Q&A: What is my vocal range / type?
Question by The Crystal Ship: What is my vocal range / type?
I used to do perfect pearl jam covers, and I can still do it and touch the low ends of the songs perfectly, but I’ve also practiced to the point where I can sing most alice in chains songs. I’m a child of the 90s, so these are my favorite groups to go back to regardless of what I’m listening to. I can sing “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town”, which touches a low G2, apparently, to a high G4 in the second verse, if I’m not mistaken. (This is what someone else said on a forum, may be wrong, but I doubt it. They also said that’s a little over two octaves or so.)
Now, I can also sing “Man In The Box”, which I looked up music sheets for, and the vocal range is apparently D4 to B5. I’ve read all over that Layne was a baritone, although I’ve heard tenor-ish notes in some Alice N Chains recordings.. What is my octave range, and vocal type? I’m guessing I’m a mix, because I can reach high bass notes and pretty high baritone notes like the “FEED my eyes” part of the chorus, high note in caps.
I can pretty much sing Man In The Box, which contains one of layne’s highest (recorded) notes, (not sure why he didn’t use the highest part of his range as heard in “I Can’t Have You Blues” “Fairytale Love Story”, “Fat Girls”, when he was in a glam band making funny tunes, unless it was just gravelly falsetto, which I’d like to know, honestly, if anyone could listen. He used it in most of the early Alice N Chains recordings)
By the way, it seems as though when I try to “glide” my voice up, there’s a break, and then it sounds like a very thin, yucky sounding head voice, as in it doesn’t sound as hollow as falsetto, but it sounds a bit strained, even when I do it comfortably. I’ve tried to actually scream these notes, but there’s always a falsetto-ish with the scream. Is this head voice? What can I do to get into head voice? Is this way of “reinforced falsetto” going to make it harder to actually learn to get into head voice? It doesn’t sound like my voice goes into falsetto, because it’s a smooth transition, but it’s like a note or two are missing, and I just go quite a bit higher. So I’m confused.. I’ve done it with a relaxed throat, and I’m not pushing.
I’d really like to know my octave range, though. Not sure how unrealistic 3 octaves would be, but I’d be more than content with that, regardless of how noticable my range would be, considering the weird placement of my range. (From elderly woman to man in the box.. take the lowest note from the first, and the highest from the second. lol)
Thanks to whoever actually reads this, I’m looking to have a musical career in the future, and so this is very important to me.
In short, my range is G2 to B5. After looking at an image of a keyboard with the notes labeled, that’s roughly 3 octaves, yes or no?
I have no idea, but if an octave is 8 notes, then G2 to B5 is about three, which I can comfortably project loud enough for people to hear on both ends without a mic, so I’m sure I can perform with it. I’d be ecstatic to know this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWkPVHKwCY
Well, I can sing this on key, note for note, although I may not sound exactly like him, I guess you could say I have a low, vedder-esque “weight” to my voice, but with a lighter overtone, not sure if that makes sense. I can sing that, and sing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paQOO0KnLGA&feature=PlayList&p=E37984E799785F75&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=18
I don’t know if B5 is at a falsetto-like pitch, but I can definetly sing man in the box perfectly, so I’m not sure if I have 3 octaves or not. I’m fine with having a little over 2, anyway, which would probably be the case, then.
Sorry for the long description, I usually have a lot to ask/describe, and I hear no pop, just a gap inbetween the notes when I “glide” it up. I won’t “scream” the notes any longer, but today they seemed quite a bit fuller, less of a gap, so I guess it’ll just take time. I’ll look into getting lessons, along with guitar lessons.
By the way, I didn’t give anyone a thumbs up/down, and I appreciated all of the responses. I’m questioning myself, from what MissLimLam said.. I guess I could go from a low baritone, bassish tone to a high baritone tone, maybe higher since I’m tapping into my head voice, though it’s 100% unreliable right now and not counted, that has a light, falsetto-ish quality.
Best answer:
Answer by Gabe
If your speaking voice is low you’re a bass.. if it’s high.. you’re a tenor… it really has little to do with range.
I’ve hit a C2 before.. but I’m a tenor. Range is truly irrelevant.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
February 19th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
without having heard you, it sounds like a baritone with a good extension.
