- By the time you've
finished watching this video, you'll have a better
understanding of voice types and an easy and accurate way to identify your own voice classification. So, if you want to learn
whether you're a Baritone, Tenor, Bass, Alto, Soprano or Mezzo, then keep watching because
it's all coming right up. - [Technician] Sound check. (feedback whining)
Check one, check two. (crowd cheering)
(upbeat, melodic music) - G'day, my name is Dr Dan, and I'm a contemporary
singing voice specialist. I've been working with singers
for more than 20 years, helping them to realize the full potential of their singing voice. And that's exactly what we're
going to do in this video. Part of getting the most
out of your singing voice is understanding your own biology. When you have a better
understanding of your own anatomy, you are more able to know what
to expect from your voice, and perhaps more importantly
what not to expect. Now part of this understanding is knowing your own voice type, what many singing teachers refer
to as voice classification. Knowing your voice type is really handy if you want to sing in a community choir, audition for a music theater production or join a vocal ensemble
like Pentatonix or Voctave. Perhaps you've already
watched a video or two here on YouTube about how
to find your voice type. For the most part, other videos only cover one aspect of voice
classification, vocal range. But vocal range, that is finding your
highest and lowest notes is only a small part of properly identifying your voice type. So, in this video, I want to help you correctly identify your
own voice classification using three indicators: vocal range, prima voce, I'll
explain what that is later, and anatomical factors. If you're serious about
learning your voice type, then you need to combine
all three indicators to arrive at the correct
classification of your voice. It's important to understand that any of the three indicators, when considered by themselves, will only give you a part of the picture, which might lead you to incorrectly classify your voice type. So, if you're serious about
identifying your voice type, be sure to watch the
video all the way through to get the full and complete picture. Firstly, let's outline a couple of important terms of reference. In your travels of Googling voice types, you may have heard the German term, Fach. Now this might leave you
asking, what the Fach? The Fach system of classifying
voices is highly nuanced and is typically used by
classical singers and teachers. In fact, the Fach system separates the human
voice into 29 categories, far too many for us to
deal with in this video. So, in the interest of keeping it simple, we're only going to classify
six basic voice types: Soprano, Mezzo, Alto,
Tenor, Baritone and Bass. Now here we see the six voice types and their approximate vocal ranges. Notice I said, approximate. As we continue, always
remember, every voice is unique. One of the dangers we can run afoul of when identifying voice types is applying the labels too strictly. If your voice doesn't fit snugly into a neat little voice
classification box, then welcome to the human race. So, if we take these
approximate vocal ranges and apply some well known
singer's recorded vocal ranges to the graphic, we soon see that no one fits the exact textbook range. For example, Barry White
sang as low as an F#1 through to an Eb5. Now, no one questions
that Mr White was a Bass, but notice that his highest recorded note in Sho You Right, is nearly a full octave above
the Bass classification of F4. And take a look at
Beyonce's range, A2 to E6. Now typically labeled as a Mezzo-soprano, Beyonce's recorded vocal range far exceeds the textbook
mezzo range of E3 to A5. Now, of course, here we're looking at a
selection of celebrity voices, singers who we reasonably expect to have unusually wide and
extensive vocal ranges. But comparing yourself to the
exception is rarely helpful, and that is why we have
the average textbook ranges and the six basic voice types. They provide a general rule of thumb to guide us towards a better
understanding of our own voice. So let's now start to identify your basic approximate voice type. Firstly, we're going to
find your vocal range by singing down to your lowest note and then singing up to your highest note. You're going to need to jot a
few things down as we proceed, so I've designed a free worksheet that you can download and print using the link in the
description section below. As we sing down the scale in search of your lowest singable note, I want you to identify two notes. You'll be searching for
your lowest singable note, as well as the point at which you voice starts to work a little harder
to achieve the low notes. This second note, which will actually be your first note, will help us to establish
the lower boundary of your prima voce, an Italian term that means prime voice! So for example, my lowest singable note is generally around A2, but the lower boundary of my prima voce is generally around
about 1/5th above that, somewhere around an E3. The prima voce is the second
