How to find your vocal range

Content

Steps
Part 1 of 4: About Vocal Ranges
Part 2 of 4: Lowest Note
Part 3 of 4: Your Highest Note
Part 4 of 4: Your Range
Alteration signs
Warnings
What do you need

Finding your vocal range is important in order to sing correctly. Although you may have heard singers with large ranges - Michael Jackson had almost four octaves in range - most people do NOT have this ability. Many have 1.5-2 octaves in natural or modal voices, 0.25 in raspy (if they have one), 1 in falsetto and 1 in guttural voice (if available), although it is rarely used in vocals (unless you are Mary Carey). There are seven main types of voices - soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass - and with a little practice, you can easily determine which one your voice matches.

Steps

Part 1 of 4: About Vocal Ranges

1 Understand what a vocal range is. Before determining your vocal range, it is important to understand what exactly you are looking for. Each person is born with a certain range of notes that his voice can take, based on the individuality of the vocal cords and vocal folds.Naturally, it is difficult for us to take the extreme notes - the highest and lowest - of our vocal range, therefore, the expansion of the individual range is associated with the strengthening of the voice at the top and the lower note of the natural range, more than to play notes outside of it. Trying to hit notes outside of your range is a surefire way to damage your voice.
2 Understand the classification of voice types. Many people have heard the terms soprano, tenor or bass, but may not know exactly what they refer to. In operatic art, voices are complementary instruments and must play certain notes on demand, just like the violin or flute. Therefore, in order to help distribute voices, a range classification has been developed to facilitate the selection of opera singers for individual parts.
- While most people don't try their hand at opera these days, once you've identified your voice type, you'll know which additional score types you can play, or just be sure which songs you can perform well in karaoke.
- See the “Types of Voices” guide to rank in descending order from highest to lowest. Soon the numbers next to them will make more sense to you. For more information, you can read about the types of voices here.
3 Understand some basic terms. Now that you know what range is and about range classification, you can begin to familiarize yourself with other useful terms to define your vocal range.
- You can categorize a range based on their respective vocal registers. Vocal registers are mainly related to modal (or chest) voice and head voice.
- The modal register is essentially the range in which the vocal folds are naturally engaged. These are the notes a singer can play without adding low, breathy, or high, falsetto sounds to the voice.
  - For some men with very low voices, a lower category called "raspy voice" has also been added, but very few people can play this lower note.
- The head register refers to the upper notes of the range in which the notes are felt with the greatest echo in the head and have a distinct ringing sound. In particular, falsetto - the voice that people get when they want to portray the singing of an opera singer - belongs to the head register of the voice.
  - Just as the “squeaky voice” register for some men reaches super low notes, the “sibilant register” for some women reaches super high notes. Again, few people can play these notes. Imagine the sensational high notes in a song like "Lovin 'You" by Minnie Riperton or "Emotion" by Mariah Carey.
- An octave is the interval between two notes, one of which doubles the frequency of the sound of the other. This gives the two notes a melodic sound together. On a piano, octaves are seven separate notes (excluding the black keys). One way to express vocal range is to express the number of octaves that the range covers.
- And finally, an understanding of musical notation. Notation is a technical method of writing and understanding musical notes. Lowest note on most pianos A₀putting the next octave just above A₁ etc. What we think of as "middle C (before)" on the piano is actually C₄ in the musical system.
  - A complete description of a singer's vocal range includes a series of three or four digits in musical notation, including its lowest note, highest note in the modal register, and highest note in the head register. Those who can sing in a squeaky voice and in a sibilant register may also have the appropriate numbers for this, from the lowest note of the scale to the highest.
  - If you are interested, you can read more about the musical system in the corresponding articles.

Part 2 of 4: Lowest Note

1 Sing the lowest note you can sing with your normal (modal) voice. Make sure to sing without wheezing or puffing out notes (breathy or raspy sounds). This is your lowest modal note. The goal is to find the lowest note that you can play effortlessly, so this does not include notes that you cannot play continuously.
- You will probably find it easier to start at the highest notes and lower the key to the lowest register.
- You should always warm up your voice before performing, especially if you will be using the extreme ends of your vocal range.
2 Sing the lowest note you can sing, including aspirated. Aspirated notes are counted here, but hoarse ones are not. These aspirated notes can be felt a little more powerfully, such as a performance by an opera singer. Some men who are capable of playing squeaky notes may find it easier to do so in a given playing style.
- Some singers can match their regular and hoarse lowest notes. For others, they may differ.
3 Write down your lowest notes. Once you figure out which notes you can play effortlessly, write them down. The process of identifying notes will make it much easier to have a piano or keyboard synthesizer on hand.
- For example, if the lowest note that you can play when decreasing the key is the second from the end of the E (s), then you need to write E₂

Part 3 of 4: Your Highest Note

1 Sing the highest note you can sing with your normal (modal) voice. You should do the same as you did for the lower notes, but applying the upper limit of the key. Start with a high note that you can play without problems and increase the key, but don't let yourself fall into falsetto in this exercise.
- You may find it useful to play more when you hit the high notes.
2 Sing the highest note you can sing in falsetto. You can now use your falsetto to find the highest notes you can play in a given vocal style. The notes are likely to be higher than those you played with your normal working voice.
3 Sing the highest note you can sing with a sibilant voice. If you are a woman who is capable of picking the register of a whistle, then you can now try to pick these notes after warming up with a falsetto key.
4 Write down your highest notes. Again, you need to keep track of the topmost notes that you can play without straining. Some of them will not sound so attractive until you get drunk, but turn them on as soon as you can take them calmly, without additional effort.
- For example, if your highest note in a normal voice is the fourth highest note F (fa), then you write F₄ etc.

Part 4 of 4: Your Range

1 Count the notes between the lowest and highest. On the keyboard of the instrument, count the number of notes between the lowest you can sing effortlessly and the highest.
- Do not count sharps and flats (black keys).
2 Count the octaves. Every seven notes is one octave, so, for example, from A to G (from A to G) is one octave. Thus, you can determine your number of octaves by counting the total number between the highest and lowest note as a set of seven.
- For example, if the lowest note you had was E₂ and the topmost E₄, then you have a range of two octaves.
3 Include incomplete octaves too. It's okay, for example, for someone to have an octave-and-a-half range in a full-sounding voice. The reason for half is that the singer was only able to sing freely three or four notes of the next octave.
4 Describe your vocal range as a vocal classification. With these numbers, you can now express your vocal range on paper and compare it with the range classification.
- For example, if your set of numbers consists of D₂, G₂, F₄, and B ♭₄then you fall directly into the baritone category of the vocal ranges.
- However, the notation is usually written like this: (D₂-) G₂-F₄(-B ♭₄)

Alteration signs

DIEZ ......... ♯ (raises the note by half a tone)
BEMOLE ............. ♭ (lowers the note by half a tone)
BEKAR .... ♮ (cancels out the ♯ and ♭ in the key character)

Warnings

Here, a scale is used where middle C corresponds to C₄.If you are using a different notation system (in which middle C corresponds to C₀ or C₅), then you will most likely find your vocal range different from what you intended, and you can damage your voice by trying to sing your part of an octave (or several octaves) too low or high.
When switching to shouting / balting, try to do it only on recording or during warm-up, and try to avoid doing it live. If you try to play these notes too often, then this is a sure way to damage the vocal cords.