what up guys? It is your boy Matt from ramsayvoice.com, and I am so excited to talk to you about voice types, singing classifications, vocal ranges, bass, baritone, tenor, alto, contralto, soprano, mezzo. It's crazy, it's a big old party, and we're gonna get into it right now. Now, you're gonna get three huge things out of watching today's video. Number one, you're gonna figure out exactly what a voice type or a vocal classification is, really. Number two, you're gonna figure out exactly what your voice type is. And number three, we're gonna look at a ton of amazing examples of different voice types. It's gonna be insane. We're gonna take this magical journey. Now, if you find this video helpful, make sure that you like, comment with the next kind of video that you want to see me do, subscribe, and turn on notifications for this channel. Or if you're ready to improve your singing voice today, check out my complete singing course, Master Your Voice. Just click the link to

get on the waitlist now. Let's get started. So, what is your voice type or voice classification? Really, well, a voice type is originally like a system for categorizing the different kinds of voices and ranges out there. It was originally created to figure out exactly which roles should go to whom during opera courses and during opera performances. So, if you were a soprano and you had a soprano range, then you would try out for the soprano part. Or if you were an alto, you would try out for the alto part. So, at first, it was a really, really kind of good shorthanded way of figuring out exactly which classification a singer was, and they tested their range and their facility with hitting different notes in their voice, and they're like, Oh, okay, cool. So, you're a tenor. You're gonna sing the tenor part. Easy. Well, it's hundreds of years later, and now voice type classification is not really necessary to figure out which roles you're going to play in which play or which opera for the most

part. We use voice types as a way of kind of generally talking about the specific type of singing voice that you have and looking for inspiration in other singers and other songs that you may end up singing. So, if I'm a tenor and I know that about myself, then I know that I may want to listen to Sam Smith songs or Bruno Mars songs in order to challenge my voice and fit my voice better than maybe say a Johnny Cash song. Or if you're a girl and if you know that you're an alto, then maybe singing an Ariana Grande song isn't in the cards for you. It's genetically not in the cards for the way that your voice works. And so, instead, you might want to look at something like Annie Lennox or an Adele song or something like that that tends to be a little bit lower. Now I want to go on record and say that every voice type out there is awesome. They're all equal, they are all super cool. Yes, we may be living in a time right now.

where most of the pop stars out there have super super high ranges in their voice and the tenors and the sopranos are getting a lot of credit. However, every single voice type is totally equal and totally valid and sounds great, and here's why. Let's say that you're a bass and you can sing from an E2 up to an E4, and that's the entirety of your range. Well, if you make that E4 sound really really awesome, it's going to sound just as exciting in your voice as a high C in a tenor's voice. It's just the way that your voice is built. So, I've heard lots of basses who want to sing tenor songs. I've heard tenors that want to sing bass songs. It's all equal, and the most important thing is that you're feeling comfortable no matter where it is you choose to sing. Now that you know exactly what voice types are, let's talk about the way that voice types are actually categorized and organized. Voice types are sorted according to gender.

first and so male and female voice types do not really overlap that much. In other words, if you're male, you're going to be a bass, baritone, tenor, or countertenor. And if you're a female, then you're going to be a contralto, an alto, a mezzo, or a soprano. And don't worry if you don't identify as male or female. No matter what you identify as, just take your gender identity and just take the voice type from that particular gender. So if I'm male but I identify as female, then rather than being a tenor, I would actually classify myself as more of a contralto or an alto voice type. And because of that, all the voices and the ranges and the songs that I would listen to that are sung by contraltos and altos should theoretically still be comfortable for me as a tenor. Now that you understand how voice types are actually categorized, let's talk about the way that you actually determine your own singing voice type. Now a lot of voice teachers are going to tell you

that oh you just find your vocal range and whatever your vocal range is then compare that to the most common different voice types and there you have it. However, unfortunately, that's a one-size-fits-all solution, and unfortunately, most voice types are actually just a lot more nuanced than that. Like everybody's voice is slightly different. I've had tenors who think that they're bases just because they can't sing high notes. It's like they were in choir class when they were kids and they couldn't sing up to high notes so they were categorized as a bass because the teacher needed bassists that day or something like that. And then here we are 20 years later and they still think that they're a bass even though they're definitely a tenor. So don't let your range alone determine what your voice type is. There's actually a lot more to it. And specifically, I'm going to show you three things that I want to look out for whenever determining a singer's voice type. The first is the tessitura.

