The Contralto - Is That A Dude Or My Mother?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ม.ค. 2018
- Ever wonder why a contralto sings in such a low tone? Why a contralto sometimes could be mistaken for a man? Here is a brief and science based description of the lowest voice type, and one of the most rare.
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Pictured: Helene Schneiderman (Baroness, Santa Fe Opera, Ken Howard), Okka von de Damerau (Erda), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Erda, Bayerischen Staatsoper Munich), Ursula (the sea witch), Who's your Mama by freckles0x0x
"Les oiseaux dans la charmille" from Les Contes D'Hoffmann,
"Der Tod und das Mädchen" performed by Marian Anderson and Franz Rupp
"A Woman's World" performed by Alicia Keys
"Rollin' in the Deep" performed by Adele
"I put a Spell on You" performed by Nina Simone
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Elizabeth Zharoff is an international opera singer and voice coach, with 3 degrees in voice, opera, and music production. She's performed in 18 languages throughout major venues in Europe, America, and Asia. Currently based somewhere between Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth spends her days researching voice, singing, teaching, writing music, and recording TONS. She also plays Diablo and Dungeons & Dragons.
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the AVPS umbridge meme knocked me out 😂
Today I learned my voice is "T H I C C" and "D E E P" And it gave me the confidence to keep going.
I always wanted to meet a woman with a low voice, produce offspring and make godly children. Crack the mountains!
The contralto is often the sexiest female voice in most circumstances, if you want to know the truth. And that is from a connoisseur of the female voice. So don’t ever think badly of your voice or give up.
The comments here are *French kiss* I'm a 5"2 130 lb female and was always self conscious of it and these comments eradicate it. AMEN MY THUNDER VOICED SISTER 💪
I’m so glad I’m not alone. My voice started developing deeper in 8th grade and remember having a hard time blending with the higher voices (I was a soprano). I can sing both high and low, but in my CIS high school choir, I was able to blend very well as an alto. :)) Something I learned was that it’s not necessarily about range (especially if you can sing different voice parts like me) but more so the color of your voice!
I love you... I've struggled with my voice feeling some type of way when ppl say i sound like a man, but to know that i have the voice of a wise woman was empowering thank you! You saved my music career.
I always thought that I just sucked at singing but could for some mysterious reason could do a killer Cher impression "as a joke." Now I realize that i'm just a contralto and this video makes me want to explore that more. :)
My husband: "You sing better with a male voice than with female" xD
Tassia de Moura own the duality, girlfriend! I have always admired the contralto voice, turns out l am one too
Recently karaoked "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast and I sang Gaston's part (in original key) then went up to singing the Bimbettes without skipping a beat or missing a note. Certainly surprised my mother with that one.
The classical contralto sounds the epitome of feminine grace to my ears. There is something magical about a woman singing a contralto part.
Thank you! I know this is old but makes me feel better.
@@user-ih4fd9sf8x That's so cool!! I like contralto voices too, they sound so beautiful actually.
@@user-ih4fd9sf8x As a contralto, SAME!
Fun vid. My mom, even at 15 yrs old, was a trained "Lady Bass." Wanted to strangle her teacher for torturing her to keep a good F5. She easily hit G2. Rumbled lower as she got older. Called "Sir" on the phone all her life. 😂 Since having her as a mom programmed my ears, I can always tell whether a singer is a woman, but also I accidentally called a man "ma'am" on the phone once. Oops.
I'm just a regular old, not very good, very little trained E3-F5 contralto. But my mom's voice was something fantastic and incredible. A director friend of ours told her she was the only woman he'd ever heard who actually sounded like a male on those low notes instead of a woman singing low.
Thanks for the vid!
I used to be a mezzo-soprano and now I'm a contralto after I had an operation on my throat. Its taken me so long to find the right songs again but it's pretty awesome cos I can sing more male songs now! Woop my range is now E3 to E5
What kind of operation was that? Do you feel good now?
I sing tenor in my choir, and that’s my whole range 🤷♀️
Male tenor range describes me perfectly. When people give me examples of contraltos saying that's as low as females go I'm like 'but that's high, tho'.
@@SobrietyandSolace Same here, my voice is lower than mostly contraltos' examples I know
@@SobrietyandSolace same here
I'm a contralto shifted down a step or two, which has just made my experiences with vocal performance really difficult. I was in the all-girls choir at school, because I wasn't good enough for the SATB choir (we were a large enough school that we had several different levels of choir). But of course the reason I wasn't good enough was that I was being forced to sing parts that didn't work for my voice - even the Alto 2 part was generally too high for me (I'm sure there are choral pieces with Alto 2 parts that would have worked for me, but it's not what my choir was singing because most of the girls didn't have those notes). I was even taking private voice lessons at the time, but even there I wasn't being given music that fit my range. I was singing the same pieces as sopranos - and I knew I wasn't doing a good job. By the time I joined other choirs were I could sing the tenor part, I had lost so much confidence in my ability to sing that I just didn't trust in myself anymore. And it didn't help that of course my vocal quality is completely different than a dude singing the same notes, so it made it really hard for me to judge how well I was doing.
