This article focuses on voice classification within classical music. For other contemporary styles of singing see: Voice classification in non-classical music.
Voice type
Female
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Contralto
Male
Countertenor
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
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A voice type is a group of voices with similar vocal ranges, capable of singing in a similar tessitura, and with similar vocal transition points (passaggi).[1] Voice classification is most strongly associated with European classical music, though it, and the terms it utilizes, are used in other styles of music as well.
A singer will choose a repertoire that suits their voice. Some singers such as Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Jessye Norman, Ewa Podleś, and Plácido Domingo have voices that allow them to sing roles from a wide variety of types; some singers such as Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry change type and even voice part over their careers; and some singers such as Leonie Rysanek have voices that lower with age, causing them to cycle through types over their careers. Some roles are hard to classify, having very unusual vocal requirements; Mozart wrote many of his roles for specific singers who often had remarkable voices, and some of Verdi's early works make extreme demands on their singers.[2]
^Shewan, Robert (January–February 1979). "Voice Classification: An examination of methodology". The NATS Bulletin. 35: 17–27.
^Appelman, D. Ralph (1986). The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and application. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20378-6.
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a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voicetypes. It is the highest male chest voice type...
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tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voicetypes, generally...
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