Finding Your Tessitura or Sweet Spot

The difference between range and tessitura becomes important when you choose songs, choose keys, and start singing with other people.  My last blog was about range and finding your range.  You can read it here.

Once you’ve found your range, the work becomes having every note in your range strong and consistent. The notes in your range should be easy to move from one to the other with even breath, support, and tone.  Here’s where your tessitura comes in.  The tessitura is basically the best notes in your range.  Let’s say  in your lower range, the last few notes aren’t very strong or the tone is not pleasing.  You would not include those notes.  Or in your higher range there isn’t consistently or accuracy in the highest notes. You would not include those notes.  For most singers, the tessitura is in the middle, minus the highest and lowest notes.  However if you are a trained singer with mastery of your voice, it is possible for your tessitura to include almost all the notes in your range.

Some things to keep in mind:

• When someone asks “What’s Your Range?,” they usually mean what is your tessitura (unless it’s a voice teacher or someone specifically asking for your highest to lowest notes).  They want to know what is the best part of your range or sweet spot. Whether it’s a pianist asking for your key in a particular song or a teacher picking repertoire, they want to choose a key or song that sounds the best in your voice.
• Most songs have a range of 1 to 2 octaves.  If you have a range of 2.5 octaves, there is room to find the best sounding and feeling key for the song within your range.
• The style of the song will usually determine what part of your range you use.  If you are singing a pop song, generally  you’ll use the lower part of your range, specifically your chest voice.  If you are choosing a classical song, you may use mostly the higher part of your range and not use your lower range at all.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Jocelyn