Finding your vocal range is easier than you think. With a little bit of knowledge of where notes are and how to match your voice with the notes, you’ll find your range!
Your vocal range is defined by how high and how low you can sing. By learning how to match your pitch with the notes as you play along we will be able to determine how high and low you can sing. As a result, you will know your range.
Once you know your range you can work more or less based on the answers. Let me remind you that if you’re a beginner and you don’t perform as well as you thought, that’s normal. Developing your range is part of your singing journey!
What You Must Know
Match Your Pitch
Before we begin I would like to tell you very clearly that in order to be able to find your vocal range successfully you must be able to match your voice with a certain pitch.
If you are missing this skill and have been singing for a while then I suggest you give it some time and learn or see how you could do it.
Music Theory
A little bit of music theory, knowing where and what middle C is and where the notes on your instrument are, regardless if you’re playing a digital one or a real one.
I have tried my best to explain the music theory parts so that you can follow along as easily as possible.
We Start With Middle C
We start here because it’s pretty easy for everyone to match their pitch to this note regardless of where they stand in their singing skills.
For Guitarists, it’s the 3rd fret on the A string. That’s your middle C.
For Pianists, you will find that the reason it is called a Middle C is that it’s actually in the middle of the piano, dividing it in half (almost).
Obviously, it’s represented in written music as this.
Middle C is also called C4. Cause it’s the bomb.
At every C note, the number changes. If you go higher (as we will), you will encounter another C. Now, obviously it is not the middle C anymore. It is now, C5. If you go below C4 (middle C), and when you hit C again, this time it will be C3.
So, what is the B note right before C4? It is B3.
Male vs. Female Voices
There is a distinction between male and female voices. Male voices don’t tend to sing high unless trained and female voices don’t tend to sing in the lower register unless trained.
So my suggestion is to stick to whatever you feel comfortable with when you find your range. Even between me and my friend when he and I were younger, I was a tenor and he was definitely a bass.
It was hard for him to sing high and for me to sing those low notes.
Don’t Worry About Where You Are Now
Seriously, don’t. Those were our starting points. If you’re a guy, chances are you aren’t going to be able to sing those high notes a girl can. I couldn’t sing high notes compared to a female singer and when compared to a bass I could definitely sing higher.
And if you’re a girl who wants to hit those lower notes and can’t yet, don’t worry about it.
Why? Because I developed my voice to hit those lower notes. I put in the time and effort and now I can not only sing those lower notes but I can sing higher than ever. Never feel like you’re left out because you are not.
All there is to do is to put in good hours of practice with deliberate effort and you can get better at anything.
Let’s Begin!
Go Higher
Once you are able to sing and match your pitch with middle C, we will now be going higher, play D then E, F and keep on going higher until you can’t sing the given note.
You will realize that it’s easier if you run to a note. For example, you might not be able to sing the note A above but if you build up from C, D, E, F, G, and then A, you miraculously can sing this note but when played individually you are able to do it.
Don’t think much about it, it’ll come eventually. You’d be able to sing by itself soon enough.
Once you have done this, you have successfully sung the highest note you could, and you have found the upper range of your voice. Congratulations!
We’re not quite done yet, we still have to find the lower end of your voice.
Going Lower
Now, we’re going to do the same thing but we’re going to start going down. We sing and match our pitch with middle C and now we start to go down.
C, B, A, G, F
You get the idea, those are the basics and what it means is that you can’t sing any lower, that note you could successfully sing was the lower end of your voice.
Congratulations! Now you are aware of the high and lower-end capabilities of your voice! From here on out there is only an expansion of it! I strongly suggest that you remember this moment and keep in check where you are now because when you look back you’ll realize how much you have grown, or in this case how much broader range you are able to now sing!
Ranges Have a Name
Alright, a small closing lesson. Ranges have names.
Before I tell you what they are I want to tell you something interesting about the instrument naming scheme.
Did you know there are many types of Saxophones?
Sopranino, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone and even a Bass? Technically the Tuba is a bass instrument but there still exists a bass saxophone.
The same is true for other instruments. Violin is technically a soprano, the viola is an alto, and cello (although written in bass clef) can be played high enough to be in the tenor range, and then the mighty upright bass.
Same way, this chart shows, based on your vocal range, what you ought to be called technically.
Learning How to Sing
Learning how to sing has never been easier and it is no doubt that it would not just wrong on my part to not give you the amazing news of online courses.
I have curated the best ones you can buy and you can check them out here!
Have fun learning!