited as 262 Hz, though other number have been claimed as well.

so, i’m assuming your last post list the highest notes of each range? that’s higher than i thought. so, i’d be between a contralto and a tenor.

The author is unclear, though my interpretation is that these are the middle of each voice type’s ranges. But remember, a trained singer’s abilities may very well encompass several octaves, and the specified difference here between soprano and bass is only about 1.5 octaves.

If you’re curious about how your own voice stacks up against these types, here are some short sound samples of each note in Kupferberg’s list:[ul][li]Soprano.mp3[/li][li]Alto.mp3[/li][li]Tenor.mp3[/li][li]Baritone.mp3[/li]Bass.mp3[/ul]The frequencies are based on MIDI specifications. As a comparison, there is also a chart of which musical instruments play in which frequencies (I don’t know why the note numbers differ from the MIDI numbers).

So…just sing (or “aaahhhhh”?) at what feels like the most “natural” pitch, and compare that with the sound clips?

I think I’m a Baritone, then.