Know Your Voice type (PART 1)

 Every singer wants to know what his/her voice type is, but it’s not always so easy to figure out the specifics. Continue reading on to learn how to find out what your particular voice type is. Soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, countertenor, tenor, baritone, or bass; all you need to know is in this post.

Characteristics – Variables in Determining Voice Type

Figuring out your voice type is not only a matter of looking at your vocal range, but at a number of different characteristics. For example, vocal tessitura and timbre can be more important as range can be between types. This is usually the case with sopranos and mezzo-sopranos; they might have the same range but mezzo-sopranos have a lower tessitura and darker timbre.
All together your voice type is a result of the following vocal variables:

• range – the notes your body can produce
• weight – light voices, bright and agile; heavy voices, powerful, rich, and darker
• tessitura – part of the range which is most comfortable to sing
• timbre – unique voice quality and texture
• transition points – points where you change from chest, to middle, to head register
• vocal registers – how extended each register is
• speech level – speaking range
• physical characteristics

ALSO SEE: EFFECTIVE BACKING VOCALS

I know that you’re probably surprised at the fact that physical characteristics play a role in deciding somebody’s voice type. This is because many times physique determines what roles opera singers are going to audition for.
I have seen productions where the audience bursts out laughing when the primo uomo (leading man) sings to the prima donna something along the lines of “oh, how small and fragile you are” when she is nothing close to small and fragile.

Major Category – Voice Types by Range and Tessitura

If you sing in a choir or take voice lessons, you have probably already been classified as a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto (alto) if you are a woman, and a countertenor, tenor, baritone, or bass if you are a man. But are you really sure you’ve been classified correctly? Test your voice according to the following specifications.

 KNOW YOUR VOICE TYPE (PART 2)

KNOW YOUR VOICE TYPE (PART 3)