#baritones

DISCLAIMERS. 

- specification. this isn’t the whole story. there are dozens of subcategories to detail how exactly the person sounds (light, full, agile, rich, dark, versatile, powerful, or dramatic). each having their own even more distinct range and strengths. so, there’s a lot of individualism and variety to it still. we maintain the overview keeping it simple with three main categories, but seeming outliers find their home and songs to sing as well. even confusing voices are settled somewhere. e.g. nct’s taeyong being a light baritone.

- voices in between. especially because there are also intermediate voice types! like the bass-baritone or baritenor. the french also use the dugazon and falcon like aretha franklin who are hybrids of mezzo and soprano, being dark-colored female voices of a higher range: one brighter (=called the soubrette, like britney spears), the other more dramatic. but you’ll have your most important tools by knowing the three categories already. 

- outdated types. some older systems originating in baroque opera with its castrated singers (...yeah) even include the so-called countertenor as an even higher male voice. it is actually just a use of falsetto (more about registers and techniques below) rather than a voice you’re born with. jimin is often called a countertenor, whereas he is simply a tenor with well-executed upper registers and a light tone.

NOW SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT:

analyzing weight, color, and range, voice types organized as a ‘fach’ (= compartment) came from the opera, italy and germany most notably, hence all the foreign terms. they were not just used to give singers the part where their voice resonates the most, but also to typecast. so, transferring these terms to modern pop doesn’t always work: since a fach is often connected to a theatric role.

sopranos and tenors were often teens, young royals, heroes, or protagonists. hence it’s where the attention, credit and money goes. the deeper voices could be mentoring figures, authority of all kind e.g. older kings and queens, fantasy figures, or antagonists. example, all the leads in mozart’s magic flute classic are high voices. so, very determined by associations of good VS bad and young VS old, on top of protagonists VS supporting cast.

VOICE TYPES THESE DAYS:

it seems like that protagonist trend carried on to pop music since the 1970s. the higher voices still dominate the mainstream headed by ariana grande, sopranos like rosalía or billie eilish and tenors like the weeknd continue to burst into the spotlight. tenors and sopranos are very sought-out in k-pop, too. sometimes, that bias goes as far as equating high notes with good skill solely.

the deeper voices are often more niche (e.g. florence welch, mezzo) and in specific genres unless beyoncé or lady gaga are concerned. your mezzo or baritone has to be highly skilled and coloratura (=flexible) to keep up in pop. then again, many midrange vocal types are crazy versatile, while altos and basses are shockers in their voice quality and rarity, like stray kids’ felix. 

and yes, gladly: there’s a very recent surge in more mezzos as well headed by dua lipa. and, those who sing aptly can build great careers like p!nk, miley, and xtina. in fact, since midrangers have to train more while at the same time being less prone to vocal damage, they often stick around. the same goes for baritones whose depth garners a lot of attention, too, even if it’s just for their speech rather than singing. yoongi is a notorious example, i’ve talked about his immense potential in the lower range.

regardless, all the big groups have a tenor/soprano vocal line, exo being the most-named example (chen, baekhyun, kyungsoo, suho) as well as mamamoo (hwasa, solar, wheein). it’s rare to see mezzos and baritones head any group, harry styles is a more known exception, a baritone with light timbre. higher voices are heard more easily, pop requires that kind of range. meanwhile, lady gaga could easily pull off jazz. 

mezzos, soubrettes and baritones often rap like namjoon, lisa, or moonbyul — believing they could not sing. but in reality, the pitch is just too high for their tessitura. as rihanna being a mezzo did, most lower voice types give up music from strain since they train to sound like tenors and sopranos rather than carving out their own genre. someone like johnny cash as a famous bass singer successfully did despite being very unique (or actually because of it) — so, it is very possible, and fantastic on the ear anyway.

you can see where each vocal type is the most easily expressed here looking at the piano. you don’t need to know the notes, the illustration can be undertstood without. the ranges span over three octaves (octa = eight notes) usually.

