Types of Female Voices – Does Sinaumed’s realize that human voices are different? Yep, there are people whose voices are squeaky when they speak, but there are also those whose voices are louder. In fact, there is also someone who when he is talking or chatting, his voice gets bigger but when he sings his voice can be melodious. These things are actually normal because basically every human being has a different voice.
It is no exception that the female gender also has various types of voices. Usually, these types of voices are very useful, especially when participating in a choir activity, because in that activity the distribution of votes is very much needed. Not only in choir activities, knowing the type of voice is also very useful when you want to start a vocal practice, especially if Sinaumed’s dreams of becoming a singer.
Then, what types of voices are owned by humans, especially women? How do we keep our vocal cords “flexible” when used for singing? So, so that Sinaumed’s understands this, let’s look at the following review!
3 Types of Female Voices
The type of sound produced by the human vocal cords usually depends on the ambitus of the voice. Ambitus is the range or pitch range that can be achieved by the human voice or a musical instrument so that it can be used in a musical composition. This ambitus is usually related to the timbre or color of the voice, which is also included in the building blocks of a piece of music.
Basically, the types of voices possessed by humans vary, especially in age and gender. Especially for women, there are 3 levels of voice types, namely soprano, mezzo soprano, and alto.
1. Soprano Female Voice Type
The type of voice that is owned by women, especially in adult women is soprano. This type of sound is the highest sound when compared to other types of sound. That’s because a soprano voice can only be called that if it can reach the notes C1 to C3, or it can also reach the notes range C4 to G5.
If you look back at the history of Western music in the 16th century, this type of soprano was usually sung by boys. This was because at that time, Christianity in the European region forbade adult women from appearing in public especially by singing songs using this type of soprano voice. However, after the opera performance developed, adult women actually played a lot of important roles, especially for choral activities. Since then, the term soprano for this highest pitch range has been used for female voices. Meanwhile for children, the soprano voice is called a treble soprano.
Soprano Voice Category
This type of soprano voice can be categorized into several more types, namely:
- Soprano Koloratura Lyrics
It is the highest soprano requiring a high, light voice to sing melodies of high complexity. Usually the sound range is C4 to F6. One of the famous singers who has the ability to sing a song with this soprano is Sumi Jo.
- Dramatic Coloratura Soprano
Usually used to sing music with elaborate ornaments and accompanied by an orchestra. The sound range is C4 to F6. One opera singer who has the ability to sing a song with this coloratura soprano is Diana Damrau.
- Lyric Soprano
Usually used to sing music with a legato melody and warm tones compared to the Koloratura Soprano. This polite category sounds softer. The sound range is C4 to C6. One opera singer from Russia who has the ability to sing a song with this lyrical soprano is Anna Netrebko.
- Spinto’s soprano
Usually this soprano is used to sing an opera with a tragic role, so it will end with a dramatic sound. This category of soprano voice tends to have singing that is soft and strong, but not too long. The sound range is C4 to C6. One opera singer from America who has the ability to sing a song with this lyrical soprano is Martina Arroyo.
- Dramatic Soprano
Usually this soprano is used to accompany an orchestra. When singing a dramatic soprano, it generally seems as if you have an authoritative role so that the power is greater than the other soprano categories. The sound range is C4 to C6. One opera singer from America who has the ability to sing a song with this lyrical soprano is Deborah Voigt. Deborah successfully sang this soprano in the operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss.
- Heldensopran
This category of soprano is rare because it requires a large voice and is usually used for Richard Wagner’s operas. In an opera by Richard Wagner, it is not uncommon to have a role that requires the singer to sing a loud soprano accompanied by a high tessitura and a long time. Even according to world history of opera, there are only 2 people who are able to sing this heldensopran sound. The sound range is F3 to F6. One of the opera singers from Norway who has the ability to sing a song with this heldensopran is Kirsten Flagstad who is also an opera legend.
2. Mezzo Soprano Female Voice Type
This Mezzo Soprano voice type is basically in the middle. Usually owned by women with a tone between soprano and contralto (alto) ranges. Its pitch ranges from the A below middle C to the A two octave above it. But the range in this type of voice can also be called extreme, because from the notes of G3 to C6.
Mezzo Soprano Voice Category
- Mezzo Soprano Coloratur
It usually ranges from the notes of G3 to B5, but it is rare for some voices to reach C6 or D6. The main difference between this category and the Soprano voice is that in the Mezzo Soprano category the Colorature usually sounds heavier and singers will also be more comfortable using low notes than high notes. One of the singers with the voice of Mezzo Soprano Coloratur is Jennifer Larmore from America.
- Lyrical Soprano Mezzo
It has a sound range from G3 to B5 and sounds very soft and touching. One of the most famous Lyrical Mezzo Soprano singers is Janet Baker who comes from England. Janet is also known as the singer of Benjamin Britten’s Italian opera.
- Dramatic Soprano Mezzo
Has a sound range from the tone of G3 to B6. The voices in the mezzo soprano category sound stronger than the previous categories. One of the opera singers from America who is famous for her Dramatic Soprano Mezzo voice is Regina Resnik.
