There are many different answers, depending on who you ask. The most common answer is 2-3 (average.) Normal pop/stuff you hear on the radio can use their normal range. Classical and opera singers generally have more, from 4-??? There is dispute about that, like I mentioned. http://notsosynonymous.tripod.com/sing/qa2.html has the flipside. I don't know if I believe it or not. Especially since I was told in high school my range was somewhere between 6-7. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy :P Hope that helped you out :D

Excluding falsetto... The average untrained singer may have an octave or less, perhaps an octave and a half (strained). Professional singers (with extensive training) have a practice singing range of about 3 octaves (unstrained), and a performance range of 1.5-2 octaves. It is EXTREMELY rare, but there are singers with 4 octave practice ranges, these tend to be female singers as their vocal cords are lighter than males.

The average person usually to sings 1.5 octaves, and the professionals 2-3 octaves. And the range of notes you SING and notes you HIT are basically two different things --- If your voice goes fluttery and weak or low and rough, you're not singing; you're croaking/squeaking. And even though some professional singers can sing up to 3 octaves, they usually only sing up to 2 octaves while performing. And by the way, I personally believe that it is impossible to sing 4 octaves and above as that means that the said subject has to be able to sing at Pavarotti's to Sarah Brightman's pitch. (Even though Pavarotti is JUST a tenor, do you really think that someone is actually able to sing at that whooping range ?) But do please correct me if I am wrong.

I've heard that 2-3 octaves is the normal range for sopranos and high sops, and that a 4 octave range is extremely rare.

So glad to see this thread. I know it's a little old, but it's a discussion I've been having recently. I have a pretty broad range for an adult male singer, and it's about 2.5 octaves. As stated already, just because someone can squeak or grunt extreme notes at either end of their "range", doesn't mean they can actually sing there. If all you can do is go "Aaaaaaaaah" or "Eeeeeeeeeee" at a particular pitch, it's not part of your singable range. Also, people in popular music seem to focus on the high notes but forget the low. Some singers' high ends can be impressively high, but often so are their low ends. The problem with statements such as "4-octave range" sometimes isn't so much bombast as bad math. For example, C1 to C4 isn't "4-octaves" anymore than 2001 to 2004 is "4 years" (2001 to 2005 would be 4 years), yet that's the sort of math employed by many people who claim a 4-octave range. C1 to C5 would be a true 4-octave range, and (again, as an actual singable range) it's probably inhuman.

Many people say 4 octaves are EXTREMELY rare, but Mariah Carey has 5 octaves :)

I feel I need to provide an answer in this case because there are so many false statements. First of all it's NOT impossible to sing 5 octaves it's NOT impossible to sing 10 octaves either. What you need to understand is that you cant use those high notes they are just used to make the lower ones better. Also when you say that Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey has a 5 octave range it's just bullshit. Even if they have it they dont use more than about 2 octaves maybee even less. You can train up your voice to sing really really really REALLY high notes but that doesnt mean you will use them. I've never heard a man take a note in a recorded song which is higher than the "F" above the tenor high "C" and it will sound a bit female when you hit those notes. I could explain how it is possible to take those high notes (without straining anything) but that would take forever. A good singing teacher who understands the voice wil do that much better. Also someone made a statement that Women have an easier time singing high notes than men, and that's false to I'm afraid. Women actually have a harder time singing high notes than men has and a Woman who is equally trained to a man wouldn't be near the mans range. Now for the answers to the questions: 1. A normal person who isn't trained and doesn't sing regularly has about 1,5 octaves range. However this may differ depending on where you live and such. In Italy people use their speaking voice in a much higher and lower range than in most other countries.They express themselves through high and low notes so it isn't weird if an untrained italian would have 2,5 octaves range. In conclusion the normal amount is 1,5 octaves range but it differs depending on which range you use when speaking. 2. As I made clear in the text above a professional singer can sing as high as he/she wants to. But that depends on how they are trained. You can train your voice to about 3 octaves without ever understanding head voice or how it works. But then it will be very much like screaming at the really high notes and you will break and not being able to use the 3 octaves always. Singers who doesn't understand the head-voice will sometimes being able to sing just 2 octaves and sometimes they will be able to sing 3. When you are trained to understand the head-voice you can have as wide range as you want if you want to give it time and effort. You will pretty much always being able to sing higher notes than you ever have to all the time even at live concerts. Ok that is the answers to the questions. I hope I helped.

