Female 4 octave range?- Page 4

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 10/20/04 at 11:28pm

Range really doesn't matter that much in Broadway singing. There are precious few roles that actually require more than a two octave range. Someone said it before, I don't remember who, but it's true: one octave with great tone and nice quality are always preferable to four octaves that make you plug your ears.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/20/04 at 11:33pm

Tell that to the people who think that Defying Gravity is always the best-performed song ever, even if the top notes sound like they're being made by a donkey with tonsilitis.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 10/20/04 at 11:39pm

I actually LOVED Defying Gravity when I saw the show. I think Idina sounds great on it, if your ears can get used to that sound that seems to be encroaching on B'way now. Screechy, I would call the last bit that Eden sings in Once Upon a Time. Now THAT is some screechy, yelly, painful stuff. I can feel my vocal chords imploding when I hear her do it.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/20/04 at 11:41pm

I don't get why composers (and certain fans) think that these extremely high mixed notes are the best thing since sliced bread. They can be thrilling when done right, but I've heard them done wrong way too many times. And they definitely aren't healthy.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 10/20/04 at 11:46pm

the problem that I've found among performers who use them is that they're VERY difficult to reproduce every night. A very public example was Idina's performance on the Tony's. She wobbled all over the top notes in the end of Defying Gravity. And I have yet to hear Eden sing those last notes in "Once.." the same way she does on the sampler CD. And DEFINITELY not healthy. My voice teacher says that "healthy belt" is an oxymoron. It's simply a matter of time before the voice simply gives out on you. Tiny little muscles don't take well to being abused eight shows a week.

Posted: 10/21/04 at 6:53pm

"Remember, if you have high C(as in two bars above the top bar on the treble clef) to low C (as in two bars below the BASS clef) then you have a three octave range."

So according to this I still have a 3 octave and 6-7 note range. Because I can sing a C below middle C (so i guess C3 to c7)... c7 i can hit, but i guess i don't consider it my range.

Thanks for clearing things up.

my belt is up to an E... sometimes F if i'm really alive and thriving. but i haven't belted in a long while now just cuz i'm only 16 and it's really unhealthy.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 10/21/04 at 8:48pm

I have a 3 octaves range then. So I counted it right. I reach 4 Es-the higher one on the bass clef, the middle one, the high one and the one an octave above the treble clef.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 10/21/04 at 9:43pm

"Remember, if you have high C(as in two bars above the top bar on the treble clef) to low C (as in two bars below the BASS clef) then you have a three octave range"

No...if you've got a high C and a low C youve got a 4 octave range.
1- low c to c below middle c
2-c below middle c to middle c
3-middle c to c above middle c
4-c above middle c to high c

I only know one person who had those notes though (my old voice teach...who could sing lower and higher than I -- and she was a coloratura soprano...amazing voice.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 4:48pm

I know this is a VERY old thread, but I felt the need to revive it upon discovering this site: http://www.freehostz.com/notes_and_octaves/

I am a total range slut, and I just adore high notes. Check it out, it's *tres* interesting to listen to some of these clips.

Christina Aguilera, you go girl! Who knew you had all that up there, honey?

Updated On: 2/28/05 at 04:48 PM

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:04pm

I dunno my range, but I know my highest note is an A . Where on the piano that is,I have no idea.

[Mythus]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:06pm

My range is two octaves, and that's on a good day after a long warm up. I feel so inferior. I wish I could take voice lessons...there's jealousy abound.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 7:06pm

Thank you, B.B. I was reading through this to the end and I was going to mention that almost NO musical theatre songs have anything beyond an octave and a half range.
I mean Ethel generally sang from A below the staff (Treble) to about a C or D. That's about an octave and a half. Defying Gravity has just at a 2 octave range...even (again for you Wicked fans out there) Glinda's role is only about a two and a half octave range.
For the record, I think most people are confusing what constitutes an octave. I'm a very high tenor with just over a 2 octave range (going from low b to high e naturally) and then a countertenor to a soprano C, which gives me just over three octaves.
On a normal day, I'd say that will NEVER be displayed in a role (I've played Mary Sunshine where you ONLY sing as a woman) and I've done Chess where you sing rock tenor up to a D. Who would write something silly and make you sing like a baritone to a high tenor to a woman?
(actually, someone did indeed write me a song just like that only because he knew I could. It went over really well because, well, it's rather ridiculous to hear a guy sing like a guy, hit a high A then top it with a soprano B).