3. Alto Female Voice Type
Usually in a choir, this type of alto voice describes the highest part of the voice, especially in the fourth part of the choir. The range of notes in the alto voice of the choir is about the notes G3 (below middle C) to F5 (in the second octave above middle C). So that it can be said that this type of Alto voice has a range of notes from F to D.
The alto voice type is generally in the third level down from the soprano, even though they have the same height, but different pitches. In adult women, the alto voice can be achieved if it has a low level of ambitus, but in adult men it is actually owned with a high level of ambitus. When someone succeeds in singing in an alto voice, the sound produced will be characterized as low, heavy, and authoritative. Therefore, usually in opera performances, usually the role of a queen is played by those who have alto voices.
Get to Know What are the Elements of Music
Any type of voice usually tends to be used for singing and music activities. Both ambitus and timbre are included in the building blocks of good music. Music itself is a work of art which expresses its ideas through sound, with its basic elements being melody, rhythm and harmony. In a music that has a special rhythm arrangement that contains a certain feeling value.
Basically, musical elements which must be in harmony in order to form a unified whole can be grouped into two things, viz
- The main elements, namely in the form of harmony, rhythm, melody, and song structure.
- The elements of expression, namely in the form of tempo, dynamics, and tone color.
Well, here is a description of the elements of music.
1. Harmony
Namely the form of sound harmony which is a combination of two or more tones that differ in high and low. Harmony can also be referred to as a combination of several tones sounded simultaneously or sequentially. Even though some of these notes have different highs and lows, they will sound harmonious and have a unanimous unity.
2. Rhythm (Rhythm)
Rhythm or rhythm is the most basic element in making music, namely the element of time in a piece of music. Namely a group of sounds with various note lengths and notes stress. Rhythm can also be referred to as rhythm, which is the arrangement of short and long notes and depends on a note point value. In a piece of music, this rhythm will be formed from a group of sounds with varying lengths of time and length. A rhythm will generally be composed on the basis of a beat, whether it’s a strong beat or a weak beat.
3. Melody
Namely the arrangement of a series of tones (sounds with regular vibrations) that sound sequentially and simultaneously. This melody is usually used in a song arrangement as a fill or core vocal.
4. Song Structure
Is the arrangement or relationship between musical elements in order to form a unit and produce a meaningful song composition.
5. Timbre or Tone Color
Timbre or tone color is the sound or sound produced by a musical instrument. Even though the instrument plays the same note, the sound or sound produced can be different. While in the human voice, this timbre can be related to the type of voice, which is based on gender and age.
6. Song Time
The time signature is the beat in a piece of music, usually marked with a fractional number. For example 2/4, 6/8, and others. The number 2 (quantifier) will indicate the number of beats in one measure, while the number 4 (the denominator) will indicate the note value in one measure.
7. Tempo
Tempo is a measure of speed in a song’s measure, usually measured with a tool called a metronome and a special tool called a keyboard. Especially in the keyboard tool, there will be a digital metronome that functions as a speed meter in a measure.
The existence of tempo in a music can be divided into 3 groups, namely slow tempo, medium tempo, and fast tempo. Well, here is the description:
a) Slow Tempo
- Grave: very slow and solemn, with a speed of about 40-44 MM
- Largo: slow and majestic, with a speed of about 46-50 MM
- Adagio: slightly faster than Largo, at around 52-54MM
- Lento: slow, with a speed of about 56-58MM
b) Moderate Tempo
- Andante: as fast as a walking person, with a speed of about 72-76 MM
- Andantio: faster than Andante, with a speed of around 80-84 MM
- Maestoso: majestic and noble, with a speed of about 88-92 MM
- Moderato: medium, with a speed of about 96-104 MM
c) Fast Tempo
- Allegretto: rather fast and carefree, with a speed of around 108-116 MM
- Allegro: fast, lively and exuberant, with a speed of about 132-138 MM
- Vivace: lively and carefree, with a speed of about 160-176 MM
- Presto: fast, with a speed of about 184-200 MM
In addition, there are also several other signs that indicate the tempo or speed of the song, namely:
- Accelerando: faster
- Ritardando: getting slower
- Fermata: forever arranged by singer or conductor
- Staccato: disjointed
8. Expression
The element of expression is also an important element in a piece of music, because in music there must be a sentence that contains that meaning. Through these song sentences, artists will express their ideas and feelings through a song, so of course expression becomes an important element. The biggest challenge for a singer is retranslating the song and performing it with the right expression. There are several signs of expression in a song or music, namely:
- Agianto: happy and excited
- Con Animo: earnestly
- Con Animato: very animated
- Con Spirito: with passion
- Con Antaibile: by exclaiming
- Con Bravura: valiantly
- Vivace: lively and lively
- Marcato: decisively and emphatically
- Maestoso: is noble and noble
- Ambile: interestingly
- Cantabile: melodious feeling
- Con Amore: feeling full of love
- Con Doloroso: feeling sad, sad, and sad
- Con Espressione: with feeling
- Con Sostenuto: with feeling
So, that’s a review of the types of voices in women and the elements that make music into a unified whole. Is Sinaumed’s one of the owners of these types of voices?
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