Most men are baritones. Deep bass and high tenor are the rarer voices, and baritone and “2nd tenor ” or, a tenor without all the top notes are the most common.
The feeling/sound you describe as you glide to your high notes is called the zona di passagio in Italian. ( we classical singers use the Italian terms, ’cause, after all, they invented opera) It simply means the area where your voice changes gears from low to middle to high.
Since you describe this as thin and yucky, I’d be willing to bet that you are doing it right, after all. Have you ever recorded yourself in this way? Take a couple of phrases, and record them. Try to use this thin yucky sound, and then use different sounds as contrast and comparison. The too-much-weight chest voice will certainly hurt, and the falsetto sound will be so thin and bodiless. Most people have to lighten up the voice to achieve their upper range anyways. The idea is to think of a slender sound “beam” so that the vocal mechanism can perform its gear shift, and get the voice up there. As you are still new to this, yes, those notes are of necessity thin and weak, they need time and exercise to grow up and become strong. Please don’t scream them, you will lose them all too quickly that way.
When a man shifts into falsetto voice, his vocal cords take on a different configuration. There’s absolutely no way for a man to glide from full voice to falsetto without a noticeable click or pop in the sound. It takes a second to reconfigure. Chances are you have tapped into your own true full voice in the upper range.
Have you ever considered singing lessons? You will learn about these ideas from perhaps a new perspective, and become more comfortable putting together the pieces of the puzzle that we call singing.
3 octaves of usable range is very good. Most operas will only ask for two plus an extra note on any evening. ( coloratura sopranos and tenors may use more, but in a quick touch-and-go way)
We train for three ( or more) as physical and psychological insurance that the notes in the middle are absolutely reliable.
I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to an operatic baritone. If you dare to, I recommend you start off with Byrn Terfel, a Welsh baritone who has recently put out a cross over recording. ( An easy way to listen to his voice in less-than-foreign repertory)
February 19th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
Wow! You have just given a very long description!
G2 – B5 is just over three octaves. I honestly cant believe that that would be your range. Of course it is possible for a man to sing a B5, but that is through the use of falsetto. If you are using falsetto to reach that note, that is fine, but you wouldnt really count that as your range… unless you are a countertenor. (But I doubt that!)
(In general classical singers do not count falsetto, whistle register, or fry register as part of their range. In fact when giving ones range you usually dont even count the very bottom of your chest voice, as usually those notes are not easily acheived and sound horrible. I wish that whistle and fry were counted though, then my range would be Ab2-A6!)
The break you described is, as Lynn has already said, your passagio. (You have more than one passagio by the way.) I think you are describing your upper register. To not sound screechy (or whatever else you think sounds wrong) you simply need to work on your breath support. I notice that a lot of contemporary singers tend to tighten their throats, to allow them to sing high, this IS NOT how you should try to sing high as you will damage your voice. You just need to use more air.
My advice to you is to get proper singing lessons with a qualified teacher. (This does not mean one that belongs to an “association”). I would look for a teacher that says they are able to teach both classical and contemporary. (Jazz singing would be even better for you, but few teachers teach it or advertise that they teach it. It is a combination of classical and contemporary, and includes jazz improvization. It is an actual course that is available at some universities —- as is classical voice.) A teacher will be able to help you have smoother transitions between registers and to learn to support your breath better. They can also correctly classify your voice, which is something that nobody here online can do, certainly not without hearing you.
The singer Lynn suggested (Bryn Terfel) is an excellent example of the bass-baritone voice. Others I suggest you listen to are Ruggero Raimondi and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Listening to opera/classical singers can really help you understand the characteristics of each voice type. It may even inspire you to start classical voice!
Also, range is not the most important aspect when classifying a voice. My range would allow me to be a contralto, but I am a mezzo-soprano. (Admittedly I do have very low tessitura, even for a mezzo-soprano, but I do not have the vocal weight of a true contralto.)
Those are some of the things that are taken into account when classifying a voice: range, tessitura, vocal weight, timbre and temperment. (I say temperment because often a singer will have an idea about what their voice should be, and usually they will be right – as long as they know about vocal classification)
For you though I would not worry about that until you get a teacher.
Cheers,
MissLimLam
February 19th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
You’re a baritone. But, that’s only the range. You may also be a low tenor if possible. It all depends on how you sound.