I have a friend who is having that problem then . She then did a try out with her friend where she took the role Iago from the Italian opera of Otello. A low baritone line made it obvious to people that they were getting hurt is her voice range wrong.
I'm a male who recently found out I had a countertenor voice (high pitched and easily considerable androgynous, sing the 3rd and 4th octave most comfortably) I consider altos our sisters haha. Love androgynous voices.
Thank you for this. This video makes me feel validated and I just want you to know that.
Thanks for this comment! I work really hard to bring excellent content to my viewers, and your comment likewise makes me feel validated. :-)
I am a contralto and it's hard to be in this vocal range.
I know. Every song is out of our range just enough were we’re so close but so far.
Especially for kids into musical theater (like me, I'm a nerd, make fun of me all you want) We can't sing anything but guy parts, and teachers usually hate gender switching, so you always get the ensemble. Its fun, but gets very annoying.
Oof. Yes. It's also why I was happy to pick up tenor parts in ensembles, since it let me have some melodies. 🤣
Classically trained as a contralto?
Because the most common contralto is a woman who sings contralto due to poor passagio control
I’m a true contralto too! I’ve always found singing dudes roles much much easier than female roles 😂
Thank you for making this, I myself am a contralto and I've had an easier time singing along to Frank Sinatra, Elton John, the Beetles, and the Carpenters rather than Adel.
Saaaaame Karen is our queen tho
Male roles are much easier for us to sing to and it's so much harder to find female vocalists in this range that are popular.
All of my friends say I sound like a man 💀
You are not alone.💜
I also look like one
I look like a one too-
I got mistaken as my male cousin, my brother
Contralto voices sound androgynous but I can tell they women. Deep voices don't always sound like men sound and high voices don't almost mean feminine .it's the timbre in the voice not necessarily. Voices fall in 3 categories Masculine (male) androgynous (gender-neutral) and Feminine
I always felt self conscious about how deep my voice is but I realize that it can be gift now that I know I am a contralto.
A true Contralto is rare to come across.
Im 12 and i want to become a famous contralto singer. I have a low range, but it isn't a very large range. Will my voice get used turn into contralto or will it be more higher
Naomi Patillo Unicorns Big E I’m 13 and I must say when I was twelve my voice range was very little and now I can sing almost 4 octaves but can only sing a basic baritone range comfortably anything higher than that gets a little strained and uncomfortable just a transition from 12 to 13 will be huge if you’re anything like me
Contraltos are not popular and are looked at as masculine. I hate being contralto.
@@maggielawson268 thank you
S D I've always admired contraltos forever and I'm shocked and surprised (relieved and happy) that I'm one myself all this time believing l was a higher voice type!
This is really very interesting. I had forgotten ( until my sister reminded me), when I was in high school I was in our rather small church choir. The choirmaster always had another lady and I sing alto or bass. After high school I gave up singing, unless I was alone in my car, as I felt my voice sounded like crap. We had a new choirmaster, and the parts he wanted me to sing felt like i was straining to hit, and as I recall my throat would hurt. I could pretty much only get through one song and done. Too, a few years later we found out I'd had undiagnosed asthma. Thank you for explaining the different ranges, I think I was most likely a contralto being expected to sing above my range. I absolutely love the way you explain things.
That's why I don't believe the voice type is rare at all, it's just not promoted or included as much. Like you I was expected to sing as kid as a soprano in choir, honestly I hated it. I knew then that it was a strained on my voice, because that's not my voice type. It's sad cause I'm sure this happened more often than not. I've read so many stories of females being turned down by vocal coaches, trained improperly, and made to sing soprano. I guess the vocal coaches believe everything their taught in music education, and this is ruining alot of great voices along with confidence. Contralto is not rare it's just not acknowledge or accepted.
Music profs at my university only believed in mezzos and sopranos. You had to fight to get them to acknowledge contraltos existed. One of the reasons I didn't bother with vocal performance. 20 years later, did a couple of vocal exercises to demonstrate my range for my co-worker, a voice teacher...her first comments: "Oh wow, I think you're actually a contralto." (Been telling y'all for 30 years, but sure...)
I always thought I just couldn’t sing, but I realized I just couldn’t sing in the female box.
Super cool video! Liked the information on voices and their “traditional” parts in opera (?). Thanks for sharing!
I'm a woman and just found out that not only I'm contralto, but I can also go down to male bass vocal range :O I can go from C2 to C5 (without any exercise). :O
SoulFullOfMusic81 yo this is my range too! I’m having a vocal identity crisis 😂
Sounds unlikely, the lowest chest note recorded from a woman is a D2
ElFo a majority of women in comment sections lie about them having incredibly low voices for some reason. nothing wrong with having an average mezzo or soprano voice lmao
No way you can sing C2. The World Record is D2.
