Hello readers! So sorry for my long absence on this page. It was due to the fact that i had being preparing for tests and exams combined with my project work as a final year student so please kindly forgive…..
At the earliest days of my singing truth be told i did not know what exactly is meant when they talked about vocal type all i did was assume that singing in harmony meant singing in parts and as at then i could say i had a pretty good grip on what was basic harmony then.
It was pretty much later i began to notice that people were being classified on the basis of how high or how low they could sing. most guys were then lumped into tenor while all the ladies were kept in either alto or soprano although most of the ladies were lazy hence they being dropped in alto and those soprano singers with their ‘tiny` voices were deemed to have the best voices…lol
From my own view, i personally noticed i couldn’t really sing low as i guy and singing fairly high was quite easy but oh well one cannot really determine the voice at this stage because i was still young and the whole process of puberty hadn’t really taken place…lol. I am kind of sure most people who started out singing very early felt this way too. Hence this brings me to vocal classifications:
Vocal type is a particular type of human singing voice which can be identified by various characteristics and qualities which makes them easier to identify.
FEMALE VOCAL TYPES
SOPRANO
This refers to the highest female voice. The general range of a vocal type is from C4-C6. Some sopranos are either slightly lower or slightly higher than the female high C which is C6. the tessitura (convenient range) of a soprano lies higher than all the other females There are different sub-types e.g. the coloratura soprano, lyric soprano and the dramatic soprano. the coloratura soprano being the highest and the dramatic soprano being the heaviest, darkest and lowest.
An example of a female singer with a soprano voice is Karen Clark Sheard, Chrystal Rucker, and here in Nigeria our very own Ige Kachi (Vocal Coach Mtn Project fame).
MEZZO SOPRANO
The mezzo soprano is a middle range voice for females and the most common too. it is an intermediate voice which lies between the soprano voice and the contralto voice overlapping both of them. the tessitura of a mezzo soprano is lower than that of a soprano and higher than that of a contralto. General range is A3-A5. They tend to be slighly higher or lower. Some may sing the same range with sopranos due to developed vocal ability to the point that you might not be able to tell the difference. An example is Ledisi. She sings a b flat 5 even better and as frequent as most sopranos.
Other examples is Beyonce, Yolanda Adams, kierra sheard, Whitney Houston, Patti Labelle, Tina Campbell of Mary Mary, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson(she’s an example of one of those you might not be able to easily classify due to her extensive range and the convenience at which she sings them) and when it comes to our Nigerian music ladies like Waje (even though her voice has sort of deepened over time), Omawumi,Seyi Shay and Tiwa savage can be classified as having mezzo soprano voices.
Maybe Kim Burrell although not too sure but her range and tessitura has widened lately.
CONTRALTO
This refers to the lowest female singing voice. A female with a true contralto voice is actually rare aa most altos are usually mezzos and mezzos are sometimes used in place of this particular type of voice. The general range for this vocal type is usually from F3-F5 (this spans two octaves on the keyboard). And as usual some of these voices are usually lower or slightly higher.
Some are even so low that they can be equated as female tenors even though the appropriate term for those type of voices is contralto and not tenor which refers to a male high singing voice.
Examples of singers in this category are Toni Braxton, Jessica Reedy, Lady Gaga, Pink, Leandria Johnson, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Mariah Carey (Yeah you heard me right..lol
I know about the fact that Mariah Carey can practically sing in the stratosphere with her whistle register but I believe anyone can develop that register and so the same and she might have been a mezzo soprano at some point but due to age and probably voice over use her vocals deepened. And besides her voice is that developed due to well rehearsed vocal techniques. (My opinion though :p ) She has also stated the fact by herself that she’s an Alto.
In Nigeria people like Yemi Alade, Adetoun Adekoya(Mtn Project fame) can be classified as altos.
This is where we are going to stop for today. By Friday we will delve into the male vocal type s. Till then, have a great week ahead!
Vocal Doyen 