Voice Over Sydney: Female Voice Types
Soprano
Soprano is the highest female voice type. There are many types of sopranos like the coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, the soubrette etc. which differ in vocal agility, vocal weight, timbre, and voice quality; All of the sopranos have in common the ability to sing higher notes with ease.
A typical soprano can vocalize B3 to C6, though a soprano coloratura can sing a lot higher than that reaching F6, G6 etc. It is widely thought that the higher a singer can sing, the better the singer is. This couldn’t be further from the truth as range is defined by our physique and size of the vocal cords, not not how professional we are. Some voice over sydney artists may be sopranos although their normal speaking voice over sydney voice may be alot lower.
Voice Over Sydney: Mezzo-Soprano
Mezzo-Soprano is the second highest female voice type. In a choir, a mezzo-soprano will usually sing along the sopranos and not the altos and will be given the title of Soprano II. When the sopranos split in half, she will sing the lower melody as her timbre is darker and tessitura lower than the sopranos.
Though in the opera mezzo-sopranos most often hold supporting roles and trouser roles, i.e. male roles, there are notable exceptions like those of Carmen and Rosina in The Barber of Seville, where the prima donna is a mezzo-soprano. A typical mezzo-soprano can vocalize from G3 to A5, thought, some can’t sing as high and some can sing as high as a typical soprano.
Voice Over Sydney: Contralto
Contralto is the lowest female voice type. In a choir, contralto’s are commonly know as altos and sing the supporting melody to the sopranos. This doesn’t mean that contraltos are not as important. On the contrary, because true altos are hard to find, a true alto has greater chances of a solo career than a soprano.
A contralto is expected to be able to vocalize from E3 to F5, however, the lower her tessitura, the more valuable she is.
At this point, it is important to note something about altos and choirs. There are many women who have been classified as altos in their choir, though their voice type is really that of a mezzo-soprano or soprano.
