How to Find Your Vocal Range for Singing Pop and R&B

The following information on how to find your vocal range is excerpted from the Berklee Online course, Improvisation Techniques for Singing Pop and R&B authored by Gabrielle Goodman. 

The key of a sound recording may not always work for you. It may be too high or too low. This doesn’t mean that we can’t sing the song. It simply means that we must explore other keys that will make our voices shine. This will change from song to song, as the range of each piece may be different and you must align your vocal range with the range of the song. You may think that you sing well in the key of B♭ because you sing several songs comfortably in this key. This doesn’t mean that you will sing every song in B♭. You may sing various songs in other keys better based on the range of the song.

What makes a key suitable for your voice? 

At the end of the day the best key will make your voice sound brilliant and pleasant to hear. It will also offer a certain amount of ease where you don’t have to struggle for notes, whether low or high.

Range is everything when determining a suitable key. Here are two essential points that you must consider when finding the correct key.

• Know or determine the range of your voice.
• Determine the key and the range of the song.

Finding Your Vocal Range

You can determine the range of your voice and the range of the song by finding the highest and lowest comfortable notes in each. Like finding the range of a song, you must determine the lowest comfortable note in your chest voice and the highest comfortable note in your head voice. This will give you an idea of your full range. You will also want to determine the highest comfortable note in your chest voice when singing pop and R&B, as this is integral to the style.

Head Voice Vs. Chest Voice

Singing scale patterns or arpeggios in a succession of half steps going as low as possible and then singing these exercises as high as comfortably possible will help you to find your range. Most singers have a range of an octave and a half to two octaves and many have a range that spans three to four octaves. Matching your range with the range of the song will help you to determine if the key is right for you.

There are other factors as well. You might be able to sing a song in several different keys. In this case you might try singing and recording it (low tech) on your phone or computer and listening to it to decide which version you like best. This is the easiest and best way. You may also want to sing the song for a friend in two different keys and ask which version sounds best to them if you can’t decide.

When exploring keys, you’ll find that some keys will offer more or less room in the upper register. If you choose a key that is already high in your voice, you may not have any room to comfortably sing or add high notes, or the notes in the song may feel constricted. You will have to decide whether you want to transpose your song to a lower key or work on smoothing out technical points in the upper register that may be causing constriction. On the other hand, there may be low notes that you are struggling to sing.

Exceptions to the Rule for Key Suitability

There are also some gray areas with determining the right key. We have already discussed some of the other factors such as being able to sing a song in several different keys. The gray area is when you sing a song that sounds great with the exception of one note that may be too high or too low. In this case, I recommend changing the note and not the key. Since the pop and R&B genres contain improvisation and more room for artistic license, you may find a note such as a neighbor tone to substitute the note that is not working. You must own it and treat it as if it were written. There can’t be any trepidation or doubt when singing it.

STUDY VOICE PERFORMANCE WITH BERKLEE ONLINE