How the test works
- Warm up. Hum, then slide gently up and down for a minute or two. A cold voice under-reports its range at both ends, sometimes badly. Nothing is measured in this step; it only shows you that the microphone can hear you.
- Slide down to your lowest note. Start somewhere easy and glide down on an open “ah”. Your lowest note is the last one that still produces a clear, steady pitch — not the lowest noise you can make. Hold it.
- Slide up to your highest note. Same rule at the top: the highest note you can hold cleanly, not the highest you can squeak.
- Read the result. Both notes with their octave numbers, the distance between them, the keyboard, and what fits.
Throughout, the note you are singing is shown live and marked on the keyboard. A note only counts once you have held it steadily for about half a second, which is what keeps slides, coughs and background noise out of your result. The pitch detection is the same engine as the voice tuner, where you can watch a single note in cents rather than measure a range.
What is my voice type?
Singers are traditionally sorted into six voice types, each with a typical range of about two octaves. The test places your range against these and tells you which one it sits closest to.
- SopranoC4 – C6 · typical range
- Mezzo-sopranoA3 – A5 · typical range
- AltoF3 – F5 · typical range
- TenorC3 – C5 · typical range
- BaritoneA2 – A4 · typical range
- BassE2 – E4 · typical range
Treat the answer as a neighbourhood rather than a verdict. Look at how much the six ranges overlap: most notes belong to three or four of them at once. What actually separates a baritone from a tenor, or a mezzo-soprano from a soprano, is timbre (the colour and weight of the sound), tessitura (where the voice is strongest and can stay for a whole song without tiring) and where it changes register. A range test hears none of those. It hears two notes.
So the result says “your range sits closest to a typical baritone range”, and never “you are a baritone”. If you sing in a choir or take lessons, the person who hears you every week will place your voice far better than any test can. The vocal ranges chart has a page for each type, with reference notes you can play and sing back.
Songs in your range
A range is only useful once it meets a song. The result checks every tune in our public-domain song library against the two notes you held and sorts them three ways: songs that fit in the key they are printed in, songs that fit in another key, and songs that are wider than your range in any key.
For the second group it suggests the best key — the one that puts the tune in the middle of your range, with equal room above and below. That matters more than whether a song technically fits: the two notes you measured are the least comfortable ones you have, and a key that sends the chorus to the very top of your range is a key you will not enjoy singing in. Unlike an instrument, a voice can move a song to any key it likes; this is simply the arithmetic of which one.
Getting an honest result
- Use a quiet room. The half-second rule rejects most noise, but a steady hum from a fan or a fridge is itself a held pitch.
- Sing an open vowel — “ah” or “oh” — at a comfortable volume, without vibrato if you can. The quietest notes at the extremes are the ones a microphone misses, so move closer rather than pushing harder.
- Count clear tones only. A creak at the bottom (vocal fry) or a squeak at the top is not a note you could use in a song. If the test counted one, use “Clear and try again”.
- Write the result down properly. “G2 to E4” is a complete, useful description of a voice. “About two octaves” is not.
Frequently asked questions
What is my voice type?
The test tells you which of the six typical ranges — bass, baritone, tenor, alto, mezzo-soprano, soprano — yours sits closest to. That is a reasonable first guess and no more. Voice type is decided by timbre, by tessitura (where your voice is strongest and most comfortable, not how far it can stretch) and by where it shifts between registers, and none of those can be read from a lowest and a highest note. Plenty of tenors can reach below C3 without being baritones. A singing teacher classifies a voice by listening to it over time.
How do I find my vocal range?
Warm up, then start on a comfortable note and slide slowly down until you reach the lowest note that still comes out as a clear tone, and hold it. Go back to the middle and do the same upward. Your range is those two notes, written with their octave numbers — “G2 to E4” — and the distance between them in semitones or octaves. The test above does the listening and the counting for you.
Is my voice recorded?
No. The microphone stream is analysed in your browser to find its pitch and is then discarded — nothing is recorded, uploaded or stored, and the page works the same with your network switched off once it has loaded. The microphone is released as soon as your result appears. The share card is drawn on your own device, and a share link contains only the two note names.
Why does a note have to be held for half a second?
Because a range is the notes you can sing, not the notes a microphone can catch. A slide passes through every pitch on its way, a cough or a chair is briefly periodic, and at the bottom of a voice a pitch detector will now and then report the octave below the real note. Requiring one steady pitch for half a second throws all of that away. If a pitch arrives by a sudden jump — which is what an octave error looks like — it has to last twice as long before it counts.
What is a normal vocal range?
Most untrained adults can sing somewhere between an octave and a half and two octaves. The typical ranges quoted for each voice type are two octaves, and trained singers often exceed that. A narrower result usually means a voice that was not warmed up, or quiet notes at the extremes that the microphone did not pick up clearly — not a small voice.
Does falsetto count?
It counts toward your total range if you can hold the note steadily and comfortably — it is a sound your voice makes. It is worth knowing that voice types are described by the full (modal) voice, so a range that includes falsetto will sit higher than the type your speaking and chest voice would suggest. The test cannot tell the registers apart.
Why is my result different each time?
Because your voice is. Range is shorter in the morning, when you are tired, dehydrated or have a cold, and longer after a proper warm-up. A few semitones of difference between attempts is normal. Take the test warmed up, at a time of day you usually sing, and treat the wider result as the truer one — provided nothing was forced.
Can I increase my vocal range?
Usually, yes, by a few notes at either end, with regular gentle practice and good technique — and the notes you already have become easier and more reliable, which matters more. What does not work is pushing: straining for a note is how voices get hurt. If you want more range, a teacher is the safe way to get it.
What to do with your range
Check a single note against the voice tuner to see how closely you land on it, train the other half of the skill with the ear trainer, or put a drone under your practice with the online tanpura. And if you have a song in mind, the song pages print every tune in the library note by note.