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What are the average ranges of voices? childrens, SATB, Jr. high, HS, and professional?Date: June 20, 2010 by Rhea Porter
 Forgive me if this is a double post. After I posted it, I looked back and didn't see my question anywhere.
I am a new composer, and am currently assigned to write a choral piece for SSA that could also be sung as SAA. I need to know the average ranges of voices of:
Children's voices,
Jr. High
H.S SATB
College SATB
and
Professional SATB
I checked "Wikepedia" and it said that the average soprano can hit a high C two octaves ABOVE middle C (C6) - which seemed a little far fetched to me, so my professor told me to join this forum and ask the question here. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thank you!
-Rhea P. Replies (9): Threaded | Chronological
on June 21, 2010 10:08am
Read carefully what John wrote, and attend the various choir reheasals and feel how the singers sing. Gather your friends and ask them to sing. Check your voice and how you sing. And try to remember how you used to sing when you are a kid.
It is very important to get that "feeling" if you are to write for voice (or any instrument).
If you do that, you start to feel actual players out from the notes you writing.
Just because they could reach, it doesn't mean they want to be there always. Compositionally and orchestrationally, it is more important to know the most strong ranges and playing techniques for each instrument than knowing the range limits.
on June 21, 2010 11:21am
Rhea: Kentaro mentions a VERY important point. Range is one thing; tessitura is a very different one. For most singers, the comfortable notes tend to be towad the middle of the actual range, and the extremes of range should only be used occasionally, not continuously. Beethoven's 9th is a great example of what NOT to do, and even the choruses in Messiah can be difficult for sopranos and tenors because of all the high As, required because his trumpets were in D so the choruses had to be in D.
All the best,
John
on June 21, 2010 10:00pm
There's a good article on the Helmholtz notation system with charts in Wikipedia. I always find it easier to understand when I can see the actual notation of the pitches. You can read the article here.
on June 22, 2010 1:17am
John's advice is excellent as usual. A few more pointers:
It is easier to sing higher and to stay up high longer if you use fairly tight harmony under the high notes, same goes if you use instruments to accompany. It's very hard to reach high notes when the other voices are far away down the scale.
Text doesn't carry well on the outer ranges of the voices, low or high. Consonants get lost and vowels start to sound more alike. If you want the text to be clear, use the middle ranges. There's also most dynamic range in the middle.
Do not let the voices sing too long in the same range - not only too high or too low. Voices get tired if they don't get to move around.
Don't forget that people need to breathe. We forgive Bach for writing like the voice is an instrument and doesn't have to breathe but it's better for us lesser gods to think about such things. Trained (good) singers will be able to breathe almost anywhere and keep the line going, though.
Take care to write only the sungen text under the music, all other things like f or p, cresc. and dim. should be on top, unlike in instrumental music.
It's easier for the choir to learn a piece if the sungen text makes sense in all voices - you might not want to have the whole choir sing all the text but it's possible to have it make sense rather than to sing parts of words and such. This is of course optional, though.
Give a choir your piece fairly longer than shorter time before first performance, (if it's hard, definitely). Well trained singers will of course be able to sightread but it's always better to get the music settled in the voice and that does take some time. A voice isn't like an instrument, you can't just put down a finger for the note.
Do not make parts for the choir unless it is specifically asked for - always have everyone see all the music if possible. (operatic choral scores and some other larger works are the exception though). It is really hard for the singers to pick their starting notes out of nowhere.
I know this is far from the original question but there aren't all that many professors that actually know all the tips and tricks of writing for the voice :)
All the best from the now silent volcano up here in Iceland
Hildigunnur
on June 22, 2010 12:26pm
Hildigunnur wrote (among other very good practical advice):
"It's easier for the choir to learn a piece if the sungen text makes sense in all voices - you might not want to have the whole choir sing all the text but it's possible to have it make sense rather than to sing parts of words and such. This is of course optional, though."
Definitely true. I've always tried to do this in my arrangements, even when a given voice is accompanimental or contrapuntal rather than melodic. And it's usually possible, and often more effective than using neutral syllables. Something else to watch out for is changing harmonies on a cutoff note, which in English almost always puts an accented "bump" on the syllable. If the harmonic change is in the accompaniment, you can leave it out of the voices. (I learned this from Gene Peurling's Hi-Lo's arrangements.)
She also correctly suggested NOT extracting individual parts or the choral parts alone, and that is quite correct. A huge majority of singers do not have perfect pitch, although the good ones will have good relative pitch, but for that to work there must be a context of the other voice parts AND the accompaniment. My wife was in the opera chorus for "Seure Sourir" (spelling?) (Poulenc?), and the singers had a horrible time coming in on tone clusters with no clue what the orchestra was doing! They don't need a full score, but they do need a decent keyboard reduction.
All the best,
John
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UNCHANGED CHILDREN’S VOICES
Safe, c1-d2. Possible, bb-f2. This is for head voice. For the Oscar Meyer Weiner sound, all bets are off! Do NOT start them on a low pickup that will trap them in chest voice.
MIDDLE SCHOOL (we don’t have junior highs around here)
Sopranos, same as Childrens. Altos maybe bb-c2. Cambiatas, maybe g-f1. Baritones, maybe e-d1. You may need to write flexible parts for changing boys, or leave space for the choir director to write parts as the voices change.
HIGH SCHOOL (using head voice)
Sopranos c1-e2, 1st sopranos up to g2 or maybe a2. Altos a-c2, but not too low for too long. Tenors d-f1 (actual pitch). Basses G-c1. Well-trained singers can exceed these safe ranges.
COLLEGE
Sopranos bb- g2, 1st sopranos up to bb2, the occasional c3 for a descant. (I've written up to f3, but I knew exactly who I was writing for.) Altos g-eb2, but can be stretched. (I've written down to d and up to g2, but I knew exactly who I was writing for.) Tenors c-g2 (actual pitch). (Higher in head voice.) Basses F-eb1. (But baritones won't have solid low F, and some basses may have low D.)
PROFESSIONAL
Depends on your singers, and you should really know whom you’re writing for! Opera singers will stretch the ranges (that’s their job!). Professional choral singers will give you anything from Eb up to d3. Studio singers may not have that wide a range. But your best rule of thumb is to know who you’re writing for.
All the best,
John