Female voices
Women’s voices are mainly divided into four types , that is, into four families.
The Spanish soprano singer Ainhoa Arteta. Photo by Agencia EFE.
Soprano: Female voices
This type of voice is the most common among women. It is also very common in children’s voices. Corresponds to the sharpest tessitura . On a piano keyboard this tone would go from A3 to G6. Within this type of voice there are several subtypes:
Coloratura soprano : easy to change scale.
Light soprano: with a higher register but with less body.
Lyrical soprano : they have more volume than light, but not as sharp.
Light lyrical soprano: adapts his voice to lyrical and light soprano scores, but does not reach the bass of the lyrical.
Spinto lyrical soprano : very similar to the lyrical soprano but the register is more solid in the central part.
Soprano soubrette : very similar also to the lyric soprano but has more bass and less treble.
Dramatic coloratura soprano : has a very wide tessitura and brilliant lows.
Dramatic Soprano : Lower and brighter tone, ideal for dramatic roles.
Soprano falcon : a voice somewhere between soprano and mezzo-soprano. It has a perfect command of the highs, powerful mids and powerful bass. It owes its name to the French singer Marie Cornélie Falcon.
Soprano sfogato : voice with wide register. It is hardly used.
Do you read us from Andalusia? Discover our offer of singing classes in Seville .
Mezzo-soprano: Female voices
Fairly common among women and also corresponds to the voice of some children. It resembles a middle voice with a high-pitched tendency. Several types of mezzo-soprano voice also differ:
Light Mezzo: It is very similar to the voice of a dramatic soprano but has greater capacity for lyrical ornamentation in the lower registers.
Lyrical Mezzo : It has powerful bass and a very agile vibrato.
Dramatic Mezzo: it also has many similarities to the voice of a dramatic soprano but has much more power in the lower registers.
Contralto
The deepest voice of all within female voices. It is so rare that in operas there are even times that contralto roles have to be played by other voices, and mezzo-sopranos with darker timbres are chosen.
The types of contralto are:
Dramatic Alto : the most powerful and serious.
Comical contralto or buffa contralto : a very unusual voice that in the works is characterized by making musical ornaments.
Alto de coloratura : a deep voice with rapidity when playing notes, so it dominates the treble. Within this type we have the dramatic coloratura alto and the coloratura lyrical alto.
