Im asking this cause Im confused also about how they work out what your natural singing voice falls into for example I always thought freddie mercury was a tenor but have read he's actually a barritone with a large vocal range apparently its to do with your natural speaking voice also and prince's speaking voice was really low. Hope this question makes sense.

Baritone, for sure. His range was pretty amazing.

I think the one thing that never ceased to amaze me at the times when I wasn't even looking for it was the purity of his voice. Some of those last live shows were not just him hitting some notes or mimicking a nuance - he was hittin' that shit hard yet with the greatest of ease.

I'd say baritone also. That was his naturqal speakiing voice. But God knows he seemed comfortable will every range he tried.

Thanks guys its funny I still dont know how they work it out I would have always thought prince was a tenor because most of his singing was in this range.

I remember once reading in an interview (or maybe I saw him say it in a broadcast interview) that the "falsetto" was his natural singing voice. He said that singing in the lower registers was "painful".

lonelyalien said:

Thanks guys its funny I still dont know how they work it out I would have always thought prince was a tenor because most of his singing was in this range.

He sang alot of falsetto which is in the upper range of tenor, I believe.

Wow - not many vocalists here.

Prince's falsetto range was anywhere from alto to soprano. The "ooo"s in Purple Rain, for example, are definitely in the soprano range.

His natural register was mostly tenor (you can hear that this is where his natural register was most powerful), but he could definitely dip into low tenor or baritone. (For example, the "tell me that you love me, girl" in Soft and Wet.)

His speaking voice varied in pitch a lot, too - depending on how much he needed to project. He spoke in a higher pitch when he was in a larger setting like a concert, but lower if he was doing an interview.

[Edited 10/18/18 12:16pm]

Genesia said:

Wow - not many vocalists here.

Prince's falsetto range was anywhere from alto to soprano. The "ooo"s in Purple Rain, for example, are definitely in the soprano range.

His natural register was mostly tenor (you can hear that this is where his natural register was most powerful), but he could definitely dip into low tenor or baritone. (For example, the "tell me that you love me, girl" in Soft and Wet.)

His speaking voice varied in pitch a lot, too - depending on how much he needed to project. He spoke in a higher pitch when he was in a larger setting like a concert, but lower if he was doing an interview.

[Edited 10/18/18 12:16pm]

According to this site which is dedicated to singers vocal ranges he's a barritone.

http://therangeplace.boar...ers-nelson

lonelyalien said:

Genesia said:

Wow - not many vocalists here.

Prince's falsetto range was anywhere from alto to soprano. The "ooo"s in Purple Rain, for example, are definitely in the soprano range.

His natural register was mostly tenor (you can hear that this is where his natural register was most powerful), but he could definitely dip into low tenor or baritone. (For example, the "tell me that you love me, girl" in Soft and Wet.)

His speaking voice varied in pitch a lot, too - depending on how much he needed to project. He spoke in a higher pitch when he was in a larger setting like a concert, but lower if he was doing an interview.

[Edited 10/18/18 12:16pm]

According to this site which is dedicated to singers vocal ranges he's a barritone.

http://therangeplace.boar...ers-nelson

Wow, somebody really put in a lot of research.

onlyforaminute said:

lonelyalien said:

According to this site which is dedicated to singers vocal ranges he's a barritone.

http://therangeplace.boar...ers-nelson

Wow, somebody really put in a lot of research.

I know, dedication.

Wait a minute - that says Purple Baritone.

Baritone with an unusally strong, colourful and controlled falsetto.

That's why it says 'Purple Baritone' becuase it's almost like an asterix next to baritone.

dandan said:

Baritone with an unusally strong, colourful and controlled falsetto.

That's why it says 'Purple Baritone' becuase it's almost like an asterix next to baritone.

That's very interesting. Are there other colors of baritone and Prince just happens to be a purple?

lonelyalien said:

Genesia said:

Wow - not many vocalists here.

Prince's falsetto range was anywhere from alto to soprano. The "ooo"s in Purple Rain, for example, are definitely in the soprano range.

His natural register was mostly tenor (you can hear that this is where his natural register was most powerful), but he could definitely dip into low tenor or baritone. (For example, the "tell me that you love me, girl" in Soft and Wet.)

His speaking voice varied in pitch a lot, too - depending on how much he needed to project. He spoke in a higher pitch when he was in a larger setting like a concert, but lower if he was doing an interview.

According to this site which is dedicated to singers vocal ranges he's a barritone.

http://therangeplace.boar...ers-nelson

The fact that he could go that low (I already acknowledged that he ends up in a baritone range not infrequently) does not mean that was his natural or most used range.

I based my assessment on the fact that I can sing most of his songs along with him - in the same register he sings them in. I am a usually-alto woman who can also sing tenor. I cannot sing baritone - and with Prince, I rarely am faced with that.

