Voice type

The discipline of voice classification developed within European classical music and is not generally applicable to other forms of singing.

While useful, voice classification systems have been used too rigidly, i.e. a house assigning a singer to a specific type and only casting him or her in roles they consider belonging to this category.

Some singers such as Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Ewa Podleś, or Plácido Domingo have voices that allow them to sing roles from a wide variety of types; some singers such as Shirley Verrett or Grace Bumbry change type and even voice part over their careers; and some singers such as Leonie Rysanek have voices that lower with age, causing them to cycle through types over their careers.

In current operatic practice, female singers with very low vocal tessituras are often included among mezzo-sopranos.

Many countertenor singers perform roles originally written for a castrato in baroque operas.

Except for a few very rare voices (such as the American male soprano Michael Maniaci or singers with a disorder such as Kallmann syndrome), singers called countertenors generally sing in the falsetto register, sometimes using their modal voice for the lowest notes.

Historically, there is much evidence that the countertenor, in England at least, also designated a very high tenor voice, the equivalent of the French haute-contre.

[3] Famous tenors include Enrico Caruso, Juan Diego Flórez, Alfredo Kraus, and Luciano Pavarotti.

With the onset of puberty, both men and women's voices alter as the vocal ligaments become more defined and the laryngeal cartilages harden.

Different singers will reach adult development earlier or later than others, and as stated above there are continual changes throughout adulthood as well.

The lumping of children's voices into one category is also practical as boys and girls share a similar range and timbre.

This ability may be comparatively rare, but the Anglican church repertory, which many trained trebles sing, frequently demands A5.

[10] Many trebles are also able to reach higher notes by use of the whistle register but this practice is rarely called for in performance.

However, teachers may also consider physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and other factors such as vocal register.

Some of these dangers are not immediate ones; the human voice is quite resilient, especially in early adulthood, and the damage may not make its appearance for months or even years.

Clinical evidence indicates that singing at a pitch level that is either too high or too low creates vocal pathology.

[11] According to vocal pedagogue Margaret Greene, "The need for choosing the correct natural range of the voice is of great importance in singing since the outer ends of the singing range need very careful production and should not be overworked, even in trained voices.

A number of medical authorities have indicated that singing at too high a pitch level may contribute to certain vocal disorders.

Medical evidence indicates that singing at too high of a pitch level may lead to the development of vocal nodules.

Notable vocal pedagogue William Vennard has stated, "I never feel any urgency about classifying a beginning student.

So many premature diagnoses have been proved wrong, and it can be harmful to the student and embarrassing to the teacher to keep striving for an ill-chosen goal.

When techniques of posture, breathing, phonation, resonation, and articulation have become established in this comfortable area, the true quality of the voice will emerge and the upper and lower limits of the range can be explored safely.

[12] Many vocal pedagogues suggest that teachers begin by assuming that a voice is of a medium classification until it proves otherwise.

[6] Unlike other classification systems, choral music divides voices solely on the basis of vocal range.