Voice Types and Ranges

Bass (Extended)

Bass is the lowest male voice type, and thus a bass sings the lowest notes humanly possible. I tend to think of the deep bass notes as comparable to those of a violoncello, though some charismatic basses can hit notes lower than those of a cello. A bass will be asked to sing anywhere between a D2 and an E4. A cello's lowest note is a C2. Just with every extreme, it's really hard to find true basses and it's almost impossible in the younger ages where the male bodies are still developing. Though in a choir basses might have rather monotone melodic lines, in the opera they have a great range of roles to choose from. Basses are used as the villains and other dark characters, the funny buffos and in comic-relief roles, the dramatic princes, the noble fathers of heroines, elderly priests and more.

The three male voice types are:

Bass, Baritone, and Tenor

Contralto

Contralto is the lowest female voice type. In a choir, contralto's are commonly know as altos and sing the supporting melody to the sopranos. This doesn't mean that contraltos are not as important. On the contrary, because true altos are hard to find, a true alto has greater chances of a solo carrier than a soprano. A contralto is expected to be able to vocalize from E3 to F5, however, the lower her tessitura, the more valuable she is. I have the pleasure to know a young Greek contralto whose range has experts puzzled. She can sing from C3 to F6! But unfortunately she has not yet been discovered. I'm trying to get her to start blogging, but for the time being, you can follow her on Pinterest. At this point, I would like to note something about altos and choirs. I have come across many women who have been classified as altos in their choir, though their voice type is really that of a mezzo-soprano or soprano. From what I have come to realize, many choir directors instead of spending time to work with women who sing off tune, they decide to have them sing along the altos thinking that their false singing will blend in. This practice can be very detrimental, especially for young girls who strain their voices in order to sing lower than they can, and can produce irreversible damage. If you sing alto in your choir and you feel that you are pushing yourself to reach the low notes of your melodic line, talk to your choir director and ask him/her to consider re-classifying you as a soprano. The director might not be happy to do so, as choirs usually have more sopranos than altos, but insist that they at least test you out.

Soprano

The soprano is the highest singing voice. The typical soprano voice lies between C4 and C6.

The three female voice types are:

Alto, Mezzo-Soprano, and Soprano

Baritone (Extended)

Baritone is the most common male voice type. Though common, baritone is not at all ordinary. On the contrary, the weight and power of his voice, give the baritone a very masculine feel, something that in the opera has been used in roles of generals and, most notably, noblemen. Don Giovanni, Figaro, Rigoletto, and Nabucco are all baritones. In a choir, a baritone will never learn about the particulars of his voice, since he will have to sing either with the tenors or the basses. Most baritones with a high tessitura choose to sing with the tenors, and respectively, the ones with a lower tessitura sing with the basses. Their range is anywhere between a G2 and a G4 but can extend in either way. If you sing tenor and can't reach the higher notes with ease, or sing bass and can't reach the lower notes naturally, you're most probably a baritone and you shouldn't worry about it. Let your fellow singers help out.

Countertenor

Countertenor is the rarest of all voice types. A countertenor is a male singer who can sing as high as a soprano or mezzo-soprano utilizing natural head resonance. As I said before, countertenors are extremely hard to come along and their ability to sing as high as C6 is admired by religious music connoisseurs. Though extremely unique, countertenor is not an operatic voice type, as historically, it was the castrati (male singers castrated before puberty) who would be chosen for the female operatic roles - it was not proper for women to sing in the opera. Instead, countertenors were popular in religious choirs, where women were also not allowed to participate. The castratti are out of the scope of this post, but for those who are interested to learn more about them, I would like to recommend the movie Farinelli, a literary twist on the life of Farinelli, the most famous castrato of all times.

Mezzo Soprano (Extended)

Mezzo-Soprano is the second highest female voice type. In a choir, a mezzo-soprano will usually sing along the sopranos and not the altos and will be given the title of Soprano II. When the sopranos split in half, she will sing the lower melody as her timbre is darker and tessitura lower than the sopranos. Though in the opera mezzo-sopranos most often hold supporting roles and trouser roles, i.e. male roles, there are notable exceptions like those of Carmen and Rosina in The Barber of Seville, where the prima donna is a mezzo-soprano. A typical mezzo-soprano can vocalize from G3 to A5, thought, some can't sing as high and some can sing as high as a typical soprano.

Soprano (Extended)

Soprano is the highest female voice type. There are many types of sopranos like the coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, the soubrette etc. which differ in vocal agility, vocal weight, timbre, and voice quality; I will talk about them in an upcoming article. All of the sopranos have in common the ability to sing higher notes with ease. A typical soprano can vocalize B3 to C6, though a soprano coloratura can sing a lot higher than that reaching F6, G6 etc. At this point I would like to debunk a myth. It is widely thought that the higher a singer can sing, the better the singer is. This couldn't be further from the truth as range is defined by our physique and size of the vocal cords, not not how professional we are.

Tenor (Extended)

Tenor is the highest male voice type you will find in a typical choir. Though it is the voice type with the smallest range, it barely covers 2 octaves from C3 to B4, tenors are the most sought after choir singers for two major reasons. The first reason is that there aren't as many men singing in choirs to begin with. The second reason is that most men, singers or not, fall under the baritone voice type. In the opera, the primo uomo is most often a tenor, and you will know he is a tenor because of the ringing quality in his voice. A true tenor has a high tessitura, above the middle C4, and uses a blend of head resonance and falsetto, as opposed to falsetto alone. Many a baritone will try to use this technique to classify as tenor and some will be successful; you'll know who they are because of their red faces when trying to sing the high notes in the tenor melodic line.

Alto

The alto is the lowest type of female voice. The typical alto range lies between F3 to F5, though there are those who can sing above or below this range. Those who can sing below are often called "contralto's" and can usually sing in a range similar to a tenor. Though altos have a very similar range to mezzo-sopranos, their voices are usually richer and fuller in the lower register than mezzos. Again, it's all about where the voice is most comfortable.

Baritone

The baritone is the second lowest singing range, and overlaps both Bass and Tenor. The typical baritone range is from A2 to A4, and might extend down to F2 or up to C5. The baritone voice type is the most common type of male voice.

Bass

The bass is the lowest singing range and typically lies between E2 to E4. In the lower and upper extremes of the bass voice, some basses can sing from C2 to G4.

Mezzo-Soprano

The mezzo-soprano voice is the middle-range voice type for females, overlapping both the alto and soprano ranges. The typical range of this voice is between A3 and A5. Many times, mezzo-sopranos will sing the same voice part as sopranos until there is a 3 way split between sopranos, mezzos, and altos.

Tenor

The tenor is the highest type of male voice, typically comfortable between C3 to C5. Tenors generally have greater control over their falsetto (head voice), allowing them to reach notes well into the female register. Those who can sing higher than the average tenor are often given the title "countertenor."