I was with you until you categorized Adele and Alicia Keys as contraltos.They are mezzos
True. Especially Alicia Keys. She is nowhere near conralto in both tessitura and timbre.
@@calebj8134 yes! couldn't agree more. 👍
@@calebj8134 Yeah I don't know how she put Alecia Keys there, Adele though... well, she could pass for one.
I love Nina Simone though - Feeling good makes me feel sooooo good!
No, they are skilled contraltos that are so skilled they can go high.
Being a contralto in metal music: "Why do you need such a low pitch?
I feel like lowkey I’m a contralto 😅my lowest note I can do is a c3 and my highest note I can do is a c5. Whenever I sing high notes I feel uncomfortable and scared to sing it , so I have been singing low notes for a while
I feel your pain exactly, I used to hit some nice C#6 but now I have to "gear" up to hit some notes
I think your a soprano, forgive me if this is wrong. I’m still learning, I believe Sopranos drop out around d3-c3 tho, Contraltos dropping at a g2-f2.
@@Mxshrxxmbxy Yes you are correct the other person wasn't maybe they were new to learning voice type and ranges. I comfortably can hit A2, I have done a decent G2 and struggle F2 but more practice that F2-G2 should become lowest note ever. I could never sing soprano plus I've had thyroid issues so my voice has deepen overtime. I love it though I can sing an array of famous contraltos songs, plus do tenor and I can actually go into whistle registery it so weird lol.
@@MxshrxxmbxyI can sing Bb2 to C#6. What makes me a soprano is where my loudness is.
Excuse me, but where was Ewa Podleś?
I love Ewa!! She's a fantastic contralto.
lol I tried to figure out my range earlier and got E3-F5 as my most comfortable range (where I'm not having to force it), which is literally the exact range you stated in the video.
Same here and I'm a dude.😂😂
I've just noticed Alicia Keys is featured here too when she's not a contralto either.
Here! Have some clarification:
First, I give you 3 links that talk about Alica Keys’s yummy contralto voice:
singersavenue.tumblr.com/post/89291292052/alicia-keys-vocal-profile-vocal-type-lyric
www.imdb.com/list/ls008326730/
forum.popjustice.com/threads/the-pop-girls-who-cant-really-sing.7243/page-5
Due to her warm, deep, and rich timbre, as well as common registration of extreme low notes, most agree that Alicia Keys is a contralto. Also, it’s good to note that Alicia Keys’s used range is C3-E5… which is actually LOWER than the standard contralto range.
On the flip side, some argue that many pop singers today are merely singing in their lower ranges, and not true contraltos, but rather mezzos with low notes. But, to determine the classical voice type of a singer, it’s necessary for that singer to perform a slew of operatic roles. Since Alicia Keys has not performed much opera, this cannot be used to determine her “fach.” However, she is undisputedly an example of the lowest performing females in modern music, so it’s safe to say that she falls into the lowest classification of female voices.
I hope this helps to illuminate any other information you’ve had! Do let me know if you have any other questions.
For your reference, here’s a list of contraltos in non-classical music:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_contraltos_in_non-classical_music
(take that list with a grain of salt, since it is Wikipedia… but at least it’s a good starting point)
I think Keys's voice is way too light and a little high to be classified as a Contralto (even when it comes to pop music). What about singers like Betsy, Cher and Annie Lennox? By the way, isn't Keys's passigios and colours a little too high to be a pop Contralto singer?
th-cam.com/video/NDGw_VRqzAk/w-d-xo.html
Alexis Low - I agree with you here. Somehow, her overall tone sounds different from a contralto's. It was Nathalie Stutzmann, a real contralto, who said many mezzos can have great low notes reminiscent of contraltos', but that doesn't make them contraltos. I think you should hear the difference in their middle register. The range is not enough to tell, the timbre is a crucial factor. For instance, I have not doubt whatsoever that Cher is a contralto. It's obvious from her overall timbre.
Martine Yeo Some people were shocked by my manly lowest notes and feminine middle and especially head voice. They wouldn't accept me as a Lyric Coloratura Contralto and called me a Mezzo Soprano with a lower extension. I have crazy yet comfortable vibrations in my chest voice and enjoy singing in chest voice. It wouldn't be comfortable for me and other singers like Cher and Annie Lennox to sing high for long, tried it and it fucking hurt! Only true Contraltos can sing chest voice up to F#4 or even Gb4 or G4 in chest voice without strains with heaviness and darkness. Karen Carpenter is a Light Lyric Contralto, listen to her passagios especially 'Close To You',she ascends to middle voice at G4 and that's where she sounds feminine and dearing (one of the trademarks of Light Lyric Contralto). I have a slightly heavier but not truly boulder-weight middle voice, I sound feminine and dearing at G4 too. Also, I heard lighter voiced Contraltos like me have decent sweet voice (G4-B4).
Adele?? Alicia keys? Contraltos?? Maybe in your fantasy!
