What does a vocal range chart show?

It shows the typical span of notes for each of the six classical voice types, laid over a piano keyboard so you can see where each one starts and stops. This chart runs from C2 to C6, which covers the six bands with room on either side. The bands overlap on purpose, because real voices do.

What are the six voice types?

From highest to lowest: soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto for women; tenor, baritone and bass for men. Mezzo-soprano and baritone are the most common. Contralto and bass are the rarest.

How do I find where I sit on the chart?

Pick your lowest and highest comfortable notes in the section below the chart and a YOU band is added. If you do not know your notes, the free vocal range test finds them with your microphone in about two minutes, and the calculator page explains how to find them by ear.

Can I use this chart on my own website?

Yes. Download the PNG, or copy the embed code, and keep the credit link to this page in place. That covers editorial and non-commercial use, including lesson handouts and choir newsletters. For anything else, email info@vocalrefresh.com.

Why do the voice types overlap so much?

Because voice type is decided by where a voice sits comfortably and by its tone, not only by the outer notes. A soprano and a mezzo-soprano share most of their range. If your two notes fall in two bands, that is normal; most voices do.

Does my range change with age?

Voices change over time, and a voice that has been resting for years usually reads narrower than it is. Warming up for a minute before you check, and checking again on a different day, gives a truer reading than one cold attempt. Persistent hoarseness, pain or a sudden change is a reason to see a laryngologist, not a chart.

Vocal Range Chart

The six voice types, drawn as bands over a piano keyboard from C2 to C6. Click a voice type to hear its range, then add your own two notes and see where you sit.

Six voice types Hear each range Free to download and embed

Click a band on the chart, or a voice type below, to hear the range.

Ranges are typical spans for each type, not limits. Real voices overlap the bands, and where a voice sits comfortably matters more than its outer notes. More on that below.

Your two notes

Where does your voice sit on the chart?

Pick your lowest and highest comfortable notes and a YOU band is added to the chart above. No microphone, nothing recorded.

Lowest note

Highest note

Not sure which notes those are? The calculator page walks you through finding them, or let the microphone find them in about two minutes.

Your range

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Octaves

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Female voice, most likely

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Male voice, most likely

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↑ See it on the chart

Take it with you

Download the chart, or put it on your site

The chart is free to use on your own page, in a lesson handout or a choir newsletter. All we ask is a credit to Vocal Refresh with a link back to this page.

Download as PNG

Three versions, 1600 pixels wide. They open in a new tab; save from there.

All six voice typesOpen PNG
Women’s voices onlyOpen PNG
Men’s voices onlyOpen PNG

Want the interactive version with your own band on it? Use the download button in the section above.

Embed on your page

Paste this where you want the chart. It links back here so your readers can hear the ranges and add their own.

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You can use it anywhere, commercial sites included, as long as the credit link stays in. Questions? Email info@vocalrefresh.com.

Reading the chart

The six voice types

Three women’s voices, three men’s, from highest to lowest. Every band overlaps its neighbors on purpose.

Voice type	Typical range	Octave span	Known for
Soprano	C4 – C6	2 octaves	Highest women’s voice; bright and agile above the staff
Mezzo-soprano	A3 – A5	2 octaves	The most common women’s voice; warm through the middle
Contralto (Alto)	F3 – F5	2 octaves	Lowest women’s voice; rich and dark, and rare
Tenor	C3 – C5	2 octaves	Highest common men’s voice; bright at the top
Baritone	A2 – A4	2 octaves	The most common men’s voice; warm through the middle
Bass	E2 – E4	2 octaves	Deepest men’s voice; the least common of the six

Range is the edges. Tessitura is where you live.

Two singers can share the same lowest and highest note and be different voice types, because the type is decided by where the voice sits easily for a whole song, not by the extremes it can touch once. That comfortable middle is the tessitura. The chart shows typical ranges; your ear, or a coach, decides the rest.

Why the bands overlap

A mezzo-soprano and a soprano share most of their notes. What separates them is tone, and which part of the range feels like home. If your two notes land in two bands at once, that is normal. Most voices do.

If you have not sung in years

A voice that has been resting usually reads narrower than it is. Warm up for a minute before you check, and check again on a different day. Two readings a few days apart tell you more than one.

The long version, with what the overlaps mean and how ranges shift over time, is in the vocal range chart explained.

Tools

Find your own numbers

Microphone

Questions