How To Figure Out Your Vocal Range

Of course you want to know how to figure out your vocal range. More importantly, you want to figure out the different ranges of your voice. Which ranges you can always hit comfortably, what’s normally a bit too high or low, and what range you can only reliably hit in head voice. 

The first step is getting your voice warmed up, because we’re going to find your basic range. Your range on a whatever-today-is kinda day. The easiest way to do this is at a piano. 

You want to start somewhere in your comfort zone, most likely C below middle C for a guy and middle C for a girl. From there, go down one note at a time, playing the note on the piano and then singing the note. 

Do that until you can’t really sing the note any more. Congratulations! Those notes are a part of your range. Now to find the more exciting part of your range.

Next, start at the starting note you selected once again, but go up this time. By the end of this, you should have a pretty good idea of your basic range. And this is helpful, but not as helpful as breaking down your range into different pieces that are more informative about how you should use them. 

Consistent Range

I consider the consistent range the entirety of the range of notes you can hit on an every-day basis, assuming you’re healthy. So, notes you could hit pretty much every day but days you are sick would still be a part of your consistent range.

Basically just “notes I know I could hit in a live show or recording unless I’m sick or my voice is otherwise shot” would be how to describe your consistent range. 

But I have 4 different ranges defined within this to help be more informative.

Comfort Range

Your comfort range is the range that you can just sit in all day and be comfortable. You don’t have to reach for the low or high notes, you can get there. 

Your comfort range shouldn’t be very taxing on your voice either. They should be notes you could hit over and over and over again in the course of a day of recording or a show. 

Usually your comfort range will be right in the middle of your consistent range. 

Lower Range

Your lower range is the range that is something you can hit post-warmups, but may be too low to reliably sing on stage, with your adrenaline rushing and your voice being warmed up and used to max capacity. 

It’s something you generally would be quite comfortable with using for a harmony part in one of your songs, but may shy away from diving too deeply into with your melodies. 

In the case that you do use your lower range in a melody, you’re probably going to want to aim to perform these songs early in your live sets, before your voice is too warmed up and worn out to get back down there. 

Upper Range

Your upper range is the upper part of your range where you can hit it consistently if you’re vocally warmed up, but it is taxing on your voice. 

These are the notes that are high enough that you have to be careful about how many times you hit them in the course of a day or a show. You know you can hit them if you’re warmed up, but they also are going to be taxing on your voice. 

You wouldn’t want to be constantly in your upper range for a 2 hour set. You know you can hit your upper range notes whenever you need to, but you have a healthy respect for them as well.

Head Voice Range

Head voice range is the only part of your “Consistent Range” that can share notes with any of the other ranges. It probably won’t share any parts with your Lower Range, but it will often share notes with a combination of your comfort range, upper range, and your deviant upper range. 

Your head voice range should be considered separate from your other ranges, as it is usually used differently than your full-voice ranges. Often, you want to write your melodies and other parts with usage of your full-voice in mind. 

But, sometimes, you want to hit a note in head voice for effect, so knowing your full voice upper range and knowing your separate head voice range can be very useful.

Deviant Lower Range

The deviant lower range is your lower range that you have been able to reach at some point, but wouldn’t be able to reliably hit. Maybe you can usually hit these notes early in the morning or when you’re sick, but it isn’t a note you’d expect to be able to consistently hit all day every day. 

This is the type of note you’d only plan to have in a recording, never expecting to perform live. 

Deviant Upper Range

These are those notes that you hit on the best days. Some days you can just nail that ultra-high note. Once you sang along with Bon Jovi for the final key change section of “Livin’ On a Prayer”, nailing that Eb.

But you know you can’t rely on those notes on any given day. So, if you write them into a song, you understand it isn’t something you’ll be able to perform any day. 

You may even have to wait for the perfect day to get that vocal take.

What notes do you have in your different ranges? Let us know in the comments below!

For more on arranging tips, check out how to deliver at every part of your song, my music arrangement theory, and the golden rule of arranging.