Baritone

This article is about the male voice type. For other uses, see Baritone (disambiguation).
Look up baritone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Voice type
Female
Male

A baritone[1] is a type of classical[2] male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. It is the most common male voice.[3][4] The term originates from the Greek βαρύτονος (barýtonos), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second G below middle C to the G above middle C (G2 to G4) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of baritone include the baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone), lyric baritone, Kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, baryton-noble baritone, and the bass-baritone.

  1. ^ Or barytone, although this spelling is essentially archaic and little-used since the 1920s.
  2. ^ Compare voice classification in non-classical music.
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia. "Baritone". Merriam-Webster (2000) p. 142. ISBN 0-87779-017-5
  4. ^ Knapp, Raymond; Morris, Mitchell; Wolf. Stacy (eds.) (2011)The Oxford Handbook of The American Musical Archived 12 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine, p. 322. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199874727