I'm gonna make this short but clear, I am 12 years old and I'm a girl and I can sing 3 octaves. I've had no professional singing lessons, actually, I've had no singing lessons of any type. I swear I'm telling the truth, but believe what you want to believe. I believe that if you give enough support to your diapham, you can sing as many octave as an average profesional singer. My opinion only!

Cleo Laine is reknowned for having a 4-octave-plus range & on hearing her recordings I would agree. I am a professional singer/voice tutor & have 3 octaves of modal voice and then falsetto reaches about a 5th above the alto mechanism, although I don't count falsetto as part of the sum of my range as they're not "true" notes, although the rocky alto mechanism uses modal tones (although classical circles don't recognise the existence of the male alto mechanism as a genuine register - this is NOT to be confused with falsetto! Think Jon Bon Jovi's higher notes & you're on the right track - not false notes) As for whether women or men have bigger ranges, it depends entirely on the individual. I know a man who can hit an F# above Pavarotti's high B in Nessun Dorma in full voice. He is a tenor with a massive alto mechanism, although his bottom register only goes down to an A (textbook tenor floor) - I would use numbers after these notes but everyone seems to use different systems!!! But in answer to your question, it is perfectly possible for a human being to have a 4-octave range.

I can sing about 2 octives A person can reach at least 4 if they could train themselves to possibly 11

i've heard it's about 1.5 to 2 for the average person. i started taking voice lessons this past march, and my teacher said on average, sopranos can sing about three octaves. i'm not sure about the other parts though. i hope this helped:)

The average person can sing .5-2 octaves and a professional or a person born with talent can sing 3 or more it is impossible to sing 7 octaves because all you will hear is air flowing through your throat. I for example have never took a singing lesson and i have a 3.5 octave range so it is possible to be untrained and have a 3 octave range and mariah carey is a 5 octave because in many of her songs she has hit those notes but you can tell it is kind of computerized because it is impossible to go on a low note and just in a speed of lightning end up doing a long high note. so im not saying shes a fake but she has 5 octaves, she did not earn 5 octaves over night it took many years of practice and rachelle farelle has a 5 octave range in her song it only took a minute, also whitney houston does not have a 5 octave range she has a three she even claimed it during a interview in 97 so i hope you realize that what i have said is right and that this is the only correct answer, you can get

Well, some people think that 5 octaves is impossible...but i have 4 octaves...and i still can hit the high notes like mariah carey (my idol) so 5 octaves is imaginable for me...the average is as people say, 0.5-1.5 and with a litle practise, you can get 3 octaves...i have wanted to be a famous singer since i was 4, and have been singing since...mariah has been singing since she was 4 also...and she's in her 30's now...i need a litle more practise...then i can sing maybe even higher than her.

The truth is anyone one could sing any amount from 1-20 if they reallyed tryed, But for the people how dont blieve that people can't sing to an 7-octive they can i found a person that has more then mariah and whitney combined, and he's a man he has a 7-octive and two time GUINNESS WORLD RECORD holder for singing the HIGHEST NOTE IN HISTORY if your dont blieve me click here http://www.adamlopez.com.au/Fansite.html

From the "Harvard Brief Dictionary of Music": "The human voices are usually classified in six types: three female voices: soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto; and three male voices: tenor, baritone, bass. The normal ranges of these voices are approximately an octave (more safely, a seventh) below and above [*1] the notes b', g', e' and a, f, d ... Trained soloists frequently exceed these ranges, however. Particularly the singers of the 18th century possessed ranges which seem miraculous. The soprano Lucrezia Agujari (1743-83) could reach c'''' [*2], and a bass part in Handel's "Acis and Galatea" (1708), written for Giuseppe Boschi, shifts, within one measure, from a' to C#, more than 2-1/2 octaves." [*1] A total range of about two octaves. [*2] Approximately four octaves above the middle of the soprano range, for a total range of about five octaves.

