Method · what each way can tell you
How to find your vocal range: 5 ways, and what each one tells you.
Finding your range means finding two notes: the lowest one you can hold steadily and the highest one you can hold steadily. Everything else — octaves, voice type, which songs fit — is worked out from those two.
The browser test reads 49 notes, C2–C6, and enters one only after 2.0 s of steady pitch. That is the whole rule, and it is why a chair creak at the bottom and a squeak at the top do not end up in your total.
The catalogue behind the result holds 430 songs and 21 singers, so once you have the two notes you can see what fits without singing anything else.
The ways, side by side
Pick by what you already have to hand. The first four give you a number; only the last one gives you an opinion about it.
| Way | What it needs | What it tells you | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| This test, in the browser | A microphone and a quiet room | Your lowest and highest held note, the span, and where it sits | Whether a note is supported, or how you sound |
| A piano or a keyboard app | An instrument and the note names | The same two notes, if you can match pitch by ear | Anything, if you cannot tell when you are on the note |
| A tuner app | A phone | The note you are on right now, continuously | A range — it has no memory of what you already sang |
| A karaoke or singing app | An account, usually | How close you were to a track | Your floor and your ceiling; it never asks for them |
| A singing teacher | A lesson | Range, tessitura, register changes and tone | Be done in the next minute for nothing |
What this test counts as a note
The four numbers the rule is made of. Anything a reading fails, it is thrown out and named on your result.
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Hold time | 2.0 s of steady pitch |
| Lowest note counted | C2 (MIDI 36) |
| Highest note counted | C6 (MIDI 84) |
| Notes on the scale | 49, every semitone between them |
| Everything else | Kept and named on the result, not counted in the range |
Two things people ask at this point
How do I know my vocal range without a piano?
Sing into the microphone instead. Pitch detection on a steady note is settled maths and a phone microphone is far more accurate than it needs to be. The piano is only there to name the note; software names it faster and does not need you to match anything by ear.
Should I warm up first?
Yes. A cold voice reads short at both ends, so a warm-up is the difference between your range and your range this minute. Warm up, then test, then retest another day and take the wider of the two if you want the honest number.