Comparitive Vocal Ranges | Fab forum

I was wondering if anyone knew for certain the vocal ranges of the Beatles. I know Paul's is A1 to F5 not including falsetto – which is frankly astonishing. There's a good video on youtube if you google "Paul McCartney Vocal Range".

I know John sings an A4 (the A above Middle C) in Twist and Shout, as well as on a number of other songs. That A sounds very strained, but given he had a cold and had been recording the whole day I wouldn't rule out him hitting a few notes above that on a better day.

George apparently has a higher range than John, but I can't give any examples to verify it. Obviously Ringo was the baritone of the group.

Thanks for the welcome and the link mate, seems to answer my question. I searched "vocal ranges" and it didn't come up so posted the topic. You do read it right, but according to the video McCartney managed to pull his range down an entire octave over the years.

I believe the average vocal range being 1 and a half is because most people do not bother to sing, and even those that do don't necessarily seek vocal training. Most rock singers appear to get a good 3 octaves out of their voice, some even managing to find a 4th. I've been singing for about 2 years an I'm only one note off a three octave range – not including falsetto/vocal fry. (and also lol at the "except Ringo" comment)

The note he sings "hall" on is actually a G4, or the G above Middle C, but he changes register into falsetto. The last note they hit on the "Aah" bit of Twist and Shout is actually an A4, a tone higher.

Paulrus said:

Middle C is C4, I think, so your lowest would be A4.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on the internet as to how Scientific Pitch Notation works. There is a good article on Wikipedia as to how it works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S…..h_notation but I will try and explain it for you how I understand it.

Middle C is usually designated as C4, although I've seen it written as C3 and C5 in some places, which is wrong. The High C an octave above Middle C is C5. The notes between C4 and C5 all have 4 after them meaning that A4 would be the A above Middle C. The A below Middle C is an A3.

Vocal range does not define voice classification, rather it is the transition between chest and head voice (passagio), where your speaking voice lies and the general timbre of your voice. For example, Robert Plant has a high, girlish quality to his voice (for a man anyway) while Eddie Veddar has a manly growl. The baritone range is the most common range, while tenors are more common than bass voices. (And just for laughs, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..cKA-Pf3qLc and note the tone of the Tiger's voice at the end. True bass at its best).

However, certain voices are associated with certain ranges. Baritones are expected to hit A2 (second A below Middle C), while true Tenors cannot.

The best vocal classification to have is a matter of opinion as to what tone you are going for, but those who's comfortable ranges are lower tend to have greater ranges overall. This is because the lower your comfortable range the longer your vocal chords. In reaching higher notes we shorten the vocal chords, and while it is possible to shorten your vocal chords far beyond your comfortable range it is impossible to lengthen your vocal chords any distance.

This is why most baritones can with training sing in the tenor range. It is also one of the reasons tenor parts in popular music are more common – it's very hard to fake a bass voice.

MotherNaturesDaughter, From what I you told me your lowest note is an A3 and your highest is a B5, giving you a comfortable range of 2 octaves and a tone. Bear in mind that vocal range is usually taken in the modal register (ie head and chost voice), and does not include vocal fry or falsetto.

Hope that's helped someone