Voice Types : Which Fach are You?

Without testing my upper range at this late hour, I’d say I’m probably a Lyric Baritone who can sometimes hit the Dramatic/Heroic Tenor notes without falsetto.
Maybe I’ll include that in my description; yep, I’m sure the Metropolitan Opera will be calling in no time.

This is fascinating. Choir directors never seem to know whether to put me with the altos or the tenors. Maybe I’m a Deep Contralto! (I like how that one sounds!) Beautiful site design, btw.

Hi Stephanie:
I’m a dramatic mezzo soprano. I have a four octave voice.
I like your comment about how women’s voices change. Before I turned 38 I could sing from G below low C to A above soprano High C but at 38 my voice turned really thick and dark. While I have more power I’ve lost tones off both top and bottom. It’s all good though since I love singing hard rock and old school r&b. I usually sing 1st soprano in choral music – mainly because I don’t usually hear second soprano parts well and I hate singing alto choral parts — the melody is much easier to sight-read.
Vicki

Hi Stephanie,
I’m a little confused about my fach too. I’ve always sang first soprano in my high school choir but the teacher always wants me to be a second because I have a very loud voice that is really rare and won’t blend with practically anybody. It really sucks because it prevents me from being in our concert chorale. My range is the g below middle C (if I really push it) to the G sharp above the C two octaves above middle C. I can do all the agile stuff a coloratura can do and can go as high, but everyone says my voice is way to big to be a coloratura. I didn’t know there was any such thing as a dramatic coloratura until now, but from what I’ve read it sounds like that’s what I am.

Hi everyone,
Thank you for sharing your voice types!
Lauren and Kaylynn:
You’re right, you don’t want to push your limits, particularly if it is on either extremes of your range (high or low).
When I was in high school, I was floating all over the place singing soprano, alto, and the odd tenor notes in the higher passages to help beef up the sound (we didn’t have many tenors).
If your music teacher at school asks you to help spread your voice over parts that you feel are out of your comfort zone in efforts to carry the other parts for weaker sections, it is almost too easy to say “Sure, I’ll do it!” because it makes you feel very important and is telling of your vocal versatility… but you what you don’t want is to be the hero in the “lend me a tenor” section during the most formative years of your vocal development only to find that you have damaged your voice later on or have used it in ways that create discomfort for you.
While it’s a splendid feather in your cap to say you can do it all and a great way to inflate your vocal ego, I suggest that you opt to seek professional instruction from a trained and certified voice teacher and ask them about how you should and should not be using your voice – note that this is very important particularly in high school music programs.
To locate a teacher or someone who can help, check out the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
On the topic of blending… when you are in a choir, blending is stressed quite a bit – I know because I too was the one soprano who had a hard time of it 😉 When you have a “big” voice, it is difficult to blend with people, especially if you have clashing voice types and colors. A skilled conductor or director knows how to blend voices and through their efforts can ensure that “blending” occurs without having to make each chorister “blend” by decreasing or eliminating their natural vibrato.
If you don’t let your vibrato out because you are blending in with other voices, you’re doing your voice a disservice as well as potentially hurting your vocal folds.
VOX Daily Reader: It sounds like you have some questions that need to be addressed by a voice teacher, too. They are very specific and I encourage you to contact someone at the university or conservatory level to consult you on what to do.
Best,
Stephanie

I’m a bit confused. I know that in high school I can’t classify my voice for another 15 years or so but I’m not sure even remotely where I fall. My voice is really deep and I have a very large range (D#2-G4 (chest and head voice), G4-Ab5 (super head voice), C5-C6 (falsetto)) I’m really loud and extremely dark with a natural vibrato. My most comfortable range is about F2-F4 and I most like singing higher bass pieces which leads me to believe I’m about basso cantante (high bass) or bass-baritone. I can hit really high but I’m definitely NOT a tenor or lyric baritone. When I was younger I was a lyric coloratura soprano but unfortunately I can’t hit those notes anymore.

