# why can I recognize a boy soprano? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002 "2004-12-04T01:33:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/1 "2004-12-04T01:33:50Z")
I was just listening to Aled Jones singing “Walking in the Air” and started wondering why it was so easy to tell it was a boy rather than a woman. What makes a boy’s voice singing the same notes so recognizable? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/2 "2004-12-04T01:51:10Z")
It’s just different. It’s not something that can be accurately described in words - if it was, there’d be little point singing at all. And anyway, how do you tell one woman’s voice from another’s? If that’s not difficult, then spotting a boy shouldn’t be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/3 "2004-12-04T03:33:45Z")
I can tell you from my own experience, though, that an adult male who keeps his falsetto in shape all the way through the voice-is-changing phase can sound _indistinguishable_ from a female soprano, if he’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/4 "2004-12-04T03:41:51Z")
Like **GorillaMan** said, it’s pretty much indescribable. This is my attempt, so YMMV. 😉 Keep in mind that unless you’re dealing with a castrato, in which case all bets are off, a boy soprano is young. His voice hasn’t cracked yet. But there are moments where his voice will have a slightly deeper timbre, a lower resonance–signs of the lowering to come; there’s also just an inherent masculinity in his voice, both which female sopranos, both kids and full grown, don’t have. I don’t think that’s the best explanation in the world, but it’s as close as I could get. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/5 "2004-12-04T03:47:06Z")
Less vibrato, a “purer” tone, perhaps. Would relatively less training and, recording-wise, less over-production also have something to do with it? Plus, trebles typically sing a certain repertoire: often the solo part in anthems, for example. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/6 "2004-12-04T04:16:19Z")
There may also be some difference in their voice due to physical differences. The sound of a voice is not wholly related to the thickness of the vocal folds, some of the frequencies come from the shape and size of the rest of the vocal apparatus. Additionally, I imagine the shape and size of the rest of the body has _some_ effect, though perhaps not much. Having said that, I’m pretty sure that a well-trained boy soprano and a female soprano can be indistinguishable. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/7 "2004-12-04T05:24:39Z")
am I the only one who kept reading the title as “why can I buy a boy soprano?” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/8 "2004-12-04T06:05:22Z")
I’ve always considered boy sopranos to have a purer tone than most adult female sopranos. It’s just…tighter. More focused. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-recognize-a-boy-soprano/278002/9 "2004-12-04T06:05:26Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > am I the only one who kept reading the title as “why can I buy a boy soprano?” I would only buy one if I had a coupon.