Singers / Vocalists

Thomas9 · 02-03-2005, 11:15 AM

Hi I'm wondering if there's any decent way of determiningone's singing range. For instance, let's call the octave that contains "Middle C", Octave 0. The one above it isOctave 1, the one below it is Octave -1; so you'd have the following profile:

Singing Range

Lowest: Octave -1 F

Highest: Octave 0 C#

I've been wondering. . . they say that Maria Carey can sing through seven octaves --well I don't know for sure, but I think I can only sing intwo octaves, and that's even pushing it. For instance if I play "Don't look back in Anger" in the key of C, I can attempt two different octaves; the lower one is too low for my voice, and the higher one is slightly too high... when playing it I struggle with the higher.

Christy Moore plays "Black is the Colour" in the key of B minor (he plays A chords with capo on the second fret). I tried it out myself, and while I could sing it, my voice was too high as I was singing the higher octave because I couldn't sing the lower one. Anyway, I experimented with the capo and found that the lowest I can comfortablysing "Black is the Colour" is the key of G# minor.

Anyway it just got me thinking, there must be some way for some-one to determine their actual singing range, so then they'd be better able to choose the key of a song they're to sing. Or imagine if you're doing karokee, or if you hop up on the stage for an open-mic night; one of the musicians will probably say "What key do you want it in?" -- it would be good to know what you're talking about!

I suppose a good thing to figure out would be the smack bang middle of your range; let's say for instance it's D, then if you've never heard a song before or if it's your first time singing it, just play it in the key of D and you've the best chance of being able to sing along to it.

Juzzza · 02-03-2005, 02:08 PM

Yea the trouble is with defining the exact middle of your range, is that a singer's range is not always note x through to note y...

By this I mean that some singers can sing crazy high, say Led Zeppelin vocals, but struggle with upper mid range vocals, say Aerosmith. So there can be gaps in your range.

I can sing Zeppelin songs and AC/DC, but recently struggled with a Ben Folds tune, which was no way as high in range as other songs I can do comfortably.

The best way to find your range is to sing notes on a piano, find the lowest note you can sing and then the highest.

I must admit I have never stepped up to an open-mic and had the other musicians ask what key I wanted to sing 'song x' in, they tend to ask me the basic chords and then jam along.

Gazel · 02-03-2005, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juzzza

By this I mean that some singers can sing crazy high, say Led Zeppelin vocals, but struggle with upper mid range vocals, say Aerosmith. So there can be gaps in your range.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm not a singer by any stretch of the imagination. But I can sing kindslow, I can sing kindahigh, but theres notes in between I cant hit and its soo annoying[img]smileys/smiley7.gif[/img]

Patricia · 02-03-2005, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juzzza

By this I mean that some singers can sing crazy high, say Led Zeppelin vocals, but struggle with upper mid range vocals, say Aerosmith. So there can be gaps in your range.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm not a singer by any stretch of the imagination. But I can sing kindslow, I can sing kindahigh, but theres notes in between I cant hit and its soo annoying[img]smileys/smiley7.gif[/img]

Yeah me too, I did a workshop once, and I couldn't reach middle-high notes... I was the only one! So the teacher made me sing some notes and then she said "right, let's go higher" and she had me sing quite high notes, which I did without any problem!!

She explained that my passage from chest to head voice was higher than usual, and having never sung really high, I never really used my head voice, so the passage was hard. (does that makes sense at all??)
But it can be improved! At that time, this difficult passage was around the note Dido strikes when she sings "and Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii want to thank you", but now I can do it ok(-ish). Only working on ur voice can help, I heard.

By the way, I'm starting private singing lessons next week! [img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]

LostCause · 02-03-2005, 08:08 PM

Patricia..

Good for you..!! Let us know how it went. I want to start taking lessons too when I get some money. I'm really curious aboutwhat Im supposed to do the first time, and what the teacher says and all about nerves..

02-03-2005, 02:08 PM	#2
Juzzza Eskimo Regular Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Jersey Posts: 924	Yea the trouble is with defining the exact middle of your range, is that a singer's range is not always note x through to note y... By this I mean that some singers can sing crazy high, say Led Zeppelin vocals, but struggle with upper mid range vocals, say Aerosmith. So there can be gaps in your range. I can sing Zeppelin songs and AC/DC, but recently struggled with a Ben Folds tune, which was no way as high in range as other songs I can do comfortably. The best way to find your range is to sing notes on a piano, find the lowest note you can sing and then the highest. I must admit I have never stepped up to an open-mic and had the other musicians ask what key I wanted to sing 'song x' in, they tend to ask me the basic chords and then jam along. __________________ www.justinthorne.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Ninjas killed my family, I need money for Kung-Fu lessons'... homeless guy's sign, New York (May 2005) http://www.myspace.com/justinthorne http://www.myspace.com/jtintheshadows

02-03-2005, 08:08 PM	#5
LostCause Eskimo Regular Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 188	Patricia.. Good for you..!! Let us know how it went. I want to start taking lessons too when I get some money. I'm really curious aboutwhat Im supposed to do the first time, and what the teacher says and all about nerves.. __________________ ...and you're tryin' to remember how fine your life used to be running around banging your drum like it's ninteeen seventy three well that was the river this is the sea...

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02-03-2005, 11:15 AM	#1
Thomas9 Eskimo Friend Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 62	Hi I'm wondering if there's any decent way of determiningone's singing range. For instance, let's call the octave that contains "Middle C", Octave 0. The one above it isOctave 1, the one below it is Octave -1; so you'd have the following profile: Singing Range Lowest: Octave -1 F Highest: Octave 0 C# I've been wondering. . . they say that Maria Carey can sing through seven octaves --well I don't know for sure, but I think I can only sing intwo octaves, and that's even pushing it. For instance if I play "Don't look back in Anger" in the key of C, I can attempt two different octaves; the lower one is too low for my voice, and the higher one is slightly too high... when playing it I struggle with the higher. Christy Moore plays "Black is the Colour" in the key of B minor (he plays A chords with capo on the second fret). I tried it out myself, and while I could sing it, my voice was too high as I was singing the higher octave because I couldn't sing the lower one. Anyway, I experimented with the capo and found that the lowest I can comfortablysing "Black is the Colour" is the key of G# minor. Anyway it just got me thinking, there must be some way for some-one to determine their actual singing range, so then they'd be better able to choose the key of a song they're to sing. Or imagine if you're doing karokee, or if you hop up on the stage for an open-mic night; one of the musicians will probably say "What key do you want it in?" -- it would be good to know what you're talking about! I suppose a good thing to figure out would be the smack bang middle of your range; let's say for instance it's D, then if you've never heard a song before or if it's your first time singing it, just play it in the key of D and you've the best chance of being able to sing along to it.