Hello. I've just joined this website because i was intrigued by this question. I've had singing lessons since i was 9, i'm now 17 and can sing over 4 octaves.

I agree, the average person can sing between 1-2 octaves. But let's all remember - how many octaves you can sing in, says nothing about how good a singer you are. Just think about the English contralto Kathleen Ferrier: She had a voice of 2 octaves at its highest, but what a wonderful and strong voice! The same for Renata Tebaldi, a huge voice, but "only" a bit more than 2 octaves. And there are so many people saying they can sing four octaves, and their range can be about B3-C6. Then they can sing two whole octaves and a note or so in two others. To respond to the Adam Lopez thing - Yes, he does have a very high and a very low range, BUT, he can't sing all the notes in between. He is a baritone, with a very strong whistle register (Sung in super-head voice), but his range would rather be about 4 octaves, not 7. He can sing very low, and go up to about D4, before changing into his whistle register, which automatically jumps into the 6th octave, around the E6-F6. This means there are at least two full octaves he can't even sing within. And not to speak of the fact that his very secure top notes almost never fit the rest of the song. It sounds a bit weird with a dark, rich voice in most of the song, and then suddenly there's a huge jump to D7 from the same note, 3 octaves below...

Count 1 octave as the range between 2 C's. Then, if you touch 3 C's ( Lower middle & upper), your range is 2 octaves. Now normally touching 4 C's is considered a great effort or gift. I cannot think of a person having > 3 octave range. And normally that is not required also. If you have a good singing capability in 2 octaves, that is good enough. If you have more consider it a bonus and enjoy. As for myself, I can do a little more than 3 octaves but mostly below the mid and lower C and I do not consider it a virtue since this range is not usually employed during singing. This is good for morning tonal excersices and purifies your tonal resonance and brings confidence. Happy singing Mukunda

Okay, this is pretty intresting, that people actually claims they have 4 octaves and can actually SING every single note in these four octaves. I do not believe you, I mean... If you really say that you can sing between for example C2 to C6, you don't sing the highest notes, you whistle it out, and I don't personally call that singing. If you actually can sing in C6 octave, and really SING, not whistle, then okay. And Mariah Carey don't have 5 octaves, why can't people just understand that... cause, as I said before, whistling isn't singing in any way. But - dramatic sopranos, like Maria Callas, they are few, but they take the lowest and the highest notes. I have never said it's impossible to have 4 octaves, but i don't believe a normal non'trained person to have it. No way. And Adam Lopez, what in the name of god was that squeeking note he took in one of his songs?! That was like the ugliest thing ever, okay he took it, but singing? Big NO NO.

It depends on the genre too. Classical singers do not use microphone when they perform, so falsetti and notes that can't be projected to be heard over the orchestra do not count. The pop singers use mic, so their range is artificially enhanced. When people say such and such pop singers have 5 or 6 octave range, I wonder if those pop singers can sing and project ALL the notes between the ends of their range without the mic? The average person probably can sing 1/2 to 2 octave range, and even trained opera singers aren't usually required to do more than 2 octaves (in such roles that require 3+ octaves like Vitellia in Mozart's 'La clemenza di Tito' or Constanze in 'Entfuhrung aus dem Serail' you will likely hear some outlandish notes at one or both ends of the range that do not fit with the rest of the voice). It is rather useless comparing the miked pop singers and unamplified classical singers. And being able to hit notes in many different octaves says nothing about the person's ability to sing either. I'd rather hear a 2 octaved lyric soprano who sings all her arias well than a 5 octaved person whose only concern is to screech or croak notes that don't fit the songs they sing just to show off.

Whitney Houston has 3 octaves, not 5. A lot of confusion arises from when people hear someone switch up a register, they often think that the singer has gone up an extra octave, which in fact they often haven't.

It is perfectly natural for some singers without training to have the flexibility in their vocal folds & laryngal strength to be able to sing 3 octaves.

The notes aren't computerised, she was singing them before digital recording was the standard format. She uses whistle register, which is a female equivalent of male falsetto (and only occurs rarely naturally).

I have just joined this thread and I have to say it is possible for a person trained or untrained to possess a 3-4 octave range. I myself have a 3 1/2 octave range in full voice ( E2-G5 ) I have got up to a G#6 in full but I do not have complete control over it yet so I dont count it as part of my range. I have not been trained in any way. I do not use falsetto, superhead or whistle register to get to my top notes. So in my opinion to have a 4 octave range and be untrained is completely possible :)

cindy lauper christina aquillara mariah carey......... all have 5 octave range, and is very very rare!!!!!!!

I've been a boy soprano/alto before puberty. During my boy soprano years, i couldn't sing as high as after puberty. My voice DID change, and drop an octave, but my range also went up a couple octaves. As of this day, i can sing a B2 to a C#7, able to sing every note inbetween. I have trained for about 3 years off and on, and just recently (past 6 weeks) have started weekly lessons, now that i believe my voice has completely finished changing. My father is an amazing tenor, able to sing a D5 in full voice, and has a small amount of strong falsetto above that, can go up to about an A5 maybe. Me, however, in my tenor range I can sing up to a G4 in full voice, but this is expanding (a couple weeks ago my top note was an E4). So, yes, restating everything that has been said, 3 octaves in trained professionals is very common, .5 to 2 octaves sounds fair for untrained singers, and some people can indeed sing above 4 octaves. But, of course, everything has exceptions. Some untrained singers can expand this range, but it may not be healthy for their voice because many untrained singers dont know the difference from screaming notes and straining, to screetching as high as they can. I wouldn't call anything out of the .5 to 2 octave range in untrained singers singing because they don't know what they are doing if they are truly untrained. Professionals, however, have been training for years and know how to handle their ranges, and have discovered them with their teacher. And I can bet that if an untrained singer with 3 octaves became trained, a lot of that range would disappear because they are now using their voice correctly, and it will expand over time. Also, people, don't say things about our now-a-days pop singers because.. you don't know them. They could have a 5 octave range. How do you know they don't? These questions are unanswered, until the person that you claim to have a 5 octave range actually sings, live, in those octaves. So stop pretending you know everything about them, because you don't; they could very well have a 3 octave range. I hope this answer makes sense. Oh by the way I'm 15 I never clarified that when I was talking about me up yonder ^. Thanks!

Hey riot girl are you an alto or soprano???

Geoff Tate (Queensryche) has five and Benny Mardones (80s "Into The Night" fame) has four. Both have very powerful voices.

My dad claims he used to hit 5. I can verify 3.

I don't know about "average" people, but as a professional dramatic coloratura I have a 3.5 octave range with some extension below and above that I would never count as part of a 'singable' range.

I agree with the previous answer. Some people are born with the gift. Case in point, Greg X. Volz, former lead singer of the group Petra. He has a four octave voice range and has never had any formal training that I know of. If you listen to him talk, he has a naturally high voice. In my opinion, anyone trying to sing like him for any amount of time, without it being natural, would ruin their voice eventually. The following website contains some sound clips that demonstrate Greg's ability. http://www.one-way.org/jesusmusic/eband.htm

I agree with the previous answer. Some people are born with the gift. Case in point, Greg X. Volz, former lead singer of the group Petra. He has a four octave voice range and has never had any formal training that I know of. If you listen to him talk, he has a naturally high voice. In my opinion, anyone trying to sing like him for any amount of time, without it being natural, would ruin their voice eventually. The following website contains some sound clips that demonstrate Greg's ability. http://www.one-way.org/jesusmusic/eband.htm

