Vocal Classifaction

Here is a general picture of how a voice is classified into its relevant voice type. This form of classification is more relevant to opera and choral singers but the definitions have naturally spilled over to popular singers.

Female voices can be split into:

* Alto: Lowest female voice type G3 to F5
* Contralto: F3 to F5
* Mezzo Soprano: A3 to A5. Most typical vocal type for women.
* Soprano: Highest female voice type. Range lies between a C4 and a C6

Male voices can be split into:

* Bass: Lowest male voice type.F2 to F4
* Baritone: F2 to F4 most common male voice
* Tenor: c3 to c5. Most typical vocal type for women
* Countertenor: Highest male voice type. Range lies between a G3 and a F5, however higher notes usually sang in falsetto.

These are all approximations and as you can see its quite difficult to fit a popular singer into a particular voice type when you consider someone like Mariah Carey. Mariah can go from a G2 to a G7 which is higher then the highest female voice type and two notes off being lower then a bass.