All music classes, whether general music classes, music appreciation classes or private music lessons, should include a study in vocal music. Men's voices are typically divided into three sections. The highest male voice is called a tenor.
The baritone to a man is what a mezzo-soprano is to a woman. Most men fall within this voice range. The deepest male voice is the bass, called basso in Italian. There is a virility heard when men sing in chorus together that is not heard in women's voices or when men sing alone.
Tenor Voice in Men's Vocal Music
The word "tenor" comes from the Latin word teneo, which means "I hold." In medieval music, women were rarely allowed to sing publicly. The highest male voice always "held" the melody. Most tenors have roughly a two octave range, from low C to the A above middle C. Some tenors can sing a B flat or even a C above middle C.
Tenor voices have a silvery quality, perfectly suited to singing love songs. Some tenors are lyrical, similar to lyric sopranos. There are also more dramatic tenors, who seem to have stronger, more passionate voices. Singing high is highly valued in the music world, requiring a lot of voice coaching with vocal training exercises.
Baritone Voice in Men's Vocal Music
The baritone has a beautiful quality to his voice. A baritone's voice range is usually between an A to the F above middle C. Mozart is sometimes credited for having "discovered" the possibilities of the baritone voice with his character Papageno, but others credit Verdi. Beethoven and all composers after him used baritones in a multitude of vocal pieces. Baritones often express either dramatic or humorous roles in opera. Acquiring a strong baritone voice requires years of vocal training.
Bass Voice in Men's Vocal Music
There are two types of bass voices. There is the flexible basso cantante, which is a man with a deep voice who can sing fluid melodies with relative ease. Then there is the even deeper, heavy voice of the basso profundo. The basso profundo is called upon to sing low, sustained "pedal" notes, especially in choral pieces without any instruments.The range of the bass is often between F below low C to D or E flat just above middle C. The most highly acclaimed basses have trained in top vocal music schools.
Listening Selections to Identify Men's Voices
There is a wonderful tenor and baritone duet called "Solenne in quest'ora" (Swear to Me in This Hour) from Verdi's opera Forzo del Destino. Listening to both voices together helps the listener easily discern the differences between the two. For a good idea of the capabilities of the bass voice, music students can listen to "Why Do the Heathen Rage" from Handel's Messiah. There may not be more rousing male choruses than the "Anvil Chorus" from Verdi's Il Trovatore and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" sung by any of the US Armed Forces male choir ensembles.
References:
People.vanderbilt.edu, "Medieval Women and Music" by Cynthia J. Cyrus
Perseus.tufts.edu, "Tenor" Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary.
Operamania.com, "Voice Types in Opera- Bass and Baritone"
Voiceteacher.com, "Special Considerations in the Vocal Training of the Bass Singer" by David L. Jones
Faulkner, Anne Shaw. What We Hear in Music (Victor Talking Machine Comapny, Camden, New Jersey), 1928.
Donna Pravel - Donna Earnest Pravel is the owner and senior editor of www.Heart of Texas Copywriting Solutions.com.
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