In modern music some examples of true contraltos are Alison Moyet or Cher but the ones you said are actually mezzos
After listening to a fair number of songs by Diana Ankudinova. Your take is this voice type was perfect. Thank You
quite a few contraltos in Baroque opera and they're not always moms, crones or sensitive dudes (though sometimes they are women in drag for the purpose of complicating the plot, ha) but they do get to sing complex runs. Lots of fun. Vivaldi's L'incoronazione di Dario has 3, two of which are the main female roles. You might not see Dario very often but it's not impossible! I saw it a few years back in Torino. It's got some killer arias, too, and a hilarious plot.
My first voice teacher categorized me as a mezzo-soprano on the first day, but I just couldn't hit a G5. After half a semester struggling, the piano accompanist (a sweet retired music teacher) asked me during a one-on-one session why I kept singing mezzo parts. "Because... I am one? That's what the teacher said."
She looked at me like "are you serious" and hit a A3 on piano, saying "Sing that." Then she went down, down, all the way to B2 where my voice began to really struggle. She then started at C5 and began to work up. I managed to hit F5, but it was a serious struggle. G5 was just not happening. She declared, "You are NOT a mezzo!" Then she pulled out another arrangement of the song and said to sing that. So much easier!
On performance day, I sang the contralto part. My teacher got so mad at me, scolding me that I was "wimping out" of the high parts. The accompanist got mad at her for miscategorizing a student and chewed her out. The teacher declared, "NO ONE is a contralto." Yikes!
For my final, the accompanist worked with me to sing "What Are You Doing the Rest of your Life" since there were not many songs that worked well with my voice besides blues and gospel. The teacher insisted there was NO WAY I could sing it because it went down to a G3 and that was "way too low for a mezzo LIKE YOU!" G3 is right around where my speaking voice lies so I don't even know where she was getting that. She just truly believed there was no way I could be a contralto, no matter what my vocal range really was.
I ended up requesting to sing it EVEN LOWER because I didn't like the highest note. In the key that was most comfortable for me, the lowest note was D#3. Any lower and I start to lose volume.
On a really good morning, I've hit G#2. Definitely can't pull that one out of my hat at any moment though! C3 tends to be the lowest I can hit confidently at any time of the day. It's a struggle being a woman with a deep voice.
Then there's people who say that I have a deep voice only because I play trombone, so it's from singing along to my own part. I'm pretty sure it's all anatomical, not based on your instrument. It's not like all women who play piccolo are sopranos, or all trumpet players are high tenors.
I'm all but certain the lovely, late Karen Carpenter was a contralto. Her voice is absolutely mellifluous. Anything she sings sounds like she's singing it for you.
I wish my music teacher could comprehend that I can sing these low notes and high alto notes make my throat hurt.... A tragedy but I'll live
My favorite contralto and female vocalist of all time is and always will be Karen Carpenter, nobody will ever come close to a voice like hers in my opinion. There are also other great contraltos out there like Cher, Toni Braxton and let's not forget the late Amy Winehouse.
My favorite and one of the most famous Contraltos: Cher!
my neighbour said my voice was contralto but I do sing sooo many different songs that are both really low and really high like vocaloid songs so I'm not sure, exactly, what I am
Same here
I'm an untrained coloratura contralto, (F1)F2-A5(G7), depending on the situation I can be Diana Damrau or Geoff Castellucci 😂😂😂 It's so fun singing along to my playlist while hanging clothes and the neighbours start to look around when the sound changes from Man dude to babygirl to figure the guest performer 😂😂😂 Hello it's my spare voice box 😂 As a newborn they thought I was a boy and almost took another kid home bc of my crying voice sounding nothing like a girl 😂
Ceren, as a fellow Geoff Castellucci, uh, vocal enthusiast? I'd been able to pull off a sweet F2 - A5 on a good day. And am always working on the subharmonic register. I'm down to hearing you singing low if you wanna swing by my Instagram! It's linked in my youtube channel! 🤪
@@HunterTheFerocious hey that almost like my range except that I'm a guy
I love the contralto voice. Great video.
my vocal range : lowest notes I can reach F3, D3, G#3, highest notes : F#5 G#5 but whenever I reach it sounds so high and feels uncomfortable when I ry to hit d5 my head voice is really weak though . but some charts are so confusing, but guessing I am an contralto. hope it is correct
Metalandrock4evermylife - I see what you mean! The range alone is not enough to determine a voice type. The timbre is crucial. Only a knowledgeable vocal coach or teacher would be able to tell for sure. I remember David Jones say in one article about contraltos "Then one day I was vocalizing her really low and I heard IT. The IT is a unique smokey dark color of a true contralto, which is specific, both dark and resonant, and rumbles deep in the body". That shows it's not that evident from the start. It's frustrating when one minute you're labelled a mezzo, the next, a contralto. It's a good idea to get it confirmed by a professional once and for all!
Martine Yeo When l made those deep low sounds. I was literally shocked. I've been told l may be an alto before, l never believed it, believing it to be a very rare voice. All these years I've thought l was something higher because l really struggled to consciously to sing in chest. Falsetto was much easier for me. Singing in main chest is still difficult for me to grasp, it feels really heavy singing in it consciously. After all these years of trying to learn to sing, l have finally found the light. Something clicked. I'm free. I don't have to struggle so much anymore. C3'S and B2'S are really resonant and audible for me without a mic. I am pretty sure if l am made to sing in a group I'd be singing low harmony notes E3 and below. I basically sing like a guy now
My lowest is B2 and my highest is C5
have to give a shout to my favorite (living) contralto whenever the subject comes up.
Monique Ortiz.
The world needs more women who sound like this!
There are a lot of mezzos comfortable with low notes: Adele, Lady Gaga, Toni Braxton, Amy Winehouse, Karen Carpenter, Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa. These are contraltos: Fiona Apple, Rihanna, Florence Welch, Sade, Judy Garland, Diana Krall, Etta James, Róisín Murphy, Gladys Knight, Annie Lenox, Anita Baker, Patsy Cline, Tracy Chapman, Nina Simone. Top drawer low voice: is she a contralto basso? Diana Ankudinova. She is on another level ;-) There are a lot more contraltos than the singing establishment has been willing to admit to. Contralto basso are rare, but regular contraltos are simply under counted and under recognized.
I was mezzo all through my college years. (E5 or thereabouts to F3) Then I had surgery to remove an overgrown cyst and something went terribly, terribly wrong. (Tl;dr version: MRSA. More surgery. Scarred larynx. Much therapy.) When I finally did recover my singing voice, I was surprised and slightly dismayed to find that I had lost an entire octave on the high end. I was even more surprised and slightly dismayed to learn that it wasn't really lost so much as it had changed addresses from its second floor loft down to the sub-basement cellar and now I'm a goddamn baritone. (F4 to G2. F2 during allergy season, so that's fun.) But since that term isn't really applied to the female voice, I just call it "Very, Very Aggressive Contralto."
Adele is mezzo soprano not contralto
she is contralto
@Purple Petals that ia actually not the difgerence. She is a mezzo but i'm a contralto and in do not sound like a man
Thank you very much for all the information! I used to love the voice of Stevie Nicks, especialy in the early days! People said that the voice of Adele was a Soprano voice, but I always knew that her voice was very below that!
In pop music, there’s Ruth Pointer’s contralto in “Automatic”.
I'm in the countertenor range and listen to contraltos for reference.
I really think there are lots of contraltos. It might be the least likely female voice but it isn't rare. The amount of musical training one gets in American schools is "sing these notes, ok, can you sing higher? Yup you are a soprano." I never heard about chest vs head voice and thought that break/transition was where I was supposed to stop singing lower.
I sang in a choir all through high school in the contralto section...there one only me and only other girl would could hit low F
The sopranos always used to make fun of us but we knew we had the harder part (not following the melody is more difficult) and they were just bloody princesses who thought they were better than anyone else lol
Interesting! I'm a baritone guy and I can sing, on a good day, as low as F2 cleanly and as high as B5 in falsetto. I can produce a C6/high C pitch, but that really is the semitone at which I can't make it sound good anymore.
"It's like holding a truck up for a long period of time." That is exactly what it feels like. My voice lives in my chest and it feels *heavy.* Holding it up to F5 is my absolute limit.
And yeah unless I don't mind being cast as old hags as a woman in her 30's..... I probably won't be going the classical opera route LOL.
I think I'd add that female contraltos who are interested in darker, grittier styles of music might have a good spot in those roles too? At least that's what I'm hoping as that's more the type of music I'm interested in.
Edit: Also I absolutely love your title for this video. 😂
I’m an untrained dramatic contralto (although I usually sing tenor), and this is such a cool video
I’m a male and I was said to be a Contralto (Update: I’m a Countertenor since I’m a male)😳
Im contralto and im very proud of it.
I did not expect to see Joe Walkers glorious face in a CharismaticVoice video 😅
Oh my gosh! Your hair, red, it's beauuuutiful!!! Nearly as beautiful as your voice! By the way you're so good. 🤓
paused the video after Elizabeth mentioning Marian Anderson to check her out... ended up listening to various operas/arias for more than 6 hours before coming back to this video :'D
Best contralto now is Sarah Brown of Simple Minds fame.
When she sings a song it’s a deep powerful interpretation that makes any song her own.
Truly memorable.
I really enjoy your work on TH-cam and specially this series! Congratulations and regards from Brazil!
P.S.: was Amy Winehouse a contralto?
I sang along to Roy Orbison and he went too high for me.
Yeah, i have a contralto and finding songs that fit the range is just a plain pain in the rear. So i just pick some tenor songs - Music of the Night is my latest favorite, fitting the range perfectly, both lows and highs.
