Introduction
From the highest note you can sing and the lowest note is your vocal range. Most singers have a two octave range approximately, which means there are about 24 notes you can sing comfortably and clearly without straining your voice. Your range will be described with a note and number for your lowest and highest notes, i.e. D#3 to D#5.
Importance of knowing your range
Every singer should know their own vocal range in order to choose songs that best suit their voice and won't cause a strain that damages their vocal cords or attempt to sing songs that contain notes they cannot reach. When you know your range, you will always be able to choose songs in keys that best show off your talents. You will know how to ask your guitar or keyboard accompanist to play in the right key for you and also find backing tracks that have been made in your preferred keys.
How to work out your range
There are several free phone apps that will also tell you your range by asking you to sing your highest and lowest comfortable notes, such as:
Alternatively, if you have access to a piano, then sing a comfortable note that is in the middle of your range (i.e. not too high or low). Find this note on the piano by trying a few different piano notes until you can match it, then play every black and white note going down the piano (to the left) and sing each note until you reach your lowest note and can't sing any lower. Do the same from your middle range note going up the piano (to the right) to find your highest.
Remember to warm up your voice before taking the test so your full range is available.
What the range numbers mean
When measuring a singer's range, we refer to octave numbers (e.g. C4 from the fourth octave, etc). This is most easily shown on the piano, where the notes cover just over 7 octaves, spanning from A0 to C8 (see diagram at top of page).
Although everyone's singing voice will be slightly different, singers generally fall into these ranges, as described by Anne Peckham (2008):
- Soprano: (highest female) C4 to C6+
- Mezzo-soprano: (female) A3 to A5
- Contralto: (lowest female) F3 to E5
- Tenor: (highest male) B2 to A4+
- Baritone: (male) G2 to F4
- Bass: (lowest male) E2 to E4
The image below shows the medium octave on the piano, with Middle C highlighted in blue. Most singing ranges cover all or half of this octave and beyond.
Finding the key of a song or the highest and lowest notes
If you choose a well-known song, you will probably find the key and highest and lowest notes online, such as on sheet music sales websites, such as:
The image below is from Music Notes.com's sales page for Adele's 'Someone Like You':
Sheet Music Direct tells you the original key (at the bottom of this list) and allows you to change the key of the music (Transposition) before you download it.
Finally, you can also work out the highest and lowest notes in a piece of music either by singing along or by looking at the sheet music. Can you find the highest note in 'Someone Like You' by searching for the note on the highest line or space on this page? (Hint: Only read the top line above the lyrics for each of the four rows - the next two lines are for the left and right hands on the piano)
Bibliography
Peckham, A. (2008). Vocal workouts for the contemporary singer. Boston: Berklee Press, Milwaukee.
