This document classifies and describes the different types of human voices. It divides female voices into soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto. Male voices are divided into countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. Each voice type has a defined range and tessitura. Examples of famous singers are given for each voice type. Videos are included to demonstrate the different voices. Vocal groups like mixed choirs, male choirs, female choirs, and children's choirs are also defined.

1. CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN VOICE
FEMALE VOICES MALE VOICES

2. VOICE TYPE
• A voice type is a particular kind of
human singing voice perceived as having certain
identifying qualities or characteristics.
• Women are typically divided into three
groups: soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto.
• Men are usually divided into four
groups: countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass.

3. VOICE TYPES
Voice type
Female voice
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Contralto
Male voices
Contratenor
Tenor
Baritone
Bass

4. FEMALE VOICE
Soprano:
• The soprano is the highest female voice.
• The tessitura of the soprano voice lies higher than all
the other female voices.
Mezzo-soprano:
• Mezzo-soprano tessitura, the tessitura of the mezzo-
soprano is lower than that of the soprano and higher
than that of the contralto.
Contralto:
• The contralto voice is the lowest female voice. A true
operatic contralto is extremely rare.

5. FEMALE VOICES
SOPRANO MEZZOSOPRANO CONTRALTO
MONTSERRAT CABALLÉ TERESA BERGANZA EULA BEAL

6. MALE VOICES
Countertenor:
• The term countertenor refers to the highest male
voice. Many countertenor singers perform roles
originally written for castrati in baroque operas.
Tenor:
• The tenor is the highest male voice within the modal
register.

7. Baritone:
• The Baritone is the most common type of male
voice.
• The tessitura of the baritone is lower than that
of the tenor and higher than that of the bass.
Bass:
• The bass is the lowest male voice.
• Bass tessitura: The bass voice has the lowest
tessitura of all the voices.

8. MALE VOICES
TENOR BARITONE BASS
L.PAVAROTTI LEO NUCCI NICOLAI GHIAUROV

9. RANGE

10. ACTIVITY: Listen to both fragments and
choose which kind of voice is.
Audition 1: a) Soprano
b) Mezzosoprano
c) Contralto
Solution: ______________
Audition 2 : a) Tenor
b) Baritone
c) Bass
Solution: ______________

11. VIDEO

12. VIDEO

13. VIDEO

14. VIDEO

15. VIDEO

16. VIDEO

17. VOCAL GROUP
• Mixed choirs (with male and female voices). This is perhaps
the most common type, usually consisting of soprano, alto,
tenor and bass voices.
• Male choirs, with the same voicing as mixed choirs, but
with boys singing. This format is typical of British
cathedralchoirs.
• Female choirs, usually consisting of soprano and alto voices,
two parts in each.
• Children's choirs, often two-part SA or three-part SSA,
sometimes more voices. This includes boys’ choirs.

18. ACTIVITY: Listen to both fragments and choose
which kind of Vocal group is.
• Audition 1: a) Mixed choir
b) Male choir
c) Children´s choir
Solution: ______________
• Audition 2 : a) Female choir
b) Male choir
c) Mixed choir
Solution: ______________