Top: Arts: Music: Instruments: Human Voice

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Description

The human voice is the simplest and the oldest musical instrument. Humans have been using their voice to create music since the beginning of recorded time.

Voice types and styles range from folk tunes and chants to pop songs to classical operas.


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Classical Voice Types

Some of the more common "classical" voice categories are shown below:

Female Voices
Soprano - The highest female voice part.
Mezzo-soprano - The middle part
Contralto - The lowest female part.

Male Voices
Tenor - The highest male part.
Baritone - The middle voice part
Bass - The lowest male voice part.

There are a few other types of voices that are less common in classical singing today, including the countertenor and the castrati. A countertenor is a male voice with a highly developed falsetto range. A castrati is a very high male voice part, usually sung by boys and young men.


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Operatic Voice Types

Operatic voices can further be broken down into the following types:

Female Voices
Dramatic Soprano - A strong and emotive voice quality.
Lyric Soprano - A soft, flowing voice, also known as cantabile.
Coloratura Soprano - The most agile of all soprano styles, a coloratura must be capable of reaching very high notes, and singing fast, complicated melodies.

Male Voices
Lyric Tenor - Has light and smooth qualities.
Basso Profundo - Deep and solemn bass voice.
Basso Buffo - A light, comical bass voice. 



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