Anything over three is generally considered professional territory. 2.5 and lower sounds about right for the average Joe. Extremes of a vocal range -- so often cited in relation to pop music -- are notes one can HIT, which may or may not be the same thing as notes one is able to SING. A prime example would be Georgia Brown of Brazil, who (supposedly) can hit notes above G8, up to (again, supposedly) the inaudible G10. Video clips of her on YouTube show her hitting E7, but she NEVER reaches G8. While E7 is very high, in terms of singing, Brown leaves much to be desired; her tone is terrible and her pitch often off. Singing extremes off-tune is making noise, not singing! Mariah Carey has a four octave, 6.5 note range (for those who like decimals, that's 4.8125 octaves). She can sing (not merely produce) all notes from A2 to G#7. Before Georgia Brown, she held the world record for highest note in recorded music. Notes starting at E6 and above are considered part of the controversial Whistle Register (classically trained musicians do not regard this range as musical, and some say it does not exist). Singing -- not making noise! -- in this register is rare. Carey can actually verbalize in this range, not just make vowel sounds. So could Minnie Riperton, soul singer in the 60s and 70s. Christina Aguilera is a very talented singer and can hit notes from C3 to C7. Her range is four octaves exactly. She is not able, however, to verbalize in the higher registers the way Riperton and Carey do, and as the years pass her ability to hit high notes effectively is narrowing. I've read that Kelly Clarkson has a 3.5 octave range. Most untrained singers cannot even approach her range, which adds credibility to the assertion that anything over three octaves is generally professional territory. I am minimally trained and sing from B2 to G6. That's three octaves, five notes (3.625). Yes, some people ARE born with a gift, but they are rare. Hope this helps!

- The average joe, who doesn't sing a lot, usually range between 1 and 1.5 octave. - If you then decide you want to be a singer, your first goal is usually to extend to two octaves, then you build from there. If you've got more, good for you! - A professional singer is someone who sings as a job, regardless of how many octaves they can sing. Singing is not an octave-competition. If people like your singing, go for it! - Read more about vocal ranges in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range - And to correct: almost every modern piano has 88 keys, which is SEVEN octaves PLUS a minor third (from A0 to C8). - Going by Mariah Careys recorded singing material, her range is 4 octaves plus one note, which is absolutely remarkable. She has then been able to hit some extremely high notes, when the circumstances have been right. - If Ms Carey had eight octaves she would either be able to sing every voice register in an opera score, all by herself, or, judging by the claim that her lowest note is A2, she would be able to sing supersonic and you would not hear it! The extreme range for a human ear is between 20Hz to about 20KHz. C9, for example (12 notes higher than highest piano note,) is at 19,912Hz. - Mariah Carey's Guiness record for highest note was cancelled because it wasn't correct. But she is one of the best selling stars and has an impressive amount of awards: http://stason.org/TULARC/music/mariah-carey/M3-What-awards-has-Mariah-Carey-been-credited-with.html - Opera singers usually use a range of two to three octaves each. - Annie Lennox has got a four octave range, but goes down deeper than Ms Carey's. Whitney Houston sings within three octaves and Christina Aguilera also around four octaves. - And now I've written all this I see this thread is rather dead. LOL!

Who cares what they can sustain? The fact is that if one person can comfortably muse the octave they have reached, then that is all that matters. Patti Labelle has often sang in many genres of music and attained many different octaves. She has sang beautifully and that is what the people respect. If you say that she can't sing, then how has she obtained wealth and over 45 years of stellar live, sold out performances.Many artists have jumped octaves and not many recorded instances that we modernly know of maintain the ability or obtain the training to sing every note, therefore they falsetto. I am a 30 year old male and can sing circles around many people I know in many styles of music, but I have yet to be judged because I jumped an octave or two. It is my presentation that matters. I would rate my range to be about 4 with a falsetto to C6 with a cold as I am then able to tap into a whistle register due to restricted vocal chords. The funny part is that my baritone suffers as a male singer.

The "average" person has about a 1.5 to 2 octave range. If you're musically inclined have taken a fair amount of lessons, you're more likely around the 2 to 2.5 range. Some skilled singers can hit anywhere between 3 and 5 octaves.

I know that i, myself can sing just under 4 octaves, I practice with alot of hard rock - Alter Bridge, Miles Kennedy is the singer, he is proven to have a 4-octave voice range. Check out his Wiki. also, the record for most octaves is 8 I belive, and there is a male singer who can sing 6 octaves, it sounds like a whistle, so I wouldnt consider it singing, but the guiness book of world records considers it singing.

