Voice types › Tenor
Tenor vocal range
The tenor is the highest common adult male voice, with a typical range from C3 to C5. Most lead lines in pop and rock sit in tenor range.
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Typical rangeFirst passaggioSecond passaggioC4 = middle C
A bright upper middle from about E3 to G4. The notes from F♯4 to A4 are the tenor's signature and its hardest work.
Test your range: are you a tenor?Where the tenor voice shifts
The passaggio is the stretch of notes where the voice changes how it works, from the heavier, speech-like setting of the low notes to the lighter setting of the high ones. For a tenor, the first passaggio is around D4–E4 and the second passaggio around F♯4–A4. The notes between them are where most cracks, strain and out-of-tune notes happen, so that is where practice pays off the most.
These are averages from voice-teaching references. Your own passaggio can sit one to three semitones higher or lower.
Tenor or baritone?
Tenors and baritones overlap almost completely, so range alone rarely decides it. A tenor's upper passaggio is around F♯4–A4; a baritone's is around E4. If you can sing F4 and G4 without strain, you are probably a tenor. Untrained tenors also often test as altos by midpoint, because both sit around middle C to F4; the difference is timbre, not range.
Voice type is a description, not a limit. What matters for singing songs is the notes you can sing in tune and without strain, which is what the test measures.
Four exercises for a tenor voice
About ten minutes in total. Notes are actual pitch, one octave below how tenor and bass parts are usually written.
- 1. Lip trill warm-upTrill your lips on a five-note scale up and back down (1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1). Start on G3 and move up one semitone each time, to C4. Keep it easy; the trill should not stop.
- 2. Bridge scale through the passaggioSing a five-note scale on "oo" or "ng", starting on C4. Move up a semitone each repetition until the top note is B4. As you pass F♯4–A4, let the sound get lighter instead of louder. If your voice cracks, go back two steps.
- 3. Messa di voceHold E4 for 6 seconds: start soft, swell, return to soft without the pitch moving. Repeat on F♯4. This trains steady pitch exactly where your voice shifts.
- 4. "Ng" sirenOn "ng" (as in "sing"), slide from F3 up to C5 and back, slowly, with no break in the sound. Three slides are enough.
The Rangely app builds this kind of session from your own measured range and passaggio, and shows each note against the target as you sing, accurate to the cent.
Common questions
What is the vocal range of a tenor?
A typical tenor sings from about C3 to C5, which is 131 to 523 Hz. Untrained singers often have a smaller usable range, and trained singers often sing a few notes beyond it.
Where is the tenor passaggio?
The first passaggio is around D4–E4 and the second passaggio around F♯4–A4. Every voice is different by one to three semitones.
Am I a tenor or a baritone?
Tenors and baritones overlap almost completely, so range alone rarely decides it. A tenor's upper passaggio is around F♯4–A4; a baritone's is around E4. If you can sing F4 and G4 without strain, you are probably a tenor. Untrained tenors also often test as altos by midpoint, because both sit around middle C to F4; the difference is timbre, not range.
Can a tenor extend their range?
Tenors usually gain the most at the top when they stop carrying chest weight above the passaggio. A clear B♭4 to C5 is a common goal. Stop if you feel pain or hoarseness.
Find your own range.
Sing your lowest and highest notes. Free, about a minute, your voice stays in your browser.