indicator you will need to correctly identify your voice type. Generally speaking, the prima voce, sometimes also called the
sweet spot of the voice, is approximately one to one
and 1/2 octaves in range and is where your voice
feels most comfortable. I'm going to start on
C5, and play down to C2, the bottom of the Bass
voice classification range. Ladies, you'll start on the C5 and guys, you can join in when we get to C4, otherwise known as middle C. Remember, you're looking
to identify two notes, the low note boundary of your prima voce as well as your voices
lowest singable note. Here we go. (hits single piano keys, scaling down) Gentlemen, join in. Arriving on C2. Okay, now let's find your
highest singable note as well as the upper
boundary of your prima voce, the point at which your
voice starts to work that little bit harder
to sing the higher notes. And yes, you can transition
into your upper registers as we sing higher. Starting on C3, I'll play
all the way up to E6, which is the top of the Soprano
voice classification range. Here we go. (hits single piano keys, scaling up) Ladies, you might like to join in now. Okay, How did you go? Now you should have
four notes written down, your lowest and highest singable notes, which will approximately correlate with one of the six basic voice types as well as the lower
and upper boundary notes of your prima voce. If you're using the free worksheet, you should be able to roughly identify where your vocal range
lies on the keyboard. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, well I don't easily fit within
those textbook parameters. So, for example, you might be thinking, well I can sing close to
the top note of a Tenor, but I can easily sing down to the bottom note of a Baritone also. So, what does that mean? Well, firstly it says you
have a wonderfully wide range, and your vocal range is not the be all and
end all of good singing, but developing a good range is a part of learning to sing well. So that's great! But case in point, if your voice can sing to
the top of the Tenor range and as low as the Baritone range, then we need to apply the
second indicator of prima voce to refine the voice classification. So, for example, if your prima voce, that one to one and 1/2 octaves where your voice feels really comfortable, sits in the lower part
of your overall range, then it's likely that your voice would be
classified as Baritone. Likewise, if your prima voce feels like it sits in the
top section of your range then it's likely that your voice would
be classified as Tenor. Now the same rule of thumb can be applied to every voice type. Identify your vocal range and
then overlay your prima voce and generally speaking
you'll have a good sense of how your voice might
be best classified. But remember when I said there
are three key indicators: vocal range, prima voce
and anatomical factors? Well, it's the anatomical factors that really make your voice unique. Your larynx, your vocal
folds, your vocal tract and the body that houses
that voice of yours is unique in size, shape and dimension. So, the implications of
these unique set of factors will affect how your voice sounds. For example, it's entirely
possible for a female singer to have the vocal range of a mezzo-soprano but have a vocal tract resonance
that is more in keeping with the higher
classification of a soprano. And this is where things
get a little tricky because there is no easy way to measure the contributing
influences of this phenomenon. Vocal fold length and mass,
the size of your larynx, as well as vocal tract length and width, each combine to make your
voice wonderfully unique. I guess this is why the Fach
system I mentioned earlier identifies 29 different classifications. But honestly, that's a rabbit hole that you don't need to tumble down if you want to sing contemporary genres like rock, pop and country. Actually, and I've said this many times before on my channel, if you're a singer who
mostly wants to sing solo, then voice classification
can be a distraction that you don't really need. Finding your voice type is helpful if you're doing it for the right reasons, which is why I made this video, but I equally encourage you
to not get hung up on it. Learn to embrace the physical aspects and boundaries of your voice and then explore and
test those boundaries. With practice, you might find that those lower and upper notes move as you discover the full
benefits of singing technique. If you're searching for a quality collection of singing exercises that will help you to further
explore your vocal range, then I highly recommend
my exercise series, Voice Essentials. When you download the
tracks via the link below, you'll be able to develop range, pitch, breath management and much more besides. I hope you've enjoyed this video. If you'd like to learn more
about how the human voice works, then click on this video
for an in-depth explanation about how your voice creates sound. And if you're new to my channel, welcome. I have over 400 learn to sing videos that will help you to discover the full potential of your singing voice. I hope you'll take a moment to visit the channel and subscribe. I'll see you again real soon. I'm Dr Dan, sing well.
