If you're a soprano and your voice teacher says your range is

"F below middle C to F above high C"

would that be denoted F3-F6?

That seems like a very (too) big range. I'm wondering if my daughter's teacher is using "high C" to mean the C one octave above middle C or if she truly means "high C", which is 2 octaves above middle C.

Thoughts? (and thanks!)

You just simply put on your resume under Special Skills/Abilities:
-Singing(soprano)

How many commercial/theatrical agents do you think know what "F below middle C to F above high C" means? I would guess not that many. If someone wants to know the specific range then you can tell them or have your daughter demonstrate.

Thanks, Eldorado. We're splitting the difference and listing it as "Soprano F3-F6" on her resume.

She does both musical theatre and operatic work, so I think we'll cover the bases that way. I was suspicious of the range, but tested her myself and found it is, indeed, 3 octaves. She's been expanding the upper register quite nicely!

quote:

Originally posted by ELDORADO59:

How many commercial/theatrical agents do you think know what "F below middle C to F above high C" means? I would guess not that many. If someone wants to know the specific range then you can tell them or have your daughter demonstrate.

Any agent representing legitimate singers or any casting director booking them will not only understand what this simple description of her daughter's range means, but it is an essential requirement when casting any important operatic or musical theater part.

How can an agent accurately submit anyone for a specific role if they don't even know their talent's special vocal abilities? Casting directors never say, "Submit any good singer." Roles are always explicitly delineated and the more information her daughter's resume can provide, the better.

Fluff, a legitimate three-octave range is worth it's weight in gold to any vocal performer. Always mention it.

www.robertkim.com

Thanks Robert. Will do!

How old is your daughter, Fluff? If she's adolescentish or younger, it's pretty unlikely that she's got an F6. Young voices very, very, very rarely have that kind of range. If I was a casting director and saw "F6" on a young girl's resume, I'd definitely raise an eyebrow.

The F3 is reasonable, definitely, but F6 is a really high note for most adults, much less kiddos. If you ask your dd's voice teacher and she says that's in fact the note she meant, make sure that it's not just the highest note your daughter can screech out. A voice range should be listed as the highest/lowest notes you can sing comfortably and well. That is, not the note your child would scream out when presented with a tarantula.

Hope that helps!

Thanks kinnniggets. She's almost 14. Her teacher describes her voice as coloratura, if that's any help.

I'm new on these forums, but have been teaching voice lessons for about ten years and have been a professional singer, mostly in opera and classical since I finished my Master's degree in voice.

I would be highly suspect of a teacher labeling a 13 year old as a coloratura. The voice has not matured and it is NOT healthy for voices that young to be constantly going up to that range, except in VERY rare cases. I say this as a coloratura myself. I first discovered that freaky part of my range when I was around 17 - but I had gone through puberty at 11, so the voice had had a few years to START to mature. At the age of your daughter, it's still too early to definitely know where the voice is going to go. One might make speculation, but one should not try to put a definite label beyond simply "soprano."

F6 is the note used in Mozart's Queen of the Night role in The Magic Flute and Madame Herz in The Impressario. Having done most of the Queen in concert and the full role of Madame Herz, I obviously list my range going up to F6. But if I personally, as a classical singer and voice teacher, saw a child's resume listing that, I would not take it seriously. (FWIW, I have my range listed as "soprano: G3-F6." I can sing F3, but not consistently and good, so I don't list it. I've also sung up to G6 in performance when singing in The Tales of Hoffmann, but it's not worked up right now, so I don't list it.


I hope I haven't come off too strong - that is SO not my intention. I just really want to caution you against doing anything that could potentially damage your daughter's voice.

If you want to learn more about the classical end of the business, I highly recommend www.nfcs.net. It's a forum for classical singers to discuss everything and anything. I must warn you that it is not moderated, and there are some strong personalities on there that will sometimes give harsh advice, but I've found it to be an incredibly valuable resource.

Good luck! I wish you and your daughter the best!

Thanks JenSop. I was suspicious as well.. that's why I posted originally. I think I need to amend my earlier statement -- the voice teacher says she thinks DD may make a good coloratura ("in the future", is implied, I think).

We are trying to be very careful with her voice. We resisted years of requests/begging for voice lessons -- didn't let her start formal lessons until she was 11.

Because of her range, she's singing all over the map right now: 1st soprano with voice teacher and church choir; alto with school girl's choir. It's a weird year for her musically! It'll be interesting to see where her voice eventually settles. I was a 1st soprano through my teen years, but as I've aged I've definately settled into the 2nd soprano range. Of course I don't sing much anymore so my range and tone are really crummy these days.

Thanks for the tip on nfcs.net. I'll check it out! DD is still experimenting with both classic and musical theatre. She loves them both.