Vocal range
Miriam Makeba
Mezzo-soprano · Jazz · Folk · South Africa · prominent since 1954
Cited range
E3 — D5
Octaves
1.8
Semitones
22
Voice type
Mezzo-soprano
What is Miriam Makeba’s vocal range?
Miriam Makeba's vocal range is commonly cited as E3 to D5 — about 1.8 octaves, or 22 semitones, and is usually classified as mezzo-soprano.
Rich forward mezzo; crisp multilingual diction, click consonants, bell-clear controlled top. That cited span is wider than 4% of the 357 voices in this library.
- Signature song
- Pata Pata
Reading the numbers
- The ceiling is modest for a mezzo-soprano — no other mezzo-soprano here stops lower.
- Only 4 of the 83 mezzo-sopranos here work a narrower cited span.
- The span is 10 semitones short of the library median (32 semitones) — a compact working range.
- 5 other voices here carry the identical cited range — at the resolution these figures are quoted in, those voices are indistinguishable on the chart.
- Ranked by bottom note, it is the 257th lowest of the 357 voices here; by top note, the 249th highest.
Commonly cited figures, not lab measurements — extreme notes are one-off recorded moments, not the singer’s everyday range.
You vs Miriam Makeba
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 Miriam Makeba’s.
Same notes, other voices
Also bottoming out on E3
39 other voices here are cited to the same floor.
Also topping out on D5
30 other voices here reach the same ceiling.