Blues singers' vocal ranges
Reported catalog ranges for 27 Blues singers run from A1 to A6, with a median span of about 2.8 octaves. Chest voice, bent blue notes and speech-close phrasing count for more here than the top note.
What sets Blues singing apart
Blues singing grew from African American work songs and spirituals, and it lives in chest voice and the speaking register, bending pitches into blue notes between the major and minor third. A blues line is judged on phrasing and timbre far more than on how high it climbs.
Jazz took the same blue notes into swing and improvisation, where the voice phrases like a horn rather than staying close to speech.
How ranges sit in Blues
- The median reported catalog span across these profiles is 34 semitones, 1.5 semitones wider than the library median of 32.5.
- Largest reported span here is Jack White (E2–A6); the lowest listed endpoint belongs to Tom Waits at A1 and the highest listed endpoint to Jack White at A6.
- Catalog voice labels here, most common first: tenors, baritones, contraltos, mezzo-sopranos, bass-baritone.
Most profiles' figures are commonly cited spans from the catalog, not recordings checked note by note; a few have reviewed or disputed sources. Open a profile for what its sources support.
Where would your voice sit on this chart?
The free range test runs in your browser in about two minutes and reports your lowest and highest notes in the same note names as every bar below.
Every voice on one axis
full voice, up to the cited ceiling above it: falsetto · head · whistle no full-voice ceiling cited whistle register listed
Singers Billie Holiday through Louis Armstrong
- Billie HolidayF3–C5F3–C51.6 oct
- Cécile McLorin SalvantF3–A#5F3–A#52.4 oct
- Chris StapletonF2–B4F2–B42.5 oct
- David CoverdaleF2–A5F2–A53.3 oct
- Dinah WashingtonD#3–E5D#3–E52.1 oct
- Etta JamesG#2–B5G#2–B53.3 oct
- Hank WilliamsA2–A4A2–A42.0 oct
- HozierE2–E5E2–E53.0 oct
- Jack WhiteE2–A6E2–A64.4 oct
- Janis JoplinA2–A#5A2–A#53.1 oct
- Jim MorrisonE2–A#4E2–A#42.5 oct
- Joe CockerG2–A#4G2–A#42.3 oct
- Josh KiszkaC3–C#6C3–C#63.1 oct
- Louis ArmstrongF2–G4F2–G42.2 oct
Singers Mahalia Jackson through Wynonna Judd
- Mahalia JacksonE3–F5E3–F52.1 oct
- Mick JaggerF2–F5F2–F53.0 oct
- Nina SimoneG2–F5G2–F52.8 oct
- Paul RodgersE2–G#5E2–G#53.3 oct
- Rag'n'Bone ManG2–B5G2–B53.3 oct
- Ray CharlesC2–A#5C2–A#53.8 oct
- Robert PlantF2–A5F2–A53.3 oct
- Rod StewartE2–C5E2–C52.7 oct
- Steven TylerF2–C6F2–C63.6 oct
- Tom WaitsA1–G5A1–G53.8 oct
- Tracy ChapmanD3–D5D3–D52.0 oct
- Van MorrisonG2–D5G2–D52.6 oct
- Wynonna JuddE3–E5E3–E52.0 oct