important than range, which is the very lowest note that you can sing, all the way up to the very highest note that you can sing. The tessitura is the range of notes where your voice feels comfortable and at rest. So, me as a tenor, as a guy, I can sing from this ah all the way up to a G5. But let's face it, neither one of those notes sound very good. Actually, my voice, in my tessitura or the comfortable range of my singing voice, is much smaller than that. It's usually probably subtracting like a perfect fifth or seven notes in either direction from those notes. For me personally, I would say that my comfort zone is going to be from the C3, that ah, up to a C5, and I can make both of those notes sound pretty good. I can stretch it a little bit further than that, but they don't sound super awesome and they're not super comfortable in my voice. So, if you're wondering what voice type you are just based on your vocal range.

alone, almost anyone can squeak out a couple extra high notes, or maybe push their voice lower in order to achieve what they think their own voice type is. But I think way more important than that is actually finding the tessitura or the more comfortable range of notes in your voice, and we're going to jump into that in a little bit so that you can see how we actually look at the tessitura of more singers. The next factor in determining someone's vocal range that I tend to look at is the timbre of their voice. The timbre or the vocal tone, as you can probably tell just by the sound of my speaking voice, is a little bit higher, a little bit brighter, and a little bit clearer. Than if all of a sudden I invited Johnny Cash in here, resurrected him from the dead. Johnny Cash, welcome back! And he's like, Hey, how's it going? Like his voice would be super low, a lot more gravelly compared to mine. That is timbre, and that is vocal tone.

basically, his would be a lot deeper, or probably a little bit croakier, whereas mine is a little bit brighter and clearer. And that's a great definition and a difference between two different voice types that you can tell with lots of different singers. The third way to classify different voice types, and I think probably the most important, is a concept called vocal weight. Now, vocal weight is probably exactly what it sounds like, and it's pretty closely related to the vocal tone, but vocal weight is just how thick or how thin a specific voice is. Like I gave the example of Johnny Cash walking in here and talking, his vocal weight, just the way that he talks, is a lot thicker and a lot more kind of resonant sounding than my voice, which is a little bit thinner, even though it may be very bright and very clear. It's still a little bit thinner and has a lot more flexibility to it than a Johnny Cash voice type would. You can also compare this in female voices to

a singer like Nina Simone. When you actually hear Nina Simone and her recordings, she has so much vocal weight, she has so much presence in her voice. It almost sounds like a guy singing, which tells you that for a female voice type, she's going to be on the lower end of the spectrum. And compare that to someone like Ariana Grande, who talks up here. And I absolutely love Ariana Grande, but she talks up here, and it's very, very light and very, very thin. That's a vocal weight. So guys, if you know those three different things to look out for: the tessitura, the timbre or the vocal tone, and the vocal weight of the singer, then you've got a really, really great chance at nailing down a specific singer's voice type. Now, to help you on your journey even more, I've prepared a ton of amazing different examples of different voice types and popular singers that we can listen to and learn and kind of compare their voices a little bit. So let's jump in. Okay, guys, our first stop on our magical

tour of different voice types is going to be the bass voice type. The bass voice type is going to be the lowest classification in male singing. The tessitura for most basses is going to be from an E2 up to an E4. Now, basses tend to have a very, very low sounding voice and low sounding vocal tone. The tone may be really, really croaky and deep and very, very resonant, but you'll also notice that there's a huge amount of vocal weight. In other words, like when they sing, they sound like, Wow, it's like the power of God singing through them. And as you hear them, you'll also notice that they don't have a ton of flexibility going up to their higher notes. There certainly are basses that can, but they really thrive down low. Now, what are some great examples of different basses out there? Well, we have to start off with one of my absolute favorites, which is going to be Mr. Johnny Cash. So, we're just going to take a really quick listen to