By the time I was entering middle school, I had a vocal range similar to Steve Walsh (Kansas) and Steve Perry (Journey.) My voice continued to deepen, but was rarely used in that capacity. Diastasis recti, but also a few different major illnesses, did quite a number on my vocal ability. Once becoming a mother, pursuing singing just wasn’t a focus anymore. I’m definitely a contralto, but I don’t think a very androgynous sounding one. Btw, my older brothers, who were/are rather slight built men, sang bass, but also had a decent range.
Some years ago, I got into a conversation with a classically trained professional singer about how pregnancy negatively impacted my voice. It stunned her, because one of the other vocalists in choir with her, who was an alto, was also negatively impacted by pregnancy; she was afraid she was going to lose her career. I really felt for her, and it helped the individual I was speaking with recognize this really can happen, and that what happened to her chorister friend wasn’t so outside the realm of possibility. She thanked me for sharing my experience, and I told her I hoped her friend found something that helped her.
What am I?
My lowest note is A2.
My speaking voice is B2-E3
My comfortable, consistent, solid range is D3-D4
I can go up to B or C5 *at a push* usually imitating male falsetto
A choir leader told me I was a mezzo soprano. I couldn't sing any of the parts he gave me and just sang tenor parts.
When I see examples of contraltos they all seem to be singing far too high. You used Adele as an example but played her belting a high note!
Even when I sing along to male RnB singers I can't go as high.
Everyone tells me female tenors don't exist.
I'd classify you as a contralto! Your tessitura (the range you prefer to sing in) falls within contralto classification, and I know many contraltos who prefer to sing with tenors in a choir. Keep in mind that every singer is different, and voices change and grow. As you continue with proper vocal training and technique, your range will expand!
Sounds like female tenor or baritone to me. I don't think female tenors are eo rare , you get some in quite few choirs now, and I've heard videos and recordings of women with a baritone range. But some people would say female tenors and baritones don't 'exist' because they're 'male' ranges, in which case I guess they would classify you as a low contralto as there's no traditional female category lower than that.
“like hugging a fluffy pillow”... 😊
We just recently lost the great EWA Podles she was impressive by her range. There are wonderful voices in this register both male and female❤ I would suggest you to listen to Federica Moi I'm sure you will love her ❤
I think I might be a contralto
When Miley’s talking voice is 3 notes lower than an E3 and I’m a guy that can’t even go as low as her...
This video actually helped me a lot, after watching it I felt out my range a bit and realized that I definitely fit comfortably within there (if anything, lower). I had only started considering I might have a particularly low voice within the last couple years, because I didn't realize I had not been able to get at all into my chest where my entire voice is lol. I was already 21 by the time I first heard a contralto, Éabha McMahon, and was shocked how easily I could sing with her. Since then I've just shifted down and found I'm far more comfortable there but I'm struggling to really improve. Do you know of any good resources, either videos or reading, to help me understand how to use what I've got lol my range is something like A2-F5, with C3-C5 being most reliable, and my voice is just very big and heavy and I don't know what to do with it
sounds like my range lol. would like to know ways on how to improve also. my voice is heavy and thick, also extremely loud, i'm always being told to speak softly even when I am speaking normally. Literally cannot produce a softer note, it's like my volume dial only goes to a certain point and then it's off. It's really annoying being told I'm too loud when it's already my softest volume. There's nothing that brings me greater joy in singing than sustaining a note in my chest voice and hear it get stronger and more powerful. Other than that, pretty much everything else is shit, runs are hard because my voice is so heavy and inflexible, high notes are very straining, most female songs are out of my reach, male songs are a little too low.
I had a Soubrette Soprano voice till shits happened and I had turned into a Lyric Mezzo Soprano. However, I became a Lyric Coloratura Contralto a year ago. My lowest note is C3 but I can go 1-2 notes even lower, I get into middle voice at G4 and head voice at Eb5. My highest note is C6 (B5-C6 whistle notes). I have beautiful chest voice and a low pitched middle range, not pretty comfortable singing in head voice for a long period of time.
Don't worry! You can expand into more. You got potential
@@rnbsteenstar Weeks ago, I stopped singing high (above Ab5). My voice became thicker with more femininity. I am a Lyric Contralto instead of Coloratura. However, my teacher wouldn't take me as a contralto. I am happy with my voice.
So, your vocal fach just changed like that? I bet that you are a legitimate Mezzo-Soprano in reality. You would sing 2nd Alto in a choir. You have done amazing work on your range.
@@chadguindon6909 No, I sound like someone's mum on calls == husky, low, and sexy (everyone says so). I am very comfortable singing lower songs but not high though a Ab5 is the end of my range. It starts at a C3. I like singing Cher's songs. I quit choir 'cause the instructor wanted me to sing lighter and higher.
