Vocal Range Chart: Voice Types From Bass to Soprano

A vocal range chart shows the usual notes each voice type sings, from the lowest male voice to the highest female voice. The seven classical voice types, from highest to lowest, are soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, countertenor, tenor, baritone and bass.

Together they cover about E2 to C6, roughly four octaves. The chart below puts them on a piano keyboard. Press Play to hear any range, or add your own notes to see which voice types you fit:

Vocal Range Chart

Typical ranges of the seven classical voice types on a piano keyboard, highest to lowest. Add your own range to see which voice types it fits.

Show All voice types Typically female voices Typically male voices

Swipe the chart sideways to see every note.

• Soprano C4–C6 · 262 Hz–1,047 HzHighest female voice; bright and light Play
• Mezzo-soprano A3–A5 · 220 Hz–880 HzMiddle female voice; warm and full Play
• Contralto F3–F5 · 175 Hz–698 HzLowest female voice; dark and rich Play
• Countertenor E3–E5 · 165 Hz–659 HzMale voice singing mainly in head voice or falsetto Play
• Tenor C3–C5 · 131 Hz–523 HzHighest common male voice; bright and ringing Play
• Baritone A2–A4 · 110 Hz–440 HzMiddle male voice; warm and full Play
• Bass E2–E4 · 82 Hz–330 HzLowest male voice; deep and resonant Play

Add your range

Lowest comfortable note

Choose a noteA1 · 55 HzA#1 · 58 HzB1 · 62 HzC2 · 65 HzC#2 · 69 HzD2 · 73 HzD#2 · 78 HzE2 · 82 HzF2 · 87 HzF#2 · 92 HzG2 · 98 HzG#2 · 104 HzA2 · 110 HzA#2 · 117 HzB2 · 123 HzC3 · 131 HzC#3 · 139 HzD3 · 147 HzD#3 · 156 HzE3 · 165 HzF3 · 175 HzF#3 · 185 HzG3 · 196 HzG#3 · 208 HzA3 · 220 HzA#3 · 233 HzB3 · 247 HzC4 (middle C) · 262 HzC#4 · 277 HzD4 · 294 HzD#4 · 311 HzE4 · 330 HzF4 · 349 HzF#4 · 370 HzG4 · 392 HzG#4 · 415 HzA4 · 440 HzA#4 · 466 HzB4 · 494 HzC5 · 523 HzC#5 · 554 HzD5 · 587 HzD#5 · 622 HzE5 · 659 HzF5 · 698 HzF#5 · 740 HzG5 · 784 HzG#5 · 831 HzA5 · 880 HzA#5 · 932 HzB5 · 988 HzC6 · 1,047 HzC#6 · 1,109 HzD6 · 1,175 HzD#6 · 1,245 HzE6 · 1,319 HzF6 · 1,397 HzF#6 · 1,480 HzG6 · 1,568 HzPlay

Highest comfortable note

Choose a noteA1 · 55 HzA#1 · 58 HzB1 · 62 HzC2 · 65 HzC#2 · 69 HzD2 · 73 HzD#2 · 78 HzE2 · 82 HzF2 · 87 HzF#2 · 92 HzG2 · 98 HzG#2 · 104 HzA2 · 110 HzA#2 · 117 HzB2 · 123 HzC3 · 131 HzC#3 · 139 HzD3 · 147 HzD#3 · 156 HzE3 · 165 HzF3 · 175 HzF#3 · 185 HzG3 · 196 HzG#3 · 208 HzA3 · 220 HzA#3 · 233 HzB3 · 247 HzC4 (middle C) · 262 HzC#4 · 277 HzD4 · 294 HzD#4 · 311 HzE4 · 330 HzF4 · 349 HzF#4 · 370 HzG4 · 392 HzG#4 · 415 HzA4 · 440 HzA#4 · 466 HzB4 · 494 HzC5 · 523 HzC#5 · 554 HzD5 · 587 HzD#5 · 622 HzE5 · 659 HzF5 · 698 HzF#5 · 740 HzG5 · 784 HzG#5 · 831 HzA5 · 880 HzA#5 · 932 HzB5 · 988 HzC6 · 1,047 HzC#6 · 1,109 HzD6 · 1,175 HzD#6 · 1,245 HzE6 · 1,319 HzF6 · 1,397 HzF#6 · 1,480 HzG6 · 1,568 HzPlay

Not sure of your notes? Press Play and sing along: pick the lowest and highest notes you can sing easily, not your absolute limits.

Check my range Reset

Typical classical ranges; many voices go beyond them. Range is one part of voice type: tone colour, tessitura and where your voice changes register matter too.

Related Tools

• Voice Range Test

  Find your own lowest and highest notes with your microphone.

• Voice Type Test

  See which voice type your range matches.

• Vocal Range Calculator

  Turn two notes into octaves and semitones.

• Note Identifier

  Name each note you sing.

• Tone Generator

  Play any note on the chart.

• Vocal Scale Finder

  Find scales for your voice type.

Vocal Range Chart: All Voice Types

Voice type	Usual range	Frequency	Group	Sound
Soprano	C4–C6	262–1,047 Hz	Female	Bright, light, easy high notes
Mezzo-soprano	A3–A5	220–880 Hz	Female	Warm, full middle
Contralto	F3–F5	175–698 Hz	Female	Dark, rich, strong low notes
Countertenor	E3–E5	165–659 Hz	Male	Mainly head voice or falsetto
Tenor	C3–C5	131–523 Hz	Male	Bright, ringing
Baritone	A2–A4	110–440 Hz	Male	Warm, full
Bass	E2–E4	82–330 Hz	Male	Deep, resonant

Each voice type spans about two octaves. The notes use scientific pitch notation, where C4 is middle C and A4 is 440 Hz.

