I'm looking for some singing statistics for vocal range. I'm looking for something like this: If you have 10 women, 5 are sopranos, 3 are mezzo-sopranos and 2 are alto. THAT WAS AN EXAMPLE. If you know where I can find something like this or something similar. Please tell me. It's for a proyect.
Thanks, anyway. This question is much complicated to a certain extent. To be honest with you, I don't think there are any specific stats on that, BUT I can give you some round about figures.
For adult women, most women are categorized as sopranos. Of course there are different types of sopranos, but if you want to break that down....
The majority of these sopranos are lyric sopranos. Lyric sopranos have more of an "in between" weight in their voice. They come about a dime a dozen. Next in line is the coloratura soprano. They have a light-weight "flighty" sound. These sopranos hit notes in the whistle register, and their voices are able to move fast and agile. Here in recent years, coloratura sopranos have been slightly more accessible. Next in line, there are dramatic sopranos who are far more uncommon become more the minority in recent years. Dramatic sopranos have a weighty, heavy sound that could fill a huge auditorium with no mic and still sound huge. Then an even more rare voice type is the Wagnerian soprano. Wagnerians are the heaviest in sound. Most people will never witness a Wagnerian soprano in person unless they are HUGE opera buffs and attend alot of opera. So the stats on finding a Wagnerian is an extremely small number. Most singers (male and female) that perform Wagnerian material are usually dramatic (because it is so rare to find a true Wagnerian voice).
Now let's move to the lower voiced category. We have the Mezzo-Soprano. You will find more true dramatic sopranos before you find a true Mezzo-Soprano. And yes, just like sopranos, the biggest category of Mezzos is the lyric Mezzo Soprano (just like with Lyric soprano, their weight in their voice is 'in between", but with more texture). Now with Mezzos, you will find next in line would be the dramatic Mezzo (unlike the soprano voice catagory). I assume because most TRUE Mezzos have a much heavier quality voice. Then you have the coloratura Mezzos...which that term for me is on the fence. Because most coloratura Mezzos are really Sopranos in disguise because they get tired of competing with other sopranos, but I will not go there. LOL! There are true coloratura Mezzos, but they are rare. Some say Cecilia Bartoli is a coloratura Mezzo, and some say she is lyric. Anywhoooo, these types of Mezzos have light voices. Most Mezzo's don't have light voices, therefore it is uncommon to find a coloratura Mezzo. In the end, many sopranos with a decent bottom pretend to be Mezzos because the competition is so stiff among Sopranos, they just get by with singing Mezzo. But you can tell a true Mezzo when you hear one. Mezzos are the "Uncommon" voices in route of stats among females.
Now on to contralto. That is a voice type that you HARDLY EVER FIND. You could gather 10 females together, and you could find not one of them are contraltos. These voices sound almost like tenors, but the sound is darker. They, in my opinion, have the most cherished voices I have ever heard. You will find, just as I stated with Wagnerian, Mezzos usually wind up taking contralto solos, because contraltos are extremely rare in nature. I am a Mezzo, and I sing several roles/solos for contralto voice because I have a heavy bottom sound. I just sang the contralto solos to the Messiah this weekend, and most people think I am a contralto when I sing those solos.
Males....well here we go. I will not get all detailed, because this thing is getting way too long. LOL!
Lets just say in general for both males and females, the lyric voice is the top find in considering weight.
Most male voices are Baritones, just as most female voices are Sopranos. And you will, just as sopranos do, find Baritones trying to pass off as Tenors, because Tenors get the heroic material. I personally think it is corny, and dangerous for some male voices. But that is another subject.
The next in line is the Tenor voice. Tenors, even if they have a heavy sound (like Helden Tenors), have more of a "spin" to their top notes. They aren't rare, but it is easier to find a true baritone before you find a true tenor.
And then we have the Bass. A true bass is like finding a true contralto. An extremely rare find. You can find a few, but it is very rare. You will find Baritones or bass /baritones singing many bass roles, because true basses are just an oddity. But when you find one, what a GEM!
AND AFTER THE BASS, if you wanna talk statistics, is the countertenor. The slim to none in find noawadays. Now, don't confuse the counter-tenor with the guys who have a good falsetto. Totally different. Counter-tenors sound....well...most of them just sound odd to most people. Countertenor's don't have to use falsetto, because those stratosphere high ranges are just part of where their voice lies...their passagio literally sits as a female voice. Their voice will not flip into a falsetto as a Justin Timberlake or Micheal Jackson. Those two aren't countertenors. They just have a decent falsetto. It is probably harder to find a counter-tenor than a bass. Counter-tenors tend to have some kind of hormone issue (not all, but many do). Back in the day, (1800's on down), there were many counter-tenors. They would....well...do things to young males to keep their voices high for church or opera. You get the picture? Ewe. Now that this visual is over!!!!!! That is considered barbaric now, and that practice is now illegal.
I know it was long, but I hope it helped. The human voice is SOOOO complicated. It is deeper than just voice parts huh. Have fun with your research! When A God Fearin' Women Got The Blues by Martina McBride |
