Soprano belter: A soprano belter has an easier time managing her chest voice for belting and usually belts higher than a mezzo. Check out these names to hear some soprano belters: Morissette Amon, Whitney Houston, Kelly Clarkson, Pattie LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Newton-John, and Kellie Pickler.
Common performance roles: The soprano is usually the lead in the show, such as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Marian the Librarian in The Music Man, Tosca in Tosca, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, and Mimi in La Bohème.
Naming names: Famous sopranos you may know include Julie Andrews, Martina Arroyo, Kristen Bell, Monserrat Caballé, Sumi Jo, Leontyne Price, Audra McDonald, Dolly Parton, and Diana Ross.
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FIGURE 2-1: Soprano range.
How low can she go: Mezzo
The difference between a mezzo (mezzo is the abbreviated term for mezzo-soprano) and a soprano is often tessitura. (Tessitura refers to where most of the notes lie in a song — the notes that a voice feels most comfortable singing.) Many mezzos can sing as high as a soprano, but they can’t stay as high as a soprano. For example, some roles in operatic literature require the mezzo to sing as high as the soprano lead, but the mezzo usually doesn’t have to sing as many high notes as a soprano does — thank goodness — because the mezzo comfort zone is usually different than the soprano; mezzos prefer to live in their middle voices. On the other hand, a soprano hates to live in her middle voice, preferring to sing high notes and soar above the orchestra.
To further confuse you, many sopranos sing mezzo repertoire. How dare they! That’s not fair, but it’s a fact. As in other aspects of life, after the soprano becomes famous, she sings repertoire that she enjoys and that may be music written for somebody else, such as mezzos. So just because a soprano sings a song doesn’t mean that it’s a soprano song. You have to look at the details, such as the range of the song, and decide whether that range fits your voice. Keep the following in mind:
Range: The mezzo range is usually G below Middle C to a High B or High C. Many mezzos vocalize as high as a soprano but can’t handle the repetition of the upper notes (see Figure 2-2).
Register: The register transitions for the mezzo usually occur at E or F (first space) just above Middle C, and the E or F (fifth line) one octave above that.
Strength: Mezzos have a strong middle voice.
Voice tone: The mezzo voice is usually darker or deeper than her soprano counterpart.
Weakness: A mezzo’s head voice is often her weakness.
Subdivisions: One subdivision of mezzo is contralto. Singers often mistakenly say that they’re altos. Alto is the part listed in choral music, but the voice type is either mezzo or contralto. Less common than mezzos, contraltos can usually sing from F below Middle C to about an F (fifth line) below High C. A contralto has a darker, richer tone and is more at home in the lower part of her voice. Sometimes singers darken their voices intentionally to make themselves sound like contraltos. The contralto may take her chest voice–dominated sound up to a G (second line) above Middle C and shift into head voice around the D (fourth line), an octave above Middle C. Examples of contraltos include Marian Anderson and Maureen Forrester.
Mezzo subdivisions in the classical world include light lyric coloratura, full lyric coloratura, light lyric, full lyric, and dramatic. The dramatic mezzo is similar to the dramatic soprano. To be fair to the sopranos, I confess that dramatic mezzos sometimes sing roles written for the dramatic soprano. You go, girls!
Mezzo belter: A mezzo belter doesn’t belt as high as the soprano belter. She has a heavier chest voice and is more comfortable singing material that’s lower. Listen to these singers to hear the sounds of mezzo belters: Adele, Pearl Bailey, Kaye Ballard, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Janet Jackson, Angela Lansbury, Rihanna, and Leslie Uggams.
Common performance roles: The mezzo is often the mother, the witch, or the sleazy girl in town. Her roles include such fun ones as Miss Hannigan in Annie, Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast, Carmen in the opera Carmen, Amneris in Aïda, and Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!
Naming names: Famous mezzos you may know include Teresa Berganza, Toni Braxton, Grace Bumbry, Karen Carpenter, Patsy Cline, Denyce Graves, k. d. lang, Lorrie Morgan, and Shirley Verrett (mezzo who later became a soprano). Unless you hear the pop singer vocalize, it’s harder to tell if they’re a soprano or mezzo.
You can find more information about selecting appropriate songs for your voice in Chapter 16 and a list of songs for different voice types in Appendix A.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 2-2: Mezzo range.
Highest range of the dudes: Tenor
Thanks to the Three Tenors, the Irish Tenors, and even Three Mo’ Tenors, you probably have a good idea of what a tenor sounds like. The following can help:
Range: The tenor range, shown in Figure 2-3, is about two octaves, with many singing a little lower than C (second space in bass clef) and a little higher than the male High C (third space treble clef).
Register: The tenor voice doesn’t make a huge transition from his lower voice to his middle voice. His transition into his middle voice occurs around D just above Middle C or the E-flat just above Middle C and then a transition into head voice around G or A-flat above Middle C.
Strength: The tenor’s strength is his head voice.
Voice tone: The tenor voice is usually bright and ringing.
Weakness: His weakness is often his chest voice.
Subdivisions: In musical theater, a subdivision of the tenor, called the baritenor, reigns. This voice type is someone with the power to project in the middle voice and the higher, ringing money notes of the tenor. The other voice type that you frequently hear in the opera world is the countertenor — a male singer who sounds like a female. This voice type sings in the same range as the mezzo (sometimes soprano) and sounds similar. When you’ve heard the countertenor singing enough, you can distinguish him from a mezzo. Until then, just enjoy the unique quality that these gentlemen bring to the singing world.
Tenor subdivisions in the classical world include light lyric, full lyric, dramatic, and heroic. The heroic tenor is also called a dramatic tenor or heldentenor — the guy who has a large voice with great stamina. Don’t challenge him to a singing contest at the local pub.
Common performance roles: The tenor is almost always the lead who wins the girl at the end of the show. Examples include Rodolfo in La Bohème, Don José in Carmen, Tony in West Side Story, Billy in 42nd Street, and Rolf in The Sound of Music.
Naming names: Famous tenors you may know include Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti, whom you may recognize as the Three Tenors. You also may know Elton John, Jonas Kaufmann, Bruno Mars, Maxwell, Justin Timberlake, and Stevie Wonder.