Not to be rude but you might want to take some lessons and the teacher might help you with your mixed and head registers and getting the breathing support for it. A Contralto would most likely sing a Tenor part in a choir since an Alto part might be too high. I have a light-bright voice for a male. I am more comfortable on high notes. My strengths are usually from A4 to Eb5. That C3 you are talking about is also my lowest note. However, I hardly sing lower than F3 or E3.
I saw Marion Anderson live. Not a crystal clear voice like Kathleen Ferrier who is my favorite. But it is a wonderful sound from any of them. Ferrier still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and the recording techniques of the time were not like today.
Vocal range (according to Vocaberry): D3 to H5 (being able to hold the notes for a few seconds without my voice breaking, I did manage to hit C#3 and C6 but my voice would break partway through holding it).
Guess I'm a Contralto?
Adele and Alicia are definitely mezzo-sopranos. They use may only chest and mixed voice that's why they sing lower than an operatic mezzo. Also pop sopranos sings lower than opera sopranos cause the belting technique is different with the mixed voice. But Alicia and Adel doen't have that dark and comfrotable low notes to call them a contralto, so as they hasn't got a dark middle register, at least not enough dark for a contralto. They are both lyric mezzos. Annie Lennox, Cher, Nina Simone are definitely contraltos, and we can discuss Sarah Vaughan or Tina Turner, to me they are also more of a contraltos.
Dávid Müller Now, Liza Minnelli always had a terrific voice from her famous mom, Judy Garland. Now her senior years, Liza's voice has deepened and darkened a lot. Her Mezzo like bright notes from her younger days are pretty much gone and now she sounds a bit like mom plus current day Alison Moyet. 100 percent contraltos, all of them.
I am a contralto, but I’m really short and thin so I rarely get a roles cause most contraltos are elderly women or mothers
Check out Olga from Eugene Onegin, by Tchaikovsky. She's sometimes cast as a mezzo, but the part calls for a true contralto. Olga is young and beautiful - the object of affection for one of the male leads.
The Charismatic Voice Thank you ❤️
You're welcome! Thanks for commenting. :-)
I am petite and thin, and my voice is dramatic contralto.
Stutzmann Nathalie Prina Sonia, Mingardo Sara and Lemieux Marie- Nicole are my current favourite contraltos. Mahler Vivaldi Handel great arias for contralto but repertoire is small cf to mezzo
I am 17 so I think I can't be sure of my voice type, but my lowest note is B2 on good days (but it's easier for me to sing low on certain vowels, like for example a B2 on "ah" would never go, but on "oo", definitely) and my highest is G5/A5 but everything above D5 I can sing only for, as you said, a short climax. My chest voice covers most of my range. I sound pretty androgynous and dark in lower notes, but I definitely don't sing as loudly and powerfully as you describe. Is it because I'm too young/not trained enough or just not a contralto? Also, my speaking voice is so low that I used to feel uncomfortable talking with other girls when I was a kid, because they would always sound so high and soft and feminine and my speaking voice is a monster truck everyone can hear from a mile.
In my highschool choir i have one of the lowest range voice. My vocal range is an E3 to a B4. There are only 4 altos in my chior and im the only one with a super thick and rich voice. And i dont know if this is important but im 16. I dont know if my voice will keep getting lower or maintain but i constantly have voice cracks when i dont sing.
I'm pretty sure that you are leaning towards Mezzo-Soprano. You are only 16, so it's hard to determine right now. Be patient, your vocal range will grow as you get older and practice more. You probably cannot go high yet since you are trapped in chest and middle vocal registers. You need to train your head voice in order to go high. Hope this helps.
Sarah Ellison my vocal range is G#2-E5
😉
so happy for you, your voice will stand out in a sea of Sopranos. Hearing a real contralto sing is always a special thing, because they are relatively rare. I live for their ringing dark, thick, rich tones
i’m 20 and i’ve been a contralto since i was 13 or so despite being very short…
What if i cant belt E3-F5 i can only belt E3-F4 but i can sing the rest in headvoice and i can go up to C6 in headvoice
Savannah _Sings Totally natural. The money notes for contraltos are in the fourth octave. They're unique because they can belt powerfully in full chest or chest connected register than other voice types with that dark, low and rich tone.
I sing bass in our choir and I'm very comfortable
my lowest note is D3 and my highest belt is B#4 and my highest head voice note is somewhere around B5 i think
I take it you would sing Alto in a choir?
Chad Guindon yeah
Do you know an app with accurate results to find my vocal range? certain apps for measuring the vocal range, say that mine is contralto.... but I don't know... also I don't have like a musical hearing, so I don't know how to figure it out... I'm doing this just out of curiosity
I have range from G/A2 - B5 (sometimes C6, used to hit D-E6). I have a pretty strong low notes even in my A2 but not as thick as most thicc contralto but thick enough to be mistaken as a guy (even thicker than most of my friends) I heard about lyric contralto is it what I am or what actually am I? *confuzzled*. The 5th octave will sound lighter but not light enough like typical soprano. Back then in choir oddly I grouped as a soprano and now an alto. That doesn't help me at all.