but: keep in mind the average person covers usually one octave and a bit more untrained. k-pop/pop singers might govern two. the experts and divas/divos go beyond 3 (axl rose, mariah, prince, xtina etc, ranked here). these graphics simply show how far the 6 voices generally can be trained without pushing them. you could hit the note in some way, and it’d be audible.

since i talked about belting and chest voice, it’s best to give you an intro for the registers of the voice and show you where the three types have their strengths. there’s a whole lot of explanations about what your vocal chords to to produce sounds XYZ, but to keep the registers VERY simple:

...and as the extremes you can extend it lower with a rasp that’s called vocal fry, and higher to extend the chest/modal voice into belts, falsetto OR to get whistle notes that ariana grande and mariah carey are known for. the mixed voice brings chest and head voice together and connects the registers evenly.

tenors sound clear and do both head voice and falsetto well. skilled singers like jungkook and chen can eclipse all upper registers except whistles (which i think jin might be capable of though). a tenor’s weakness: possible nasal quality, screechiness, or inaudible lower registers unless they are a baritenor. if they sing off pitch, it’s noticed instantly, hence musicality is something they do best with working on as beginners. baekhyun had that problem early in his career, but keeps on approaching the pitch and can raise his voice astronomically high. EXAMPLES: onew, taemin, seokjin, ten, haechan, taeil, j-hope

baritones project well, great chesty tone, very rich. dark and deep, soothing to the ear. easy time with vocal fry. being in midrange the voice is quite flexible, though never as resounding and accurate in the heights. stretching the chest voice upward is the hardest for them, baritones often try to yell rather than exercise control — learning to mix and strengthening the head voice is key. most common voice along men. EXAMPLES: yoongi, key, taehyung, jaehyun, lucas, minho, chanyeol

basses are booming and do all the low registers well while struggling with falsetto and making their head voice resonant, or connecting with it in the first place. they are most comfortable as a foundation for an ensemble like avi kaplan as a former part of the pentatonix. extremely full, extremely powerful timbre. rarest voice among guys, sadly not much repertoire for it. EXAMPLES: felix, bang yongguk, leedo, mingi

sopranos have the widest range and can reach whistle notes the easiest, sounding bright and ringing, sometimes even operatic. yes, like tenors, here is the high note factory. ellie goulding’s head voice, need i say more. their weakness: not being able to project in the middle voice, plus strain and suffering vocal damage. they don’t carry heaviness and power with the ease of contraltos unless they are spinto sopranos (which can be mistaken for mezzos). the lower range is extremely hard to reach, their fullness is in the upper octaves where they usually have great support and volume, especially with classic training. sopranos are the most common female voice by far. EXAMPLES: taeyeon, boa, iu, jessica, wendy, ailee, jennie, rosé

mezzos are smoky and can go a little lower and a little higher. they have the midrange bonus — a strong, flexible middle voice. where they struggle is often control and projecting the head voice as much. another problem is attempting soprano octaves which can make their joice crack or shriek. only coloratura mezzos like beyoncé can reach that range without huge efforts. those mezzos can do melisma well, moving the tone with runs. they aren’t too audible in lower ranges either unless they are dramatic mezzos with heavy tones which borders the contralto. the healthy middle works best and sounds the richest, especially for lyric mezzos who are neither at the high or low mezzo range. EXAMPLES: jessi, CL, lee hi, cheetah, jisoo, yiyeon, yuqi, dami

contraltos have imposing, powerful, deep chest voices. their large tone is unique and not often found, see cher. like basses, reaching the head voice and coloratura (agility) can be rather difficult for them. they can belt, but need to stay away from too many high notes — they will be thinner and raspy, and the middle voice stark and metallic. rather, their best pick is a velvety, smooth song, often slower. they can easily sing in a tenor’s range and drown out a whole orchestra. EXAMPLES: none found in k-pop yet. sade, amy winehouse, tracy chapman, grace jones, and annie lennox are often named.