Vocal range
Billie Holiday
Contralto · Jazz · Blues · USA · prominent since 1933
Cited range
F3 — C5
Octaves
1.6
Semitones
19
Voice type
Contralto
What is Billie Holiday’s vocal range?
Billie Holiday's vocal range is commonly cited as F3 to C5 — about 1.6 octaves, or 19 semitones, and is usually classified as contralto.
Narrow compass, heavy inflection: bent pitches, behind-the-beat placement, thin reedy top.
- Signature song
- Strange Fruit
Reading the numbers
- The ceiling is modest for a contralto — only 2 of the 30 contraltos here stop lower.
- No other contralto in this library works a narrower cited span.
- The span is 13 semitones short of the library median (32 semitones) — a compact working range.
- 1 other voice here carries the identical cited range — at the resolution these figures are quoted in, those voices are indistinguishable on the chart.
- Prominent from 1933, earlier than all but 4 voices in this library.
Commonly cited figures, not lab measurements — extreme notes are one-off recorded moments, not the singer’s everyday range.
You vs Billie Holiday
Take the free 2-minute range test — your mic finds your lowest and highest notes, then this page shows exactly how your voice lines up with Billie Holiday’s.
Same notes, other voices
Also bottoming out on F3
42 other voices here are cited to the same floor.
Also topping out on C5
32 other voices here reach the same ceiling.