Youssou N'Dour
Tenor · Afrobeats · Folk · Senegal · prominent since 1979
What is Youssou N'Dour’s vocal range?
Youssou N'Dour's vocal range is commonly cited as A2 to D5 — about 2.4 octaves, or 29 semitones, and is usually classified as tenor. Full voice is cited up to around B4; everything above that comes from falsetto or head voice.
High keening tenor shaped by chant ornament; rapid microtonal turns and a piercing bright top. That cited span is wider than 25% of the 357 voices in this library.
- Signature song
- 7 Seconds
Reading the numbers
- Full voice is cited to within 3 semitones of the top note, so this reads as a chest-dominant voice rather than one that flips into a lighter register.
- 7 other voices here carry the identical cited range — at the resolution these figures are quoted in, those voices are indistinguishable on the chart.
- One of only 7 Afrobeats voices in this library.
- Ranked by bottom note, it is the 159th 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.
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 Youssou N'Dour’s.
Also bottoming out on A2
46 other voices here are cited to the same floor.
Also topping out on D5
30 other voices here reach the same ceiling.