Hi Pauline,
Se tu m’ami (If You Love Me) is one of favourite rep pieces. Your teacher’s reaction is a bit harsh, but if you are tiring that easily after singing or are in any physical pain, you might want to investigate why that is.
My suggestions? First, if you are singing without a warmup, especially something as vocally challenging as Se tu m’ami, you’re asking for a vocal injury. You have to warm up. If you are on your way to a class and are strapped for time, warm up as you’re driving, hum in an elevator, do lip trills as you dash from point A to point B, but never forget or neglect to warm up your voice, especially when entering a rep session.
Also, make sure that you are fully hydrated before you get to your lesson. Drinking water at the studio will only result in minor improvements to your performance.
If you need something like a throat spray to help give you some instant moisture which could help you out in instances such as if you aren’t as hydrated as you’d like or are hoarse, you may want to consider Entertainer’s Secret Throat Relief or Thayer’s.
I’ve been a fan of Entertainer’s Secret for a while and I know other voice actors love the stuff and go through it like it’s going out of style. Many also love Thayer’s.
I hope my suggestions have helped. If you find that there is vocal tension and that is the root of your exhaustion or hoarseness, correct any physical tensions (you’ll need to unlearn these) and find ways to relax your body.
1. Drink loads of water throughout the day to prepare for your lesson
2. Warm up, possibly even an hour beforehand for best results if you can
3. On days you have lessons, use your voice minimally until you have finished with your teacher
4. Identify and isolate physical tension, unlearn and correct with new posture / methods
5. Always enter a class with a positive attitude and prepare physically and mentally for success.
Cheers,
Stephanie

Hello Stephanie,
I really would like to know what kind of voice I have… I am not sure myself, since I am only an amateur, but i can sing down to the second A below middle C to the second A above middle C. The latter is obtained with much struggle though, since I find much easier to sing the range below middle C. I am a woman and been bullied ever since childhood because of my deep voice. I know I am a contralto, but what kind of contralto am I?

Well I don’t know, I’m not quite sure. Some people claim I’m a baritone and there are those who claim I’m a tenor. I was classified by a vocal coach as a spinto/lyric tenor, but I don’t know…
The problem is why the coaches don’t know about me is that I have a bit deeper voice than a lyric tenor (which is very light), but still, I can sing High C, High D, High E and sustain them…I even tried to sustain a High F (but couldn’t hold it for more than 3 sec).
I’m just a newbie and unexperienced singer, but I’m eager to know what vocal fach do I belong to….

I’m very confused about my voice type. When I was in the choir in 8th grade, I sang soprano. When I was 16 and started taking vocal lessons I was told that I was a soprano (I thought I might have been a mezzo), and a “true soprano”. Over time, my range had developed to the G below middle C extending to the F above the C two octaves above middle C. Here comes the strange part, I can do coloratura runs with ease, but it’s very hard for me to keep at a high tessitura if I’m not doing a run. Meanwhile, singing songs from operatic mezzo roles (such as Nicklausse from “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” or Carmen from “Carmen”) is very comfortable for me, but at the same time I can sing the Queen of the Night aria (but it sounds like a falsetto unless I’m doing one of the runs, and is hard for me unless it’s a run). I have no idea where my voice lies. Do you have any ideas? I know that my voice is developing still (I’m 18 now), but I’m wondering what your opinion is.
Alea

I am a lyric coloratura soprano

I am a Bass-Baritone… Lower than the true Baritone, and higher than the true bass..

(note: my school has middle c as ‘fourth’ octave, but a lot of people online have middle c as ‘first’- i’m using my school’s system)
What vocal type is se tu mami fit best for? i sang it at my first solo and ensemble and it fit my voice perfectly.
Also, can you help me with my fach? i just left my sophomore year and am on summer vacation and classed as soprano. my voice is loud and has almost no vibrato naturally; it is very clear and easy to hear by itself/with music, but when i’m with other singers, i almost automatically blend. my voice is not very flexible and has a dramatic quality, but it often sounds light and and childlike- but on some songs, it sounds dark and heavy. i speak at about a D4 or F#4, depending. i can hit E3-E?6, though that is the absolute extent of my range. comfortably, i can hit about a A4/C4 (depending) to A#6, but I’m most comfortable at A above middle c, or A5 to G above middle c, or G5. My drama teacher often puts me as an alto, but i usually end practices with a sore throat from trying to sing so low- apparently I sound good down there, but it is completely not comfortable. Help? Thanks!