walk the line by johnny cash by the way i've chosen all these clips from live performances whenever possible that way we can make sure that we're actually listening to the singer in their natural sounding voice without any studio trickery on it at all now here's johnny cash from walk the line i find it very very easy to be true i find myself alone each day is through yes i'll admit that i'm a fool for you because you're mine i walk the line and notice how easy that because you're mine like i can't even sing that low but for him he's because you're mine like it's just not easy for him however me as a higher tenor i have to drop my larynx a lot to even get close to that note it's not difficult for him at all and here's barry white singing you're the first the last my everything [Music] on everything and you'll notice just how strong that is my everything like it sounds like it's a

high note for him even though it's really not that high. You're the answer [Music]. Just so strong, so resonant and powerful. The next one that we're gonna listen to is Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen. And he's interesting because he actually started off as more of a baritone, but as he got older became more of a bass as his voice deepened [Music]. Everybody knows that the dice are loaded so easy. Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed. Everybody knows the war is over. Everybody knows the good gangs yeah. So all the way down he's just like he drops his larynx for that last one, but most of the rest of them are quite easy for him. Now for our next stop in our amazing journey of touring different voice types is going to be the next lowest male voice type, which is actually the baritone. And the baritone is right in between basses and tenors in that the baritone has some darker tones to the vocal timbre, but they also

have some of the higher notes of a tenor voice without necessarily that bright and really clear ringy sound. They have a little bit more vocal weight than the tenors do and a little bit less than the basses do. Baritones are going to have their tessitura from an A2 up to an A4, making them the second lowest male voice type. Here's John Legend singing Ordinary People. Let's listen. You made your mistakes, we both got room left to grow. God, though love sometimes hurts, I'll listen to just how bright and ringy and resonant and almost buzzy his voice sounds when he's singing those notes. It sounds glorious. For another example of a baritone voice, let's take a listen to Hozier singing Take Me to Church. My lover's got humor, she's the giggle at a funeral. Knows everybody's disapproval, I should have worshipped her sooner. So listen to that should have worshipped her sooner. It's like everything is just a little bit woofy and a little bit

thicker now. Just for the sake of comparison, try to imagine Bruno Mars singing those notes. It would just sound quite different. Or Michael Jackson, My lover's got humor. She's a giggle at a funeral. Like, it'd be a lot higher and a lot brighter sounding versus My lover's got a humor. It's just a lot deeper and darker. Now let's listen to one of my absolute favorite baritones of all time, Mr. David Bowie. Here he is singing Cat People. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Yeah, so deep and so resonant and gravelly. He's actually trying to sing in the bass register down here, but his voice is just a little bit thinner than that, and you can actually tell that he's trying to drop his larynx slightly in order to help him hit those lower notes. But if you were actually singing in maybe a little bit of a slightly higher baritone range, you wouldn't have to do that at all. In our next stop on the voice types tour

we're going to be taking a look at my personal favorite guys, which are tenors. And again, like I said, no voice type is better than any other. I just have some love for the other tenors out there. So, tenors are going to have a tessitura in a comfortable vocal range of C3 up to a C5. Now, we're going to be taking a look at one of my favorite tenors of all time. That is going to be Mr. Freddie Mercury of Queen fame. And yes, Adam Lambert is also definitely a tenor. [Music] And now, just imagine Barry White or Johnny Cash singing. There would almost certainly be a lot more vocal weight to it. Tenors, in general, just have a much thinner vocal weight, even though their timbre is often very clear and very bright. They just don't have that gravitas or that deepness that the other lower male voice types do. Now, for another of my favorite tenors, a very, very clear, very pop, and very transcendent sounding.

clear voice of jason moraz singing i'm yours. I felt it. I tried to beat you but you're so hot that I melted. I fell right through the cracks. Now I'm trying to get back. Look at that. It's just so clear and so bright. Now for one of my all-time favorite tenors, Mr. Sam Smith singing lay me down. [Music] I believe that one day I will be where I was right there, right next to you and [Music] and again in case you're worried or confused about these different voice types, just try to imagine a really different voice type singing that same thing. How would Johnny Cash or Barry White or Leonard Cohen be able to achieve the same flexibility that Sam Smith gets there so easily? The answer is they just can't. Now for our final stop in the male voice types is one that is incredibly rare but absolutely transcendent, and that is the countertenor voice type. The countertenor is the highest male voice classification with a tessitura from an E3.