Interesting. I have a hard time holding high notes. I'm like a C3 to a F4 (straining @ F4), and I might be able to get to b2 briefly. But I was always told I don't sing well, so I don't usually sing. Then a few people declared I had the deepest voice they ever heard for a female. So I used a vocal meter and I do have a deep voice, which I didn't know cause I thought it was higher. (Btw I do cackle like a evil witch naturally so I guess that character trope matches). I know in grade school they used me to fill in bass tones but never understood why really until way later on in life.
Are you singing out of chest? Because how is f for the highest note for you? Even baritones can get higher than that. And lower. So I'm thinking you're not using your head. Like when I only use my chest. I can't really get above an a4. A4 is really a struggle for me because that's my breaking point. My chest voice ranges about G2 all the way up to about g4. And G2 and a2 are really thought out notes. Like I don't usually do them unless I'm looking at the screen. And I can see that if I go deeper into my chests or my notes. I can also do that with f2 on some days. But usually on those days G4 is going to be a hard sale for me so F4 is going to be my highest chest note. My voice changes because I'm a female. So my period and hormones kind of control it.
I went from a soprano to a contralto as I aged and smoked. I miss my higher notes, but I am content with my lower tones.
Do lips trill exercise 10-15 mins and practice
You don't look old?
Hi. Forgive me for how bad I am with using these technical terms, but I’m a thirteen year old, and I think I might be a contralto. The lowest note I can hit while still having it come out strong is D3, lowest I can hit with it coming out breathy and weak is B2. I can’t sing very high at all, and the moment I try to belt higher than my comfortable range, my voice goes super unstable and shaky. My voice also sounds very different while singing low notes and high notes, and my speaking voice lies in the upper half of my singing range. I’m in my middle school’s choir program, and I had to convince my choir teacher to let me drop everything an octave like some of the older boys in the choir because I couldn’t reach any of the notes, even with falsetto. Basically, I can hit all the male notes in Hamilton, and Eliza’s parts are impossible for me. Please help me, I’m confused. My classmates think I, a short Asian girl, sound like a man when I sing.
im definitely a contralto. i have a lower speaking voice and my lowest note is a D3 and my highest note is an E5
Hello :) Here is a question: I am not a trained opera singer, I'm an operetta singer (amateur) with voice lessons. I take part in community theater, singing Gilbert & Sullivan to benefit our local hospital. I am compelled to audition for a Contralto role, though my voice has been previously "sussed" as Mezzo Soprano. In this contralto role, I am able to sustain the lower notes (they are so cool and it's comedic anyways) but as it's different, I am trying to develop the right color & weight I feel it should be sung with. I want to do the role justice in the audition. Here is my question: Am I nuts to try a seemingly different voice type than what mine seems to be? I say "seems" as not trained so even I dont know my potential...but trying to find out a bit more. I feel like an imposter even trying but the notes are all attainable and it resonates. I can sing with character voices/effects, so maybe will try and go it that way. Your thoughts would be valuable, as I am about to launch into audition preparation mode. BTW - great new topic, Preparing for Auditions. Bet we'd all love to hear how you prepare! How you choose roles, break them down, ect. Thanks again for all you do :) xo!
Why no talk of Karen Carpenter? I realize she passed away in 1983, but she had a 3 octave range and was also a fantastic drummer that could sing effortlessly while playing the drums. A Carpenters reaction video would be great if you could please post one.
I think Lisa Gerard is another famous contralto (she gets pretty low on the Gladiator Soundtrack).
"Witches, Britches, Bitches. That's all you get." - My piano teacher
Talk about Diana Ankundinova dramatic conrtaalto voice, please. :3
I'm contralto too!! 💖💗😇
Anyone else come here because Wyoh Knott was described as a contralto in the moon is a harsh mistress?
Whoohoo! I'm a contralto. :)
What voice type would you say Karen Carpenter had? Her low notes sound very rich, but she could also sound soft and not strained on higher notes.
Suggestions for songs we can see to practice in our register please.
would you say that the woman who plays papa ge in the once on this island revival is a contralto? I find my vocal range is similar to hers if not a tad lower (or maybe just less trained)
Cher is one of those most popular and enduring Contralto's in the United States.
my voice range is contralto. I can reach low notes but having hard time reaching higher notes more than f5. however my voice is so thin, and not sounds like a man and. what can you suggest for me to improve?
Lyric Contralto here with a C3 - B5 range... passagios consistent with the fach (1st kicking in around B4 and second at D5...) still studying so hoping to find my “place” in a choir. (I’m 40 so my voice is pretty much as ‘matured’ as it will get...) 🤣🤣
I go more than an octave below you and your top note would have me cracking... not sure if I feel comfortable with the label 'contralto'
Little Wolf Taima - my current coach still insists I’d be a mezzo, but I’m more comfortable in a lower tessitura. (Perhaps I just have not trained enough as singing has always only been something I did in addition to my primary career.)