Tenor or Baritone? What is really my range? I'm confused about this and more... help!- Page 2

[MacMorighan]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 11:37am

I know this post is over a decade old, but I felt that I had to dip my toe in.  :)  This information comes straight from my voice teacher, when I worked with him several years ago, since I had been "miscast" as a Baritone throughout High School.  Now, I would be remiss without explaining that my Voice Teacher had his Master's Degree in Vocal Pedagogy (I feel it's important, and always look for it when studying with a new teacher!).  However, during one of my first lessons with him, he asked me what my vocal type was, so I explained to him what I had been told in High School by my choir director (that I am a Baritone), and how I had been criticized by my former Voice Teacher before him for having a "shallow range"* (she didn't have a degree in anything save for Choir Conduction and Musical Theatre).  He then ran me through a few simple warm-up exercises and heard that my voice broke at the F#, which is a VERY common break for tenors!  So, if your voice breaks there or even at the G above, you are a tenor!  He even said that he was a tenor and his natural break is there, so I was also a tenor!

* She didn't run me through a single exercises to stretch my range, even though there are plenty to choose from for both men and women!  She was always very critical of me.  At least she showed me what a bad Voice Teacher looks like when compared to an excellent teacher!  My second and great Voice Teacher not only trouble-shot with me and got me to where I wanted to go vocally, but he passed on much of what he knew so that I could teach others, which is the hallmark of not just a good Voice Teacher, but a GREAT ONE.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 12:17pm

Did we really run off an experienced casting director with an argument over semantics?

Yes, in some contexts, voice types are defined by timbre, and in some contexts, by vocal range. And some composers (Jerry Herman and Andrew Lloyd Webber come to mind) tend to send male voices into the stratosphere whenever the composer runs out of fresh ideas. So if you're casting one of their shows, the top notes of tenors may matter more than for the average Gershwin show.

Maybe we could have had a civil conversation with the casting director and helped him to clarify how he indicates vocal ranges on his call sheets, if we had treated him as if he had murdered a child.

BTW to the poster who said vocal range doesn't matter to choral directors because it doesn't matter whether the singers are using falsetto or head voice (or whatever): "You need to try a better chorus." I promise you good choral directors care very much about such things; unless they just have a shortage that can't be fixed otherwise, they want every singer in the range where his or her voice sounds best.