Vocal Range and YOUR Singing Sweet Spot

What is Tessitura and how can it improve your singing?

I think many singers find themselves confusing the concept of range with the higher ideal of Tessitura. When we talk about our vocal range we’re referring to the distance between our lowest singable note and our highest singable note. The human voice, on average is anatomically capable of singing across three to three and a half octaves. This being said I think most voices spend the majority of their time singing across one and a half to about two octaves.

Another term we can apply to this sweet spot, one-octave range is Tessitura. Interestingly, the Italian term tessitura is also the term used to describe the mean average of the ‘placing of notes’ within a written melody. The term tessitura, when applied with thought and skill can really help you to make wise choices about which key might best suit your voice for that song you’re working on right now. It’s simple: comfort first, key second. Not the other way around.

WATCH: Learn more about ‘Voice Classification’