The range of a Soprano.

Talking about range is very different for female voices compared to the male ones. While the range of the male voice, because of the way a man uses his vocal cords, is more absolute, the female voice is more flexible. 

Traditionally, the range of a Soprano is from C4 to C6. A dramatic voice should have a few good notes lower, Bb or even A. A lyric voice could stop at C6, but in some roles, you would score many extra points if you could go a tone higher. The coloratura has no real limit upward. 

The voice should be perceived as natural and comfortable. For the listener, no sound should be harsh or strained. For the singer, although the voice should always be supported, the range should feel natural and relaxed. If you need to work too hard for the high notes, or you struggle with the low ones, the audience probably notice that too, and you should consider changing the repertoire. 

I’d like to point out two dangers that are especially troublesome for the Soprano voice. 

• Singing very fast needs training, but also a predisposition. If you don’t have it, let it be. Sing long, slow notes instead. 
• A lighter voice may not be strong in the central register. So, train your voice where it is comfortable instead of pushing it to sing strong low notes with force.

Many have ruined their career by singing too heavy roles too early, or by singing too technically demanding parts too soon. The vocal cords of the Soprano are small, and the way in which they produce the sound puts a lot of effort into the board of the cords. 

The roles for the Soprano.

The variations in the Soprano fach are big, and, in fact, most singers perform roles within many of these different types without problems. As always, the boundaries are in no way absolute, or even very easy to define. 

So, the highest female voice is the victim. That’s maybe not always the case, and it’s not because the silvery tinge is particularly adapted to paint the victim. No, it’s simply because she is the leading voice. In the chorus, the Sopranos often carries the melody. Subsequently, on stage,  she is the main character. And at least in the Classical and Romantic periods, the main female character was portrayed as a victim. She was often, not always, the virtuous, beautiful young girl who died at the end or lost her lover, the tenor, who died at the end. 

Sometimes she is witty and cunning and outsmarts her male counterparts, but that is only if it is a funny play… An Opera buffa. Still, it all depends on what type of story is to be told. 

There are also very often more Sopranos than other female voices. That could be because there simply are more high voices than low voices on the market. Many supporting roles are not bound to the voice type anyway. The Emperor of China in Turandot can be done, and has been done by almost anybody, tenors, and basses alike.