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OT: Most common vocal range


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1 hour ago, The Real MC said:

The hardest thing to learn to sing at low volume - 


Everyone is different in some ways. Enrique Iglesias said the hardest thing to do is sing a full range with a full voice. A lot of people back off and soften in order to hit notes. Not speaking of falsetto but even that can be done full voice by some, (i.e. Peter Gabriel for most of his career). Brad Delp may have occasionally suffered from tour fatigue but he could hit a wide range full voice when he was in good condition. Tears for Fears’s Curt Smith appears to have lost his ability to sing loud with full voice but he still has a full range on pitch singing voice and it has not changed drastically unlike say Elton John. In Smith’s case his full voice threshold changed and he seems to be restricted to singing at low volume.
 

 

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There is an athleticism to some styles of music and singing in general.  Taking care of your health, singing regularly, warming up and cooling down,  having a technique that allows for longevity, avoiding strain and injury.  All important to a long career as a singer.  Regardless though, age factors in sooner or later and range changes over time.  

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From my unscientific polling, the most common range for men appears to be the half-octave above middle C, with each note off by up to a major third in either direction within that range. 

For women, about a fifth higher. 

 

Results vary with the number of fifths consumed by the time of "performance".

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On 3/25/2022 at 8:48 PM, Tom Williams said:

...  So, for the Hymn to Anacreon (aka Star Spangled Banner), since I know it's a twelfth between low and high notes,

 

I'm surprised by this, but I checked and you're right. I always assumed it was at least a couple of octaves considering how many singers underestimate and run out of range at the top.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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The real issue with that song is how strongly emphasized those higher notes are. People think of the "sweet spot" as the "proudly we hail" section, but really that only has a couple of low notes and can be skewed lower. The actual "sweet spot" is wherever you can still control the glaring rockets. 

But again...that's only if you're singing it as performance. If you're growling along in the crowd, you're fine either screeching like a wounded eagle on a right-wing radio broadcast, or just dropping the octave when the rockets start glaring red. 

Also, just to reemphasize...underneath the OP's question is an acknowledgment that different people have different ranges. You can't play every song in every key. SOMEONE will be screeching or growling, maybe everyone will. It's OK.

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I would not assume that a male singer (the inexperienced kind we are worried about in this thread) can use falsetto without embarrassing themselves.

Lots of inexperienced hacks can go up in falsetto.

The harder part is transitioning back down from falsetto to non-falsetto, without doing a crash and burn.

 

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Well all I know is I am backing a singer in a band this summer that likes things in Fm and B Flat minor which is a big pain my ass.

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Well, as a last resort maybe for solo keyboardists, there's the transpose button.

If not appropriate, then how about this?  Sure, he/she can sit in.  We rehearse on Wednesday's.  Send him/her down for a test run. . . .  

 

 

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I'm starting to wonder if our collective pitch as a culture is failing. I've been to several birthday parties recently and each time I couldn't pick out a tonal center amongst the crowd of people belting out Happy Birthday. I don't recall things being as bad years ago.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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2 hours ago, Threadslayer said:

I'm starting to wonder if our collective pitch as a culture is failing. I've been to several birthday parties recently and each time I couldn't pick out a tonal center amongst the crowd of people belting out Happy Birthday. I don't recall things being as bad years ago.

It must be all these years of rap. I guess the only solution is auto-tune everyone, even when we sing Happy Birthday. Is there an app for that? 

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