Vocal Ranges From Highest to Lowest

1. Soprano: the highest common voice, up to C6 (the “soprano high C”) and beyond.
2. Mezzo-soprano: the middle female voice and the most common one.
3. Contralto: the lowest and rarest female voice. See alto vs contralto.
4. Countertenor: the highest male voice, singing mostly in head voice, in the female alto range.
5. Tenor: the highest common male voice. See tenor vs baritone.
6. Baritone: the middle male voice and the most common one.
7. Bass: the lowest voice. See baritone vs bass.

Female Vocal Range Chart

Female voices run from about F3 (contralto) to C6 (soprano), and higher in the whistle register. Soprano and mezzo-soprano share most of their notes, from C4 to A5. Mezzo and contralto share A3–F5. For the full comparison, see female vocal ranges and alto vs mezzo-soprano.

Male Vocal Range Chart

Male voices run from about E2 (bass) to C5 (tenor), and to about E5 for countertenors. Tenor and baritone share C3–A4, and baritone and bass share A2–E4, so most men can sing a large part of the neighbouring type’s range. See male vocal ranges and tenor vs bass for more.

How to Read a Vocal Range Chart

• Letters are note names (C, D, E, F, G, A, B). Numbers are the octave: C4 is middle C, C3 is an octave below and C5 an octave above.
• Each bar shows a voice type’s usual comfortable range, not the extreme notes a trained singer can reach.
• Overlaps show notes that two voice types both sing, which is why range alone can’t tell them apart.
• Frequency doubles every octave: A3 is 220 Hz, A4 is 440 Hz and A5 is 880 Hz. The vocal range notes guide explains the notation in detail.

Vocal Range Chart on a Piano

On an 88-key piano, the singing voice covers only the middle: roughly from the E two octaves below middle C (E2) to the C two octaves above it (C6). Middle C (C4) is the note where the male and female ranges meet. It’s near the top of the bass and baritone ranges, in the middle for tenors, and near the bottom for sopranos.

Piano note	Frequency	What it marks
E2	82 Hz	Usual bottom of the bass range
A2	110 Hz	Usual bottom of the baritone range
C3	131 Hz	Usual bottom of the tenor range
F3	175 Hz	Usual bottom of the contralto range
C4	262 Hz	Middle C; usual bottom of the soprano range
A4	440 Hz	Tuning note; top of the baritone range
C5	523 Hz	“Tenor high C”; top of the tenor range
C6	1,047 Hz	“Soprano high C”; top of the soprano range

Why Vocal Ranges Overlap

Neighbouring voice types share more than an octave of notes, because what really separates them is where the voice is comfortable (tessitura), tone colour and where the voice changes register. A baritone and a tenor can both sing G4, but only for the tenor is it an easy, ringing note. Read more in what is tessitura?

Voice Types vs Choir Parts

Choirs use four parts, soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB), rather than seven voice types. Mezzo-sopranos and contraltos usually sing alto, and baritones sing bass or tenor 2. The SATB vocal ranges guide shows the written range of each part.

How to Find Your Place on the Chart

1. Warm up for five minutes.
2. Find your lowest and highest comfortable notes with the voice range test, or with a piano.
3. Enter them in the chart above, under “Add your range”.
4. Look at the best matches, but also at which part of your range feels easiest.

If you land between two types, that’s normal. Many voices sit between neighbouring types, and training can shift where you’re most comfortable.

Extreme Vocal Ranges

Some singers go far beyond the chart: basso profondos sing below C2, and whistle-register sopranos go above C7. See the highest vocal range and the lowest vocal range for record-breaking voices. A typical untrained adult has about 1.5–2 octaves of comfortable range.

Children’s Voices and Changing Voices

The chart shows adult voices. Before puberty, boys and girls have similar voices, usually singing comfortably around A3–D5, which is why children’s songs sit in that zone. During puberty a boy’s voice drops by roughly an octave, often with a period of cracking and an unstable range, and it can take several years to settle into tenor, baritone or bass. Girls’ voices change less, usually gaining depth and a richer lower range. Don’t decide a teenager’s voice type too early.

How Voices Change Over a Lifetime

Adult voices keep changing slowly. Training usually adds notes at both ends and makes the middle stronger. With age, women’s voices often get slightly lower and men’s sometimes slightly higher, and the top of the range can shrink without regular singing. Regular, gentle practice is the best way to keep your range. Your voice type can shift too, especially in your twenties.

What a Vocal Range Chart Can’t Tell You

• Your tone colour. Two singers with identical ranges can sound completely different.
• Your comfortable zone. The chart shows ranges, not where each voice is happiest.
• Pop and musical theatre voices. These use mix, belt and falsetto and don’t follow the classical labels strictly.
• Subtypes. Lyric, dramatic and coloratura voices are covered by the Fach system.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the voice types in order from highest to lowest?

Soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, countertenor, tenor, baritone and bass.

What is the most common vocal range?

For men, baritone (about A2–A4); for women, mezzo-soprano (about A3–A5). Most untrained adults sing comfortably across about 1.5–2 octaves.

Is C3 a low note?

For women, yes: C3 is below the usual female range. For men, it’s a low-to-middle note: the bottom of the tenor range and comfortably inside the baritone and bass ranges.

What is the widest voice type range?

Each classical voice type spans about two octaves. Individual singers can have far wider ranges, sometimes four octaves or more, including falsetto and whistle notes.

Is alto a voice type?

Alto is mainly a choir part. The equivalent voice type is contralto, though many altos are mezzo-sopranos. See what is an alto?