I know that i, myself can sing just under 4 octaves, I practice with alot of hard rock - Alter Bridge, Miles Kennedy is the singer, he is proven to have a 4-octave voice range. Check out his Wiki. also, the record for most octaves is 8 I belive, and there is a male singer who can sing 6 octaves, it sounds like a whistle, so I wouldnt consider it singing, but the guiness book of world records considers it singing.

I know that i, myself can sing just under 4 octaves, I practice with alot of hard rock - Alter Bridge, Miles Kennedy is the singer, he is proven to have a 4-octave voice range. Check out his Wiki. also, the record for most octaves is 8 I belive, and there is a male singer who can sing 6 octaves, it sounds like a whistle, so I wouldnt consider it singing, but the guiness book of world records considers it singing.

I know that i, myself can sing just under 4 octaves, I practice with alot of hard rock - Alter Bridge, Miles Kennedy is the singer, he is proven to have a 4-octave voice range. Check out his Wiki. also, the record for most octaves is 8 I belive, and there is a male singer who can sing 6 octaves, it sounds like a whistle, so I wouldnt consider it singing, but the guiness book of world records considers it singing. I know from experience that it is incredibly hard to hit four octaves, I wouldnt belive someone that can do that isnt a trained singer.

I'm a professional singer, a Coloratura soprano. (high, light, cleartone.) I vocalize (work out like an athlete would) to maintain my range every day. I have a range that is one note short of 3 octaves. I can go from E4 to D7. Sometimes I can get the D#, but can't seem to get that elusive E7! (Middle C is C5) I don't do Opera, but I do do some Operatic Arias here and there. I do mostly sacred, renaissance and pre-remnaissance music. I haven't had a need to go above C7 on any sort of regular basis.

annie haslam of rennasaince has a 5 octave voice check her website http://www.anniehaslam.com/ah_music.html

I just started taking voice lessons and i found that i'm a tenor/baritone but i'm able to sing alto and bass. About how many octaves would i sing? Also how many octaves can Karen Clark Sheard Sing?

Maria Coyote reach 9 octaves. As far as I know she is the only one in the world who manage 9 octaves. Amazing.

First of all, Mariah Carey does have a full 5 octave range. As for those of you who do not think she does, please email her record label - they will clear this up for you. I work with her on a regular basis and I also possess a 5 octave voice and am a male. I can hit the whistle register as well. In any case, BENJIBOY, the whistle register has nothing to do with octaves. Octaves are the levels of which you can sing in. Whistling is something totally differnt. Mariah can go from B2 to G7 without whistling. If you are uneducated in the voice structure as you seem to be, you could easily assume that whistling is an octave like say, 7 or 8, but this is not the case. Whistles are not scaled in the same octave range as a normal voice pattern. Therefore, the whistling is just an addition to the flexibility of a person's voice, just as the Rumble Tones are an addition (rumble tones are the opposite of whistle tones, they are when the singer can go exceptionally low, and sound sort of like a fog horn). To answer the question above, a normal, untrained, everyday voice can sing easily anywhere between 1/2 - 2.5 octaves. Rare or trained voices will usually be between 2 - 3.5 , sometimes 4. Very few singers possess 4 or 5 octaves. There is only 1 singer in the world who has actually been nationally proclaimed as having a 6 octave. Examples: Mariah Carey - 5 octaves Whitney Houston - 5 (when she was younger)...now 3.5 Christina Aguilera - 4 octaves Carrie Underwood - 3 octaves Beyonce - 3 octaves Jessica Simpson - 3 octaves Josh Turner - 1.5 octaves Adam Lopez - 4 octaves Patty Labelle - 3 octaves Jewel - 2 octaves

