Question for the music scholars - Vocal range?

[Orbert]

Musical question but I'm posting it in General to hopefully get more answers.

I see and hear references to singers with phenomenal range.  A five-octave range, five-and-a-half-octave range.  To me, that sounds insane, statements made by people who don't actually know music.  But hey, I dropped out of music school my second quarter, so I don't know either.  Maybe I'm misunderstanding how you measure these things.

I look at Middle C on a piano, and sopranos in a church choir are supposed to be able to reach two octaves above that, although you rarely see music written all the way up there.  Basses are supposed to *maybe* go two octaves below Middle C, but I see E cited as the lower end of the bass range.  So the lowest low to the highest high in a choir is just under four octaves, and there are singers who have an octave more range than that?  Who is a singer who can literally sing both lower than a bass and higher than a soprano?

[El Barto]

When you're talking about six octaves I think you're talking about people who can make some sort of noise at those points, but not really any sort of actual singing. From what I've seen the known, good singers cover 4 or 4 1/2 octaves, and up in that high range it's as much squealing as anything else. There are plenty of videos of Rob Halford holding his own at nearly 4 octaves (dude's got a good deep voice), and Mariah Carey seems to be good for the 4.5.

[Orbert]

I asked the same question on Facebook, and a singer from one of my past bands mentioned Mariah Carey and others and the use of "whistle voice".  I'd never heard of it, but from context I think I know what it means.  I didn't know that that "counted" as actual singing range, but like I said, I don't know if there's an official set of criteria or what.  I guess so.

[Harmony]

Minnie Ripperton is the Queen of the Whistle Register.  I will die on this hill.   

As to Orbert's question, I don't know of any singer who has a five+ octave range.  Do you have names?  I'd love to hear some.

As an alto, I've often been impressed by how low some bass singers can go.  Truly rattling down in the basement.  Not sure if that is technically singing either.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I think the obsession with range can be pretty silly.  It's like guitarists being monomaniacal about the tempo they can sweep pick at.  Expanding it to some degree can be useful, but after a certain point it only becomes useful in very specific musical situations.  And I think a lot of vocalists who claim or are said to have such large ranges don't really have good control over them.  In the lower registers they're more of a vocal fry, and in the upper registers they're often whistles or squeaks, or you're getting mostly overtones and very little fundamental, so they're often not that widely applicable. 

[Orbert]

Minnie Ripperton is the Queen of the Whistle Register.  I will die on this hill.   

As to Orbert's question, I don't know of any singer who has a five+ octave range.  Do you have names?  I'd love to hear some.

As an alto, I've often been impressed by how low some bass singers can go.  Truly rattling down in the basement.  Not sure if that is technically singing either.

When my friend mentioned whistle voice, "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton (one "p") came to mind, right after Mariah Carey, who supposedly has a five-octave range.  That would have to be counting whistle voice, but since she can actually sing in that range (controlling the pitch and actually singing melody) I guess it counts when considering singing range.  I hadn't considered voices that start somewhere in the middle but go so high that only dogs can hear them.  I was only thinking about "regular" voices, maybe because I sing in a choir.

[Stadler]

Minnie Ripperton is the Queen of the Whistle Register.  I will die on this hill.   

As to Orbert's question, I don't know of any singer who has a five+ octave range.  Do you have names?  I'd love to hear some.

As an alto, I've often been impressed by how low some bass singers can go.  Truly rattling down in the basement.  Not sure if that is technically singing either.

Supposedly David Lee Roth has a five+ octave range, well, five octaves and three notes, but it's like El Barto said, it's that he can make a noise at those ends, not that he's a great singer at all points on the scale. 

[LithoJazzoSphere]

When I'm sick I can sustain a C2.  At one point I could sustain a B5 briefly.  Technically that gives me a 4-octave range.  Could I produce either of them on command?  No.  Would you even want to hear my middle C?  Probably not. 

[Samsara]

I think anyone stating they can sing higher than four full octaves is overstating a bit. I think there are some, but it's a very tiny list.

Prime era Tate was a four-octave singer who was a high baritone/low tenor in his early 20s. And many of the classic metal singers could do that crazy range...for a time.