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 7:15pm

I got sick, so my range drastically shrunk. Now it's from F below middle C to A an octave above middle C. Not bad for a 13 year old, but I used to have 3 octaves! Argh!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 7:21pm

MFL, no offense, but you probably shouldn't be singing all 3 octaves anyway. HEard any of those kids who played Annie now that they're adults? Even Miss McArdle, who can thrill sometimes with her belt, gets pretty patchy at times.
As for belting being unhealthy, I think it really depends upon your definition of a belt.
The mix sound that a lot of teachers (including some legit, operatic teachers I've had) teach creates a VERY healthy sound that gives the impression of a chest sound emphasizing a placement that doesn't wear you down.
You guys ever heard of Victoria Clark? She is going to be a hard-to-beat nominee this year (for Light in the Piazza). Nancy Opel tore up Pennywise in Urinetown but you should have heard Clark when she took over for Opel. Amazing mix sound that had intensity and all the belt-like qualities but watching her technique could show you that she placed it just so and gives all the sound without larynx-exploding pressure.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 7:43pm

I never belted. My chest voice is awful. I'm learnign hwo to use it better, but I sing more of a legit/head voice-ey sound. Like Lily from The Secret Garden.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 8:03pm

Back when I was a full-time singer, my range was just over four octaves with falsetto (from the lowest part of the baritone range up to a tenor's high B and then two+ octaves of falsetto). Some people are just born with range (I had all of that before I ever saw a voice teacher).

A friend of mine who was also a (female) professional singer (and starred on Broadway a couple of times) had a very comfortable four octaves -- I saw her plunk out the notes and do scales spanning her entire range as a warmup many times (there was no strain whatsoever from the very bottom of the alto range -- actually she could comfortably sing all the way down to the bottom of the tenor range -- and could nail a very clear, precise and well-supported soprano F above high C .... she was extraordinary).

And Marian Anderson was legendary for having at LEAST a four octave range. One of the greatest contraltos in history, her lower range was frighteningly deep, nearly baritonal, yet she could effortlessly sing soprano arias in the original key.

Updated On: 3/1/05 at 08:03 PM

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 8:22pm

Hey, Margo, I don't think anyone would ever contest 4 octaves. I think people are doubtful of these 5 and 6 octave freaks of nature floating around.
I know a lot of people with real, usable 4 octaves. I don't have that but I'm just fine with my voice. Other people seem to be, too.
I am impressed by a nice, wide range, though. People who can sing a remarkable range and maintain a full, pleasing quality of sound are most impressive.

[Benzy92]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 8:24pm

Kristin Chenoweth has said numerous times that she has a 5 octave range which sounds completely impossible.. maybe she has 4 at the most..


as for me, just about 3 octaves on a good day.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 8:27pm

Kristin Chenoweth has 4 octaves. It's been said many times. Not five. Also, I think 6 octaves is impossible.

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 10:38pm

i totally agree that 6 octaves is impossible...unless you're a super-bass who can sing amazingly low and then has a wonder-falsetto.

myself - e below middle c to high high G..as in "queen of the night" high G (the G above the POTO E for all you non-opera people.) i'm fine with my range, i don't want it to be any bigger at all.

and as for those people with the 4729473 octave ranges (okay, maybe it's just like 6)...i don't know. i think 4 is about what i can wrap my little brain around.

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 10:43pm

heh.. I have a really really low speaking voice, but a really high singing voice...I enjoy messing with people. I can usually sing about 3 1/2 (4 on the best days ever...rare but it happens :)) octaves (starting super low and ending pretty high)..
so it all works out.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 11:13pm

4 octaves is rare, but not unheard of for basses and contraltos (if you count falsetto, which admittedly is different for men and women). Opera singers especially are able to access those parts of their range because their technique is based upon relaxation. Still, in full voice for men, three octaves is pretty much maxing out. As Franco Corelli said, you cannot count falsetto in the usable range because you cannot project it.
Pop singers generally cannot access those parts of their range because to sing in a pop style requires a certain amount of tension. Working with voice teachers who specialize in that style can teach you to do it with LESS tension, but ultimately the style demands certain sounds that cannot be made without tension. (This is why the style is BAD for Broadway performers....)
And a three octave range is exactly as I said it was: C below bass clef to high C above treble. It looks like more on paper, but it's not.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 2:42am

NB: The Queen Of The Night is in the key of d minor, and the highest note is the F above high C, not the G. Mozart did, however, write a G in "Popoli di Tessaglia". Thrilling. You should hear Natalie Dessay sing it. It makes me wet.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:38am

I have a few songs that I started looking at last year when I got to university, and there graduation goals for me. I hope to be able to sing them well, if not perform them, by fourth year.
On that list is Der Holle Racht (Queen of the Night) from the Magic Flute and Ah! Je Veux Vivre from Romeo et Juliette.
For now I'll stick with Mein Herr Marquis and Glitter and be Gay.

[DestinyBeckoned]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:47am

My range isn't anything crazy, I'm most comfortable in about 2 and a half octaves, but I can stretch farther. I wouldn't though, unless I had to. I do however have the honor of being the only girl in choir to alternate between singing first tenor and first soprano. But singing first tenor sucks, and I know its terrible for my voice, but the choir needs tenors.

Updated On: 3/1/05 at 08:47 AM