First of all, Mariah Carey does have a full 5 octave range. As for those of you who do not think she does, please email her record label - they will clear this up for you. I work with her on a regular basis and I also possess a 5 octave voice and am a male. I can hit the whistle register as well. In any case, BENJIBOY, the whistle register has nothing to do with octaves. Octaves are the levels of which you can sing in. Whistling is something totally differnt. Mariah can go from B2 to G7 without whistling. If you are uneducated in the voice structure as you seem to be, you could easily assume that whistling is an octave like say, 7 or 8, but this is not the case. Whistles are not scaled in the same octave range as a normal voice pattern. Therefore, the whistling is just an addition to the flexibility of a person's voice, just as the Rumble Tones are an addition (rumble tones are the opposite of whistle tones, they are when the singer can go exceptionally low, and sound sort of like a fog horn). To answer the question above, a normal, untrained, everyday voice can sing easily anywhere between 1/2 - 2.5 octaves. Rare or trained voices will usually be between 2 - 3.5 , sometimes 4. Very few singers possess 4 or 5 octaves. There is only 1 singer in the world who has actually been nationally proclaimed as having a 6 octave. Examples: Mariah Carey - 5 octaves Whitney Houston - 5 (when she was younger)...now 3.5 Christina Aguilera - 4 octaves Carrie Underwood - 3 octaves Beyonce - 3 octaves Jessica Simpson - 3 octaves Josh Turner - 1.5 octaves Adam Lopez - 4 octaves Patty Labelle - 3 octaves Jewel - 2 octaves

well, i took opera for a few years. i m a first tenor i fell down from counter tenor i believe i have move then two octaves. and i can sing above the mid c. the last i checked my lowest note was a D. so am i a dramatic or a spinto?

ONe of the GREATEST female Vocalist in history Patti LaBelle she can sing without a mic. she has no Head voice n NO falsetto, 5 octave Dramatic Soprano

I believe I remember being told by a music teacher that most untrained singers (or those that don't really know how to sing) can sing 1-1/2 to 2 octaves. Those who are trained can go to 3 or 4, especially if they learn how to "flip" to falsetto smoothly and with good tone (Frankie Valli and others among them). Then there are those like Minnie Ripperton and Mariah, who, apparently, have learned how to sing on an inhale, and can sing even MORE octaves. (Notice that most of those super-high notes are not words, but "ahs").

I have a 28 octave range, I am dolphin with the cock of a blue whale... but instead of singing in the royal albert hall, you will find me in the prince albert on hollowy road singing on a saturday with the away fans... it takes 14 of them to suck me off midway thru a rendition of 'we are the arsenal', while Whitney (left) and mariah (right) lick each of my balls.... So it is possible. And i am Human. ( I can burp a 5 octave range, and fart a -10 octave one). On the 12 october 1935, I had a massive shit and named it Luciano.

Mariah Carey has a pectacular range spanning 5 octaves! she is an amazing singer

I'm a guy...so, when I happen to sit down the wrong way? Pretty damn high, I'll tell ya! And, trust me, it doesn't qualify as "professional" except at the Adult Sites! :-)

Its true that a its extremely rare to obtain a 4 or 5 octave but im a 17 year old average boy who have hugely impressed professional voice category judges by singing mariah carey's song emotions and they said it sounds exactly the same as her and i even cracked a glass by hitting my highest note

My daughter has had singing lessons for a year now and (biased as I may be) has a beautiful voice to my ear. Her singing teacher told me that her range was almost 3 octaves. As she has just turned seven, I assume this is good, but I am no expert. Whats the average for a child?

I'm gonna say that no one here has a good concise answer for an average. But I found this wiki site that suggests some extraordinarily different numbers than what people have been answering on this page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range#World_records_and_extremes_of_vocal_range I was looking for this answer tonight. No such luck. But I remember hearing in high school of professionals who could sing every note on the piano. It takes a lot of practice. thats 12 octaves

Before I started training I had 6 ish octaves, after training I had 6 ish octaves. I'm now professional, I believe that training the chords with a coach lets you look after your voice, so you rarely get nodules like untrained singers. Do you ever hear Mariah Carey with nodules? She knows exactly how to treat her voice, I bet she can sing a song and finish it without straining her vocal chords. As for her octave range I believe she has more than enough but also the persona to go with it.

crescendo

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Crecendo Gradually get louder http://www.musesrealm.net/music/terms.html