What I always found confusing is people don't understand what "falsetto" is. Hitting a note by narrowing an air passage isn't the same thing as a gifted tenor singer hitting the top end of his or her head voice.

For example, I'm a mid-baritone. I'm not very rangy (Think Scott Stapp, Scott Weiland, 90s era stuff, Mark Tremonti (who is closer to bass), or even Billy Joel or Darius Rucker from Hootie and the Blowfish). But if I have to sing the stuff I love (which is difficult, because a lot of it is in a key too high for me to sing in), if I go for a high note in a song that's in a higher key than I can sing with my head voice, I have a strong enough falsetto to hit the note. My personal issue is making sure that I can control the way my falsetto sounds so it isn't off-key while doing that, instead of just an annoying high pitched note.  And most of the time, I fail at it.  Thus, me sticking with Pearl Jam, Ozzy, Creed, etc.

Rob Halford is very interesting, because he would sing in his head voices and hit those notes for years. And about 25 years ago, he discovered his falsetto was very strong, and has been using that to hit high notes for years. Not many folks can do that. Tate tried falsetto in mid-2003, before the DT/QR/FW tour, when the band was over in Europe. Didn't quite get there. But here we are in 2023, and what is he doing? He's finally using his falsetto, because he's got it now where he can hit notes with it, since he can't get up into his head voice like he used to.

But not everyone can figure out how to use their falsetto. And thankfully, many great singers don't have to use it (it's actually the wrong way to sing). Corey Glover of Living Colour is a baritone, but sings notes up and down in his head voice that will blow you out of the water. He is a true four-octave singer. Same with Myles Kenned. Four octaves -  all head voice. No falsetto. At least not yet.

I'm not a professionally trained singer. My wife is (who does NOT use falsetto). But vocal range...the way it is explained to me, is that it is a combination of the how low to how high you can go in your natural voice (chest, mixed, head), and sing that comfortably, on key. Falsetto does not "count" per se. At least not in the way I understand it.

[Stadler]

I think anyone stating they can sing higher than four full octaves is overstating a bit. I think there are some, but it's a very tiny list.

Prime era Tate was a four-octave singer who was a high baritone/low tenor in his early 20s. And many of the classic metal singers could do that crazy range...for a time.

What I always found confusing is people don't understand what "falsetto" is. Hitting a note by narrowing an air passage isn't the same thing as a gifted tenor singer hitting the top end of his or her head voice.

For example, I'm a mid-baritone. I'm not very rangy (Think Scott Stapp, Scott Weiland, 90s era stuff, Mark Tremonti (who is closer to bass), or even Billy Joel or Darius Rucker from Hootie and the Blowfish). But if I have to sing the stuff I love (which is difficult, because a lot of it is in a key too high for me to sing in), if I go for a high note in a song that's in a higher key than I can sing with my head voice, I have a strong enough falsetto to hit the note. My personal issue is making sure that I can control the way my falsetto sounds so it isn't off-key while doing that, instead of just an annoying high pitched note.  And most of the time, I fail at it.  Thus, me sticking with Pearl Jam, Ozzy, Creed, etc.

Rob Halford is very interesting, because he would sing in his head voices and hit those notes for years. And about 25 years ago, he discovered his falsetto was very strong, and has been using that to hit high notes for years. Not many folks can do that. Tate tried falsetto in mid-2003, before the DT/QR/FW tour, when the band was over in Europe. Didn't quite get there. But here we are in 2023, and what is he doing? He's finally using his falsetto, because he's got it now where he can hit notes with it, since he can't get up into his head voice like he used to.

But not everyone can figure out how to use their falsetto. And thankfully, many great singers don't have to use it (it's actually the wrong way to sing). Corey Glover of Living Colour is a baritone, but sings notes up and down in his head voice that will blow you out of the water. He is a true four-octave singer. Same with Myles Kenned. Four octaves -  all head voice. No falsetto. At least not yet.

I'm not a professionally trained singer. My wife is (who does NOT use falsetto). But vocal range...the way it is explained to me, is that it is a combination of the how low to how high you can go in your natural voice (chest, mixed, head), and sing that comfortably, on key. Falsetto does not "count" per se. At least not in the way I understand it.

Why?  How so?   (Honest question, not quizzing you.)