typical "singable" range

[zenesh]

Hi all,

From your experience what is the typical "singable" range?


I play paino/keyboard at a salvation army church and we have a book of hymnals. There has been quite a few times whereby the written score was a little too high to sing comfortably.

therefore, what is the range that would be most comfortable for a huge group of people (congregation) to sing in?

For me, it seems that the range for most people are as follows

G ----- middle C ---- C (octave higher)---D

And if the song has a bigger range then that, would it be better for people to struggle with low notes or high notes?

 

[pianomankris]

There isn't a 'typical' range as such.

Hence there are terms such as soprano, alto, tenor, bass, counter-tenor etc etc

 

[zenesh]

I play at a church setting therefore, i typically have to play in a key that allows most of the people to sing comfortably at.

Thus the question.

What range is most comfortable for most people to sing at.

 

[jianrong]

Songs are normally cover in an octave. Rarely there are songs that over 2 octave of range. reference from pop genre & professionals who made that statement.

 

[pf]

There is no ONE single key that most ppl comfortably sing at. It depends on what key the song is written in. If its too high, just adjust 1 or 2 keys down.

 

[Cheez]

Zenesh, your range is about right. For a congregation setting where there are singers from bass to sopranos, G3 (low G) to D5 (high D) is just about right. Eb5 is still possible and a number of hymns hit that note. Some hymns hit E5, which can get uncomfortable for some to sing. I tend to transpose down if the highest note is an E5 (I always try to stay within Eb5). The low G (G3) can be slightly uncomfortable for some as well, but OK for most. That's the lowest one should ever go. If possible, I would try to make the lowest note Ab3 or A3.

Note that many hymns tend to go quite high. Some just have a wide range, which makes transposition difficult (transposing down will be too low, while transposing up will make it too high). If you play Chinese songs for worship, you'll find that a number of songs cover about 1.5 octaves in range, which basically almost hit the highest and lowest range within one song. This can be difficult to sing for some, and also difficult to transpose. I believe it has to do with the pentatonic scale commonly used in Chinese songs, which unfortunately need to cover that kind of range.

You're on the right track. My quick reference - if a tenor can sing it comfortably, most people can sing it (however, you need to avoid the extreme ranges of a tenor). And since I'm a tenor, it's quite easy for me to figure out the best range.

 

[Cheez]

Oh, just to add one point. Indeed, sopranos, altos, tenors and basses sing in different ranges. The range indicated above is from the perspective of the pianist. The pianist score is usually written with the melody that does not necessary fit within the tonal range of all the singers. But it's a general guide. Basses, natrually, will sing almost an octave lower. But at an octave lower, they would be comfortable within that range indicated above. Hope that makes sense.

 

[pf]

My quick reference - if a tenor can sing it comfortably, most people can sing it (however, you need to avoid the extreme ranges of a tenor).

Oh no Cheez! In my church, if the tenors can sing it comfortably, most of the time it will be too high even for the sopranos. Either we've got too many altos and basses or we've got extreme tenors. I think its better to benchmark to an alto, or for my congregation at least.

But to the TS, wouldn't you know it by experience what are the hymns that are just impossible to transpose? Or the range too wide to sing?

 

[zenesh]

Most of the females complain that the key the hymnal is written is a bit too high. Mostly the E5

I am just surprised that is the case as I assumed that the publishers would have looked and made sure that they hymns are written in a good singable key before publishing. Or maybe our singing range has dropped from the past?

Not so easy to play from the hymnal if we always have to transpose 1 or 2 keys down everytime.

But at times others and I do find that certain melodies and sounds are more dynamic if there is a certain "strain" (aka not so comfortable singing pitch) at the higher points of the song.

 

[Cheez]

pf, tenors can go up to G5. When up to E5, most tenors who do not sing in the choir (untrained tenors, and without cheating, ie without using falsetto) would start to feel a slight strain. I find E5 no problem (but that's because I've sang in the choir before), but not for quite a few tenors. That's why the range should be within Eb5 (at the extreme highest note). I find as long as it is about D5, most people can sing it (in the higher range). A few important points:

1. Always try to avoid extreme ranges. So if a song's range is about 6 tones, don't keep it within G3 to D4. That's stretching it and after singing for a while, people gets tired even though it's within singable range. Use D3 to B3. The higher and lower ranges are for songs that has wider ranges (eg covering 9-10 tones or more).

2. Lower range is hard to sing when the song reaches climax. So for a song like "Joy to the World", it's better to drift towards the higher range than lower. Vice versa for hymns that are medidatory.

3. Related to point 2: we often transpose upwards when singing different verses to bring a song to a climax. That means careful choosing of the first key (which usually mean transposing downwards one tone or one semi-tone). The decision depends on the singable range.

4. As to the question why many hymns are written so high, I believe it's because most of the hymns were originally written for 4 parts (SATB). So the main melody lines were meant to be sang by sopranos. Today, not many people do that - most would just sing the melody, hence getting into trouble with range. Not the publishers fault.

In view of all these, it's almost certain that a church pianist MUST be comfortable to transpose quickly on the spot. Very important skill.

So to summise - the optimal (comfortable) range is C4 to C5. Stretching range (but still singable): A3 to D5. Extreme range: G3 to E5 (if song calls for it - I know of songs that actually spans this range). Beyong that range, don't even think about it.

 

[pf]

zenesh, I think you have to ask your congregation. Or observe your congregation.

My congregation is very small. Almost 1/3 of them are in the worship team. So, we have experience with what song can be handled by the congregation in which key. We know that some songs if we sing in a certain key, more than half the congregation will not participate in worship because its out of their range.

We often have discussions on the key of the songs. Certain songs sound nicer in the original key but it might be difficult for the congregation to sing. So, you have to decide if you want the song to sound nice, but only a handful people singing. Or the song not played so nice but everybody can participate.

And guess what?! You can photocopy the hymnal and write all your favourite keys on it! If we don't see a certain key scribbled on it, we know that historically nobody played in that key and you should know why...

Cheez, my congregation has more girls, so what the girls say counts.

Oh, btw, I will also consider if to use a slightly out of the range key if its not the first few songs. After the first 3 songs or so, the congregation should be warmed up already and able to reach higher. Sunday morning leh...I'm not so keen on presenting God with the choir of "killing chickens".

 

[Chenglehung]

choir training lol.