Like everything else, Prince may not fit the typical standard on this either. Regarding the OP, maybe he had more than one natural singing voice.


Vocal range and voice classification. Therefore, voice teachers use vocal range as only one factor among many in classifying a singer's voice. More important than range in voice classification is tessitura, or where the voice is most comfortable singing, and vocal timbre, or the characteristic sound of the singing voice. wiki

poppys said:

Like everything else, Prince may not fit the typical standard on this either. Regarding the OP, maybe he had more than one natural singing voice.


Vocal range and voice classification. Therefore, voice teachers use vocal range as only one factor among many in classifying a singer's voice. More important than range in voice classification is tessitura, or where the voice is most comfortable singing, and vocal timbre, or the characteristic sound of the singing voice. wiki

Exactly what I was getting at.

lonelyalien said:

Im asking this cause Im confused also about how they work out what your natural singing voice falls into for example I always thought freddie mercury was a tenor but have read he's actually a barritone with a large vocal range apparently its to do with your natural speaking voice also and prince's speaking voice was really low. Hope this question makes sense.

The link below shows the list of singers with the widest vocal range of which Prince is listed as No. 3

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/20/top-artists-vocal-range_n_5357698.html

No matter who weighs in, Prince would not fit a category. He doesn't fit the mold that mere mortals draw up. It's like someone categorizing Michelangelo on his painting skills.

Prince had changed his voice when he felt a song who had the base and tone to the music.

I think a persons natural speaking tone can be different from their natural singing voice.

I think his singing voice is low med hi Tenor

Just a little related story.

.

Back in 1998-2002 I was having singing lessons in a music school and we had this background vocals workshop when we'd work a capella pieces in a group of about 10-12 ppl, and our teacher was a bad ass female jazz singer in her mid-40's, she really knew her shit and she was very open minded artistically speaking. One year she said at the beginning of each class someone has to bring a song where they think the background vocals is the shit, and we can listen to it and discuss it. And when it was my turn I brought one of the TMBGITW mixes, I don't remember if it was Mustang Mix or Staxowax, either/or, I could find out if listening to both again but nevermind, one of them has killer background vox by Prince. So we listen to it and the teacher could not believe Prince was doing all the vocals. She went like there's no bloody way it's all him, there has to be a female vocalist doing the highest harmonies, and I was like "nope", and she had to take my word for it but she was pretty skeptical. And believe me this woman was no fool and couldn't be fooled easily when it came to vocals, but Prince certainly did fool her that day.

.

That's how good he was

Genesia said:

lonelyalien said:

According to this site which is dedicated to singers vocal ranges he's a barritone.

http://therangeplace.boar...ers-nelson

The fact that he could go that low (I already acknowledged that he ends up in a baritone range not infrequently) does not mean that was his natural or most used range.

I based my assessment on the fact that I can sing most of his songs along with him - in the same register he sings them in. I am a usually-alto woman who can also sing tenor. I cannot sing baritone - and with Prince, I rarely am faced with that.

Thats why Im so confused same thing with freddie mercury most of the stuff he sings is in a tenor range or higher but hes classed as a baritone.

i'm no expert, but I should think 'falsetto' is no one's 'normal' singing voice. It's a different way of singing?

coldasice said:

Singing in falsetto does not make you a tenor. Prince was Baritone.

No one said singing falsetto makes you a tenor. Prince's falsetto range was anywhere from alto to soprano. (Some of his falsetto was too high for me to sing and I'm a girl.)

Most of the time when singing in his natural (i.e. non-falsetto) range, he was singing tenor.

Genesia said:

coldasice said:

Singing in falsetto does not make you a tenor. Prince was Baritone.

No one said singing falsetto makes you a tenor. Prince's falsetto range was anywhere from alto to soprano. (Some of his falsetto was too high for me to sing and I'm a girl.)

Most of the time when singing in his natural (i.e. non-falsetto) range, he was singing tenor.

I read somewhere he was able to sing castrato as well

Prince was definitely a baritone in the sense that he appears to really strain in his chest voice around a G. You can hear this in many recordings, notably towards the end of The Cross. It's actually why for me that's one of his most moving performances -- him clawing his way to those notes has so much wounded power.

The lowest note my ears have heard Prince clearly sing -- without vocal tricks -- is the low E in Damn U.

This fits within a baritone's range as I've known that to be.

This range has nothing to do with his falsetto, which for me is the most thrilling in all of pop music. This is another tool separate from his chest singing voice.

His supreme ability to move between these two distinct voices, his head and his chest voice, is arguably his greatest gift of all.

I always knew that:

Freddie Mercury: half a tenor

Prince: Falsetto like his mother

Genesia said: