Adele has a voice that seems to capture every listener and she seems to solidly hit her notes as she belts out tunes. She can hit some pretty high notes too, does that mean she’s a soprano?
No, Adele is not a soprano. The Rumor Has It singer has a voice that is categorized as mezzo-soprano or mezzo for short. The main difference between a soprano and a mezzo is their comfort with high notes. A soprano will be able to hit higher notes more comfortably than a mezzo.
Read more below about the different types of vocals and how you can tell where Adele sits on the scale.
What Are the Different Types of Vocals?
Vocal type is separated by gender and then categorized accordingly. For men there are four different types. These types are bass, baritone, tenor, and countertenor.
A bass vocalist is the deepest and will be able to hit the lowest notes on the scale. A baritone has a bit more range, being able to hit lower notes, but can range a little higher than a bass. Baritone is the most popular vocal range in men. The tenor has a much higher vocal range among men and is a bit more rare. One of the most famous tenors would have to be Michael Jackson. The last male vocal type, countertenor, is so high it can match female vocal range. Countertenor is the rarest male vocal type.
On the female side of singing, there are three different vocal types. The types are alto or contralto, mezzo-soprano, and soprano.
Alto or contralto is the deepest female vocal type and the most rare. Then you have mezzo-soprano, which sits in the middle and hits a wide range of low and high notes. This is where Adele sits. Finally, the soprano has the highest vocal range, comfortably hitting all of the highest notes.
How Can You Tell Adele is a Mezzo-Soprano?
It’s always slightly difficult to categorize the different voice types among singers. That is because a lot of them use a technique known as falsetto where they are able to falsely strain their voice into a lower or higher octave. A famously great falsetto singer was Queen’s frontman, Freddie Mercury, who was a baritone, but sang mainly in falsetto tenor.
The best way to tell Adele is a mezzo-soprano is by how comfortably she sings from low to high and where it appears she is straining her voice. A typical mezzo-soprano will have a vocal range from notes A3 to A5. Adele has a bit of a shorter range though.
Watch the below YouTube video for a breakdown of all of the different notes Adele can hit.
