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Music vocabulary · Instruments and Voice

Vocal range

Meaning in music, with examples

/ˈvoʊkəl ˌreɪndʒ/nounCommon term

In music, vocal range means: The span of notes from the lowest to the highest that a singer can sing well. Voices are grouped by range, from bass and baritone to tenor, alto and soprano.

In Turkish: ses aralığı, ses genişliği

How it is used

Singers, vocal coaches and songwriters talk about a 'wide' or 'limited' vocal range, measured in octaves. They choose keys to 'suit the singer's range'. Voice teachers also use 'tessitura' for the part of the range where a voice is most comfortable.

Example sentences

  1. With his wide vocal range, he can sing both the low verse and the high chorus.

  2. We chose the key of B flat to suit her vocal range.

Common collocations

  • wide vocal range
  • vocal range of three octaves
  • suit your range
  • extend your range
  • top of my range
  • vocalsThe singing parts of a piece of music, especially in pop, rock and jazz. The main singer sings the lead vocals, and others sing the backing vocals.
  • octaveThe interval between one note and the next note with the same name, higher or lower. The higher note vibrates exactly twice as fast as the lower one.
  • pitchHow high or low a sound is. Pitch depends on the frequency of the sound wave: the faster the vibration, the higher the pitch.
  • keyThe group of notes and chords that a piece is mainly built on, centred on one home note. A song in the key of G major keeps returning to G as its point of rest.
  • transposeTo move a whole piece or passage up or down by the same interval into a different key, keeping all the notes in the same relationship.

More terms: Instruments and Voice

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