up to an e5, counter tenors are known to have a bright, ringy, very, very clear voice. Even on their incredibly highest notes, they just make them seem so easy, which is why these guys are just so rare. Now let's take a look at Bruno Mars sing Locked Out of Heaven and notice how none of those high notes are difficult for him. And this is actually a really, really difficult place in a lot of males' voices. He's an a4. That's actually at the beginning of their second bridge, really, really high notes, but he's just never much faith in love like he doesn't even have to think about it. Now for one of my favorite new finds in starting this channel is going to be one of my favorite counter tenors, Dimash Kudaibergen. Now let's take a look at him singing a little bit of SOS just so you can get a feel for the counter tenor sound. [Music] [Applause] [Music] So delicate [Music] You could almost if you close your eyes

just imagine that a woman was singing that, and you would totally buy it because his voice type is just so high, and his vocal cords are so thin, and this distance between his larynx and his lips is so small that everything just sounds so easy and so bright and clear up there and very thin. Well guys, that actually does it for the male voice types. Did you find out yours? Were you a bass, a baritone, a tenor, or a countertenor? Make sure to leave a comment below when you find out your voice type in classification. Now let's go ahead and take a journey through the different ladies of voice types. Next, we'll take a look at the very lowest female voice type, and this is quite rare, but we're going to be looking at contraltos. Contraltos actually have the exact same tessitura as the countertenors. Contraltos are going to be able to sing in a tessitura in a comfortable vocal range of E3 all the way up to E5. The ability for them to sing quite that

low in their voice makes it very very impressive. Most of piano's voices are actually going to start around that a3. The fact that a contralto is actually going to start a perfect fourth below that, that's just impressive. Let's start off by looking at Nina Simone singing Feeling Good. [Music] [Music] She's singing breathy but it's so clear, it's got so much buzz to it, and that's a trademark contralto sound. Contraltos will be able to make those lower notes in their voice to sound just like a man's, just sounds so strong and so resonant and buzzy. Next, we'll take a look at another famous contralto, Miss Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics, singing Sweet Dreams. [Music] And again, that could be a tenor singing those exact same lines, they just have that some of them want to use you, it's just so bright and clear. Next, let's take a look at the second lowest female voice type, the alto.

this is a more common range than the contralto. It's the second lowest female vocal range, and altos are going to be able to sing with a tessitura from an F3 up to an F5 in their voice. And again, their ability to sing those low notes is very, very impressive, but just giving them a little bit more vocal weight than, say, a mezzo-soprano, and definitely a little bit less gravelly than the contralto. Now let's take a look at a couple of my favorite altos. We'll start off with Lana Del Rey singing Born to Die. [Music] Every step that [Music] Now notice that even though she's singing with a little bit of that breathy, kind of hooty sound, just notice how easy those bottom notes really are for her. Feet don't fail me now. You could know that if she was actually singing a little bit stronger and a little bit less breathy, you could tell that it would just sound a lot brighter and a lot

clearer. Next, we'll take a look at another one of my favorite altos, Miss Tracy Chapman, singing the amazing Fast Car. You got a fast car. Maybe we make a deal. Maybe together we can get somewhere. Any place is better. Starting from zero, got nothing to lose. Maybe we'll make something. But me, myself, I got nothing to prove. And as you listen to that, you could really imagine another singer, like say Sam Cooke, a tenor, actually singing those same lines and sounding pretty similar to that. And now, my favorite alto of all time. She just takes the win because I absolutely love some Amy Winehouse. Here she is singing Back to Black. And just listen to just how brassy her voice sounds. She almost sounds like a lower saxophone, like a baritone sax or something like that. You just can't imagine Ariana Grande singing that with any justice. And it has to be done by an alto voice to get that without my kind. It just has so much.

