Your vocal range is the span from the lowest to the highest note you can sing comfortably. To find it, warm up for a minute, sing a gentle "aah" from your lowest easy note slowly up to your highest, and note both ends. The free vocal range test does the measuring for you in your browser: it shows each note as you sing and names your voice type at the end. Nothing is recorded or uploaded.
Key takeaways
- Count only notes that feel easy. Your comfortable range is what matters for picking songs, not the squeak at the very top.
- Most untrained adults have a comfortable range of roughly 1.5 to 2 octaves. Wider comes with practice.
- Voice type (bass, baritone, tenor, alto, mezzo-soprano, soprano) is a rough guide based on where your range sits, not a talent score.
- Your range moves a little from day to day. Test after a warm-up, at the same time of day, and take the best of three tries.
- Once you know your top note, you can check any song against it and move the song's key when it doesn't fit.
Step 1 — Warm up for one minute
Cold voices read lower and narrower than they really are. Before you test:
- Hum on "mmm" for 20 seconds, sliding up and down like a slow siren.
- Do a few lip trills ("brrr" with loose lips) across the middle of your voice.
- Sing "ng" (the end of "sing") from low to high and back.
Stop if anything scratches or hurts. Warming up should feel easy.
Step 2 — Find your lowest comfortable note
Sing a relaxed "aah" in your speaking voice, then slide down a little at a time. Your lowest comfortable note is the last one that still has a clear tone. Below that the sound turns to a growl, a whisper or just air. Don't count those.
Step 3 — Find your highest comfortable note
Start in the middle again and slide up slowly. Don't get louder as you go; high notes come more easily when you sing them lighter. Your highest comfortable note is the last one you can hold for a second without squeezing your throat, raising your chin or shouting. Notes above that, which you can only reach in a thin falsetto or a strained shout, are part of your full range but not your singing range for songs.
Step 4 — Read the result
The vocal range test shows notes in letter names with an octave number. C4 is middle C, the C in the middle of a piano keyboard. C5 is one octave higher, C3 one octave lower. Your range is the distance between your two notes; "1 octave and 7 semitones" means 19 piano keys from bottom to top.
No microphone access? Use a free piano or keyboard app: play keys until you find the ones that match your lowest and highest comfortable notes, then count the keys between them.
The six voice types
The test compares your range with these typical comfortable ranges and names the closest. Real voices overlap a lot, and choirs and teachers draw the lines slightly differently.
| Voice type | Typical range | Usually |
|---|---|---|
| Bass | E2 to E4 | the lowest men's voices |
| Baritone | A2 to A4 | the most common men's voice |
| Tenor | C3 to C5 | high men's voices |
| Alto | F3 to F5 | the lowest women's voices |
| Mezzo-soprano | A3 to A5 | the most common women's voice |
| Soprano | C4 to C6 | high women's voices |
Children's voices usually sit in the alto to soprano area until their voices change.
Range is only part of a voice type. Teachers also listen to your tessitura (where your voice sounds best and tires least) and the colour of your voice. A baritone who can strain up to a tenor's top note is still more comfortable a few notes lower. Use the label to choose songs, not to box yourself in.
Why your range changes
- Time of day. Voices are usually lower and stiffer in the morning.
- Warm-up and tiredness. After a long day of talking, your top notes shrink.
- A cold or allergies. Swollen vocal folds lose high notes first. Don't push through it.
- Age. Voices change at puberty, during pregnancy and menopause for some women, and slowly drop with age.
- Practice. Regular, easy practice usually adds a few notes at the top over weeks and months. Pushing does not.
How to use your range to choose songs
A song fits you when its highest and lowest sung notes sit inside your comfortable range, ideally with a note or two to spare at the top.
- Find the song's top note. Sing along with the chorus or the highest line. If you reach for it, it's probably above your comfortable range.
- Compare it with your top note. If the song goes 2 semitones higher than you can sing comfortably, lower the song by 2 semitones with the free key changer, or press the key button down twice on a karaoke machine.
- Check the bottom too. If the low verses disappear, raise the song instead. Songs with a narrow range are easiest; see how to sing high notes if the chorus is the only problem.
- Men singing women's songs (and the other way round): try singing the melody one octave lower or higher first. If that sits too low or too high, adjust by a few semitones from there.
Hear a song in your range before you sing it
Knowing your range tells you whether a song fits. It doesn't tell you how you'll sound once it does. In Tera Studio you record about a minute of your normal singing (2 minutes sounds more like you), upload the original song, and hear the whole song sung in your voice, with the original singer's notes kept exactly where they are. It's a quick way to find out which of your shortlist suits you before karaoke night. See karaoke in your own voice.
Current price and limits
Every new account can make and hear 2 whole songs free, once per account, each up to 4 minutes, with no card. Downloads need a paid plan. Starter is $8.99 a month for 30 finished minutes (about 7 songs) and Creator is $19.99 a month for 90 minutes, or $89.99 and $189.99 paid yearly. Both include WAV and song-card video downloads, one guided correction per song and free re-downloads. Minutes refresh monthly without rollover. Prices show in your currency where available; pricing and Stripe checkout confirm the total before you pay. See the refund policy.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good vocal range? There's no good or bad range. Most untrained adults sing comfortably across about 1.5 to 2 octaves, and many famous singers perform mostly inside 2 octaves. Tone, control and staying in tune matter more than width.
How do I know if I'm a tenor or a baritone? Look at where your comfortable top sits. If you can sing G4 to A4 without strain and it feels natural, you may be a tenor; if your voice is happiest below E4, baritone is more likely. The vocal range test compares both ends for you.
Can I increase my vocal range? Usually by a few notes at the top, with regular gentle practice, good breath support and a lighter sound on high notes. Forcing louder and higher every day does the opposite and can hurt your voice.
Why does the test show a different result each time? Your voice changes with warm-up, tiredness and time of day, and the test only counts notes it hears clearly. Warm up first and take your best of three tries.
Is my voice recorded? No. The test only measures pitch while you sing, on your device. Nothing is saved or uploaded.
Hear a song sung in your voice, in your range. Your first 2 songs are free to make and hear.