Vocal range test
Your vocal range is the distance between the lowest and highest notes you can sing and hold – not squeak, not growl, hold. This test measures it in about two minutes: sing your lowest comfortable note, then your highest, and the same pitch detector that powers the Cadence practice app locks each one when it hears you hold it steady.
THE TEST · ABOUT TWO MINUTES
Sing two notes. That's the whole test.
Your lowest comfortable note, then your highest. The detector listens live and locks each one when you hold it steady for a moment.
NOTHING IS RECORDED OR UPLOADED · THE ANALYSIS RUNS ON YOUR DEVICE
Best with headphones off and the room reasonably quiet. Sing “ah” at a medium volume.
What the result means
You'll get your two notes on a stave, the span between them, and the voice type whose typical range sits closest to yours. Treat the label as a signpost, not a verdict: voices are classified by where they're comfortable – where the tone blooms and stays easy – as much as by the edges, and plenty of good singers sit between two categories.
| Voice type | Typical range | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Soprano | C4 – C6 | the top line – bright, and exposed | ← YOU |
| Mezzo-soprano | A3 – A5 | the most common female voice | ← YOU |
| Alto | F3 – F5 | lower female voice, rich in the middle – and the male alto line in cathedral choirs | ← YOU |
| Tenor | C3 – C5 | higher male voice – carries the melody in many choirs | ← YOU |
| Baritone | A2 – A4 | the most common male voice | ← YOU |
| Bass | E2 – E4 | the low anchor – rare, and choirs fight over them | ← YOU |
Ranges in scientific pitch notation – C4 is middle C. Typical, not gospel: real voices blur every boundary.
How the test works
- Start the test and allow the microphone. The audio is analysed live on your device and never uploaded – the mic closes the moment you stop.
- Slide down to your lowest comfortable note and hold it on “ah”. When the detector hears a steady note for a moment, it locks it in – you'll see it appear. Go as low as stays musical: if it turns to gravel, you've passed it.
- Now your highest. Head voice counts if you can hold it. Same rule: a note you could sing in a piece, not a shriek the neighbours report.
Do it warmed up if you can – a cold voice tests a semitone or three short of its real range, which is also a good argument for warming up before rehearsal.
Growing your range (and why the edges are the wrong obsession)
The edges of a range respond to patient, regular work: gentle sirens and semitone-ladder warm-ups that visit the border notes daily without forcing them. A semitone a month is genuinely good progress. What transforms how you sound, though, is rarely a new top note – it's making the notes you already own land in tune, start cleanly without scooping, and hold steady to the end of the phrase. That's exactly what Cadence measures, take after take.
You've met your range. Now train it.
Cadence shows your pitch live as you sing, trains sight-singing and cold pitch, and proves – in numbers – that this month's voice beats last month's. Free to practise, no account needed to try.
Open CadenceCommon questions
What is a normal vocal range?
Most untrained voices hold about 1½–2 octaves comfortably; trained singers often reach 2–3. The famous four- and five-octave voices are outliers using several registers. A choir only ever asks for about a tenth of your range at a time.
Do falsetto and head voice count?
If you can hold the note steadily, it counts – the test measures what you can sustain, whatever register it's in. For repertoire or a choir part, your comfortable middle matters more than your extremes.
Which voice type am I?
Compare your held notes to the table above – and remember where your voice sits comfortably matters more than the edges. Many voices sit between two labels, and a choir director's ear beats any chart. There's a fuller answer on the voice type test.
Can I extend my range?
Usually, yes – the edges respond to regular gentle warm-ups, a semitone at a time. But most singers gain more from making the notes they already have reliable and in tune than from chasing new extremes.
How accurate is it?
It's the same pitch detection the Cadence app uses, and it only locks a note you hold steadily. Sing “ah” at medium volume in a reasonably quiet room – whispering or heavy background noise throws any detector.
Is my voice recorded?
No. The audio is analysed live in your browser and never leaves your device – nothing is recorded, stored or uploaded, and there's no account.