question about vocal range/vocal type

[ExistenceReaper]

I know vocal ranges and vocal types vary quite a bit from person to person and that they affect each other too, but in what ways? I feel kinda dumn asking this, honestly, but I want to know what other people have to say about this. Personally, I don't know my vocal range that well, but I know people who think it's bigger than what it is because of the way I sound.

 

[GothAmaterasu]

As far as I know, a vocal range is the range within which you can comfortably sing. c:
If you keep deepening your notes while singing, you'll eventually get to a point where the notes will become distorted and airy, and you can't hit them anymore. Same thing when you sing higher and higher, eventually your voice will get crack, thinner or perhaps even stop.

This is a vocal range chart I found on Wikipedia:

• Soprano: C4–C6
• Mezzo-soprano: A3–A5
• Contralto: F3–F5
• Countertenor: E3-E5
• Tenor: C3–C5
• Baritone: G2–G4
• Bass: E2-E4

I myself am likely a Soprano, seeing as my absolute deepest is around F3, and highest about C6. One's vocal range changes depending on how much you train it and how. When I was a kid, I remember I had trouble singing anything below C4. xD
My friend (female) however, has an amazing deep range. It's difficult to say what she'd be, as last time she checked her highest was ~A5, and lowest around C2.

What do you believe your range is? :3

 

[수연 <Suyeon>]

Voice type is more than just the range you're capable of hitting. The list @GothAmaterasu provides is used more in Classical training (Opera and possibly Broadway) and isn't the most practical measure for a modern singer singing pop, rock, etc (especially as ranges overlap and many singers either have a larger or smaller range than as documented for their vocal typing). Vocal type consists of not only the range you're capable of singing, but also the weight of your delivery (is your voice light or heavy) and your tessitura (where are your most comfortable and powerful areas that you utilize often). As you are 16 (and presumably in school), I would advise asking your choir teacher to help you determine your range and possibly narrow down a voice type within that range. Just keep in mind that puberty isn't over yet and your voice may not entirely "settle" into a specific fach until around 21 or 22. Speaking for myself, I'm likely a Lyric Mezzo-Soprano and my voicebank reflects this.

 

[ExistenceReaper]

Voice type is more than just the range you're capable of hitting. The list @GothAmaterasu provides is used more in Classical training (Opera and possibly Broadway) and isn't the most practical measure for a modern singer singing pop, rock, etc (especially as ranges overlap and many singers either have a larger or smaller range than as documented for their vocal typing). Vocal type consists of not only the range you're capable of singing, but also the weight of your delivery (is your voice light or heavy) and your tessitura (where are your most comfortable and powerful areas that you utilize often). As you are 16 (and presumably in school), I would advise asking your choir teacher to help you determine your range and possibly narrow down a voice type within that range. Just keep in mind that puberty isn't over yet and your voice may not entirely "settle" into a specific fach until around 21 or 22. Speaking for myself, I'm likely a Lyric Mezzo-Soprano and my voicebank reflects this.

Thanks for explaining this. I'll see if I can ask my school's choir teacher about it.