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In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, a register is the relative "height" or range
Range (music)

In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. For a singing register , this is known as vocal range....
 of a note
Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings: 1) a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound; and 2) a pitched sound itself....
, set of pitch
Pitch (music)

Pitch represents the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. It is one of the three major auditory system attributes of sounds along with loudness and timbre....
es or pitch class
Pitch class

In music, a pitch class is a set of all Pitch that are a whole number of octaves apart, e.g. the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves....
es, melody
Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
, part, instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
 or group of instruments. A higher register indicates higher pitch.



In woodwind
Woodwind instrument

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against an edge of, or opening in, the instrument, causing the air to vibrate within a resonator....
 and brass
Brass instrument

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular resonator. They are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments" ....
 instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
s, the word register usually distinguishes pitch ranges produced using different normal mode
Normal mode

A normal mode of an oscillation is a pattern of motion in which all parts of the system move sinusoidally with the same frequency. The frequencies of the normal modes of a system are known as its natural frequencies or resonant frequencies....
s of the air column, with higher registers produced by overblowing
Overblowing

Overblowing is a technique used in playing a wind instrument to produce a different Pitch by changing the direction and/or force of the air stream....
. Often the timbre
Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments....
s of different woodwind instrument registers tend to be markedly different.



However, on the clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
 the notes from (written
Transposing instrument

A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from Pitch #Concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play....
) G4 or A4 to B4 sometimes are regarded as a separate "throat register", even though both they and the notes from F4 down are produced using the instrument's lowest normal mode; the timbre of the throat notes differs, and the throat register's fingerings also are distinctive, using special keys and not the standard tone holes used for other notes.

The register in which an instrument plays, or in which a part is written, affects the quality of sound or timbre
Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments....
.






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Encyclopedia


In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, a register is the relative "height" or range
Range (music)

In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. For a singing register , this is known as vocal range....
 of a note
Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings: 1) a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound; and 2) a pitched sound itself....
, set of pitch
Pitch (music)

Pitch represents the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. It is one of the three major auditory system attributes of sounds along with loudness and timbre....
es or pitch class
Pitch class

In music, a pitch class is a set of all Pitch that are a whole number of octaves apart, e.g. the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves....
es, melody
Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
, part, instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
 or group of instruments. A higher register indicates higher pitch.

  • Example 1: Violin
    Violin

    The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
    s are in a higher register than cello
    Cello

    The violoncello is a bowed string instrument. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra....
    s.


In woodwind
Woodwind instrument

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against an edge of, or opening in, the instrument, causing the air to vibrate within a resonator....
 and brass
Brass instrument

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular resonator. They are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments" ....
 instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
s, the word register usually distinguishes pitch ranges produced using different normal mode
Normal mode

A normal mode of an oscillation is a pattern of motion in which all parts of the system move sinusoidally with the same frequency. The frequencies of the normal modes of a system are known as its natural frequencies or resonant frequencies....
s of the air column, with higher registers produced by overblowing
Overblowing

Overblowing is a technique used in playing a wind instrument to produce a different Pitch by changing the direction and/or force of the air stream....
. Often the timbre
Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments....
s of different woodwind instrument registers tend to be markedly different.

  • Example 2: The Western concert flute
    Western concert flute

    The Western concert flute or C flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute....
     plays approximately three and a half octaves and generally has three complete registers and one partial register. The musical note C4 (corresponding to middle C
    Middle C

    C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solf?ge.In Western music, the expression "Middle C" refers to the musical note "C" located exactly between the two staff of the grand staff and near the top and bottom, respectively, of the bass voice and soprano voices....
     on the piano) would be in that instrument's first register, whereas C5 (one octave higher) would be in its second register.


However, on the clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
 the notes from (written
Transposing instrument

A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from Pitch #Concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play....
) G4 or A4 to B4 sometimes are regarded as a separate "throat register", even though both they and the notes from F4 down are produced using the instrument's lowest normal mode; the timbre of the throat notes differs, and the throat register's fingerings also are distinctive, using special keys and not the standard tone holes used for other notes.

The register in which an instrument plays, or in which a part is written, affects the quality of sound or timbre
Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments....
. Register is also used structurally in musical form
Musical form

The term musical form refers to two related concepts:*the type of composition *the structure of a particular musical piece .There is some overlap between musical form and musical genre....
, with the climax of a piece usually being in the highest register of that piece. Often, serial and other pieces will use fixed register, allowing a pitch class to be expressed through only one pitch.

Vocal register


Vocal registration is a topic of study within vocal pedagogy
Vocal pedagogy

Vocal pedagogy, or voice pedagogy, is the study of the teaching of singing. Vocal pedagogists are people who study the teaching of singing....
 and is an important subject for students of the art of singing
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
. A register in the human voice is a particular series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds, and possessing the same quality. Registers originate in laryngeal
Larynx

The larynx , colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the vertebrate trachea and sound production....
 function. They occur because the vocal folds are capable of producing several different vibratory patterns. Each of these vibratory patterns appears within a particular range of pitches
Pitch (music)

Pitch represents the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. It is one of the three major auditory system attributes of sounds along with loudness and timbre....
 and produces certain characteristic sounds. The term register can be somewhat confusing as it encompasses several aspects of the human voice. The term register can be used to refer to any of the following:

  • A particular part of the vocal range
    Vocal range

    Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitch that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech pathology; particularly in relation to the study of tonal languages and certain types of vocal disorders....
     such as the upper, middle, or lower registers.
  • A resonance
    Resonance

    In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at maximum amplitude at certain Frequency, known as the system's resonance frequencies ....
     area such as chest voice
    Chest voice

    Chest voice is a term used within vocal music. The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogy circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regards to this term....
     or head voice
    Head voice

    Head voice is a term used within vocal music. The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogy circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regards to this term....
    .
  • A phonatory
    Phonation

    Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration....
     process
  • A certain vocal timbre
    Timbre

    In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments....
  • A region of the voice which is defined or delimited by vocal breaks.


Within speech pathology the term vocal register has three constituent elements: a certain vibratory pattern of the vocal folds, a certain series of pitches, and a certain type of sound. Speech pathologists identify four vocal registers based on the physiology of laryngeal function: the vocal fry register
Vocal fry register

The vocal fry register , is the lowest vocal register and is produced through a loose glottal closure which will permit air to bubble through slowly with a popping or rattling sound of a very low frequency....
, the modal register, the falsetto register, and the whistle register
Whistle register

The whistle register is the highest vocal registration of the human voice lying above the modal register and falsetto register. This register has a specific physiological production that is different from the other registers, and is so called because the timbre of the notes that are produced from this register are similar to that of a whistl...
. This view is also adopted by many vocal pedagogists.

Source

  • "Hints on Singing". Manuel Garcia. New York: Joseph Patelson Music House (1894)
  • "Singing the Mechanism and the Technic" by William Vennard (1967)


See also


  • Ambitus
    Ambitus (music)

    The ambitus of a Gregorian chant is the range, or the distance between the highest and lowest note. Different chants vary widely in their ambitus....
  • Chest register
  • Head register
  • Tessitura
    Tessitura

    In music, the term tessitura generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable Range for a given singing or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a given voice type presents its best-sounding texture or timbre....
  • Vocal registration
    Vocal registration

    A vocal register in the human voice is a particular series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds, and possessing the same quality....