Gospel singers' vocal ranges
Reported catalog ranges for 36 Gospel singers run from B0 to C7, with a median span of about 2.7 octaves. Call-and-response, long melismatic runs and belts that build across a song.
What sets Gospel singing apart
Gospel is church singing first: call-and-response with a choir, long melismatic runs and belts that build over the whole length of a song. Many of the defining soul and R&B voices learned to sing here, so this is the source of much of what those genres borrowed.
Soul carried this technique out of church and into secular songs in the late 1950s and 1960s.
How ranges sit in Gospel
- The median reported catalog span across these profiles is 32 semitones, 0.5 semitones narrower than the library median of 32.5.
- Largest reported span here is Tim Storms (B0–B4); the lowest listed endpoint belongs to Tim Storms at B0 and the highest listed endpoint to Sohyang at C7.
- Catalog voice labels here, most common first: tenors, mezzo-sopranos, sopranos, baritones, bass-baritones, contraltos, bass.
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 Al Green through Karen Clark Sheard
- Al GreenF2–A#5F2–A#53.4 oct
- Amy GrantF3–E5F3–E51.9 oct
- Aretha FranklinG2–E6G2–E63.8 oct
- BeBe WinansA2–E5A2–E52.6 oct
- CeCe WinansF3–C6F3–C62.6 oct
- Chris TomlinA2–D5A2–D52.4 oct
- Daniel CaesarC#3–F#5C#3–F#52.4 oct
- David PhelpsE2–D5E2–D52.8 oct
- Donnie McClurkinB2–E5B2–E52.4 oct
- Donny HathawayF2–C5F2–C52.6 oct
- Elvis PresleyG2–C#5G2–C#52.5 oct
- FantasiaC3–A#5C3–A#52.8 oct
- Fred HammondE2–A#4E2–A#42.5 oct
- Gregory PorterF2–G4F2–G42.2 oct
- Jennifer HudsonA2–C6A2–C63.3 oct
- Jessye NormanE3–C6E3–C62.7 oct
- Josh TurnerG#1–C#5G#1–C#53.4 oct
- Karen Clark SheardF3–D#6F3–D#62.8 oct
Singers Kim Burrell through Yolanda Adams
- Kim BurrellE3–D6E3–D62.8 oct
- Lauren DaigleE3–A5E3–A52.4 oct
- Little RichardF2–A#5F2–A#53.4 oct
- Mahalia JacksonE3–F5E3–F52.1 oct
- Marvin SappD#2–F5D#2–F53.2 oct
- Marvin WinansA2–F5A2–F52.7 oct
- Michael W. SmithA2–D5A2–D52.4 oct
- Patti LaBelleA#2–E6A#2–E63.5 oct
- Sam CookeA2–E5A2–E52.6 oct
- Sandi PattyF3–C6F3–C62.6 oct
- Smokie NorfulD2–D#5D2–D#53.1 oct
- SohyangE3–C7E3–C73.7 oct
- Tamela MannF3–C#6F3–C#62.7 oct
- Tasha Cobbs LeonardD3–A5D3–A52.6 oct
- Tim StormsB0–B4B0–B44.0 oct
- Tori KellyB2–E6B2–E63.4 oct
- Whitney HoustonA2–C6A2–C63.3 oct
- Yolanda AdamsE3–C6E3–C62.7 oct