Baritone Vocal Range: A2 – A4, Notes & Chart

The typical baritone range is A2 to A4 — 2 octaves. The baritone sits between the bass and the tenor, and it is the most common male voice.

The baritone range in notes and hertz

Lowest note	A2 · 110.0 Hz
Highest note	A4 · 440.0 Hz
Span	24 semitones · 2 octaves
Middle C (C4) is	15 semitones above the bottom, 9 below the top

Notes are in scientific pitch notation, where C4 is middle C, and the frequencies are at A4 = 440 Hz. Press the keys above to hear any of them, then check your own pitch against the voice tuner.

Where the baritone sits

Below it is the bass (E2 – E4), starting 5 semitones lower; the two share 19 of their 24 semitones. Above it is the tenor (C3 – C5), 3 semitones higher, with 21 semitones in common. That overlap is the reason a range on its own cannot say which of two neighbouring types a voice is.

Music written for the baritone

The baritone is the voice of opera’s fathers, rivals and anti-heroes. Rossini’s Figaro introduces himself with “Largo al factotum”, a showpiece that lives at the top of the range; Verdi wrote Rigoletto and the elder Germont in La traviata for a baritone with a strong upper register, the type now called the Verdi baritone. Mozart’s Papageno and Don Giovanni are sung by baritones or bass-baritones.

Because it is the middle male voice, a great deal of popular and folk music sits in it without anyone calling it that — a tune comfortable for most men is, in practice, a baritone tune.

The baritone in a choir

There is no baritone line in standard four-part writing. Baritones usually sing first bass, and those with an easy top sometimes sing second tenor — which is why so many choral baritones describe themselves as “a bass who can’t sing low” or “a tenor who can’t sing high”.

Is this your range? The vocal range test listens for your lowest and highest notes and shows how they compare with the typical baritone range.

Take the vocal range test

Songs in a typical baritone range

A voice can sing a tune in any key, so the useful question is which key. These are the keys that put each tune in the middle of the typical baritone range, with room to spare above and below — worked out from the melodies in our public-domain song library. Other keys fit too; this is the one with the most headroom at both ends.

Song	Key	Notes
Amazing Grace	A♭ major (4 semitones lower than written)	D♯3 – D♯4
Auld Lang Syne	G major (5 semitones lower than written)	D3 – E4
Happy Birthday	A♭ major (4 semitones lower than written)	D♯3 – D♯4
Ode to Joy	F major (5 semitones higher than written)	F3 – C4
Silent Night	C major (as written)	C3 – F4
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star	E major (4 semitones higher than written)	E3 – C♯4
Joy to the World	E♭ major (3 semitones higher than written)	D♯3 – D♯4
O Holy Night	D♭ major (1 semitone higher than written)	C♯3 – F4

Frequently asked questions

What is the baritone vocal range?

The typical baritone range runs from A2 to A4 — 2 octaves, or 110.0 Hz to 440.0 Hz at standard concert pitch. It is a description of where most baritone voices lie rather than a requirement: individual singers reach notes above and below it.

Am I a baritone or a tenor?

Their typical ranges differ by only three semitones, so a range test alone rarely decides it. The useful question is where the voice wants to live: a tenor is comfortable sitting around the top of the stave for a whole song, while a baritone can touch those notes but is at home a third or so lower. Many untrained tenors measure as baritones simply because the top of the voice has not been developed yet.

What is the baritone range in Hz?

A typical baritone range of A2 to A4 runs from 110 Hz to 440 Hz at standard concert pitch — exactly two octaves, ending on the A that orchestras tune to.

How do I know if I am a baritone?

Start by measuring your range: if it sits around A2 – A4, baritone is a reasonable first guess. But range alone does not decide it — the neighbouring types share most of the same notes. What settles it is where your voice is strongest and most comfortable (its tessitura), its timbre, and where it changes register, and those are judged by a teacher listening, not by a test.