thickness to it, and you can tell that my tenor voice actually matches that pretty well. So, as a higher male voice type and a lower female voice type, they kind of match up and overlap a little bit. Next, we're going to take a look at the next highest female voice type, which is going to be the third from the bottom, which is the mezzo-soprano. Now, the mezzo-sopranos are a fantastic bunch of ladies and voice types because they're able to hit some of the low notes with some of the vocal weight of the altos, but they're also able to really stretch and reach up to the highest notes just like the sopranos can. Mezzo-sopranos are going to be able to sing from an A3 all the way up to an A5 and still sound great doing it. Let's start off by listening to one of my favorite mezzo-sopranos, and that is the lovely Madonna. Here she is singing Like a Virgin [Music] Till I found you so you can see that

it's a little bit thinner than, let's say, like Tracy Chapman's voice type, but it's not quite as high. It's like an Ariana Grande is. Now we'll take a look at one of my absolute favorite mezzo-sopranos of all time, Miss Lady Gaga, singing Million Reasons. You're giving me a million reasons to let you go. You've given me a million reasons to quit the show. You've given me a million reasons. Give me a million reasons. Given me a million reasons about a million reasons. And when she wants to go for that, and if I saw a highway, I would run for the hills. There's like a gravity to it. There's like a depth and a ring to it that just sounds so gorgeous and so full. Now for one of the most favorite mezzo-sopranos of all time, Miss Beyoncé Knowles, singing If I Were a Boy. It's very warm, even though she's breathy. [Music] [Applause] [Music] What I wanted and go. It's just so

warm it just makes you feel so full and nice. Now it's time to look at the highest female voice type, which of course is the soprano voice type. Sopranos are going to have a tessitura from C4 all the way up to a C6, and sopranos are always going to sound very, very clear and light and have tons and tons of flexibility in their voice. Sopranos are some of the most famous pop singers around today. Even though anyone can have a career in singing, we've decided as a culture and as a society right now that we really like to just hit the stratosphere of high notes, and sopranos are able to do that with ease. So let's take a look at a couple of my favorite soprano singers. If you've been watching this video so far, it may come as no surprise to you that I'm going to bring up Ariana Grande. It's the premiere example of a soprano, and here she is singing God is a Woman.

and just notice that how easy all of those notes are for her. Like imagine Lady Gaga singing those exact same notes, and you would know that Gaga would just sound a lot thicker, and maybe a little bit huskier, whereas Ariana Grande just sounds super thin and light. There, she's got so little vocal weight. She just has tons of flexibility in her voice, and that is a trademark soprano sound. Next, we'll look at a classic performance by a fantastic soprano and one of the greatest divas of all time, Miss Mariah Carey, singing Hero. [Music] So light, so much finesse. [Music] [Music] And just notice how much flexibility is in her voice. And obviously, for those people who already really like Mariah Carey, they already know that she can sing those whistle notes super, super easily. And there's got to be a correlation there between a soprano having a lighter voice type and being able to make it up into those whistle notes so much easier. For our final listening example today.

we're going to look at one of the greatest singers of all time, a very, very famous soprano voice type, which is going to be miss Whitney Houston singing I Will Always Love You. I should stay, I would all live in your way, and you cannot imagine Tracy Chapman or Annie Lennox or even Lady Gaga for that matter making those notes sound just as free and clear and flexible as Whitney Houston does here. And that is gonna wrap it for the ladies' voice types, going from the lowest contralto up to the alto, mezzo-soprano, and finally the highest being the soprano voice type. Ladies, did you find your voice type watching this video? If you did, make sure to leave a comment down below that you found your voice type. Before we wrap up today, I just wanted to say one more time, no matter what voice type you are - bass, baritone, tenor, countertenor, contralto, alto, mezzo, or soprano - all voice types and all voices are created equally. Don't let whatever is popular right now.

make you feel ashamed for the way that your voice sounds again. If you're a bass and you can sing and comfortably voice from an E2 up to an E4, then make that E4 sound as great as you possibly can. And it's gonna sound way more or just as exciting as what a tenor can do up to a C5. Or if you're an alto and you can just sing up to the F5, but not make any of the notes above that sound any higher, just make that F5 sound as amazing as you can. And that'll sound just as exciting as a soprano high C6. Everything is created equal, and if you have that additional vocal weight in your voice, it's going to sound just as exciting or more so than a tenor or a soprano who makes them feel and sound maybe a little bit less exciting than having all of that vocal weight on there. Guys, I hope you found this video helpful. If so, make sure to click like, comment with the next kind of video.

that you want to see me do subscribe and turn on notifications for this channel. Or if you're ready to improve the voice that you have, check out my complete singing course Master Your Voice. Just click the link to get on the waitlist.

Voice Types: The 8 Singing Classifications. Find Yours Here!

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