> I keep hearing
> they have 5 or 6 octaves, but that doesn't seem
> possible.
You're right, it's (probably) not.
An octave is eight notes. So if you can sing from C
to C, that's one octave. If you can sing four C's on
the keyboard, that's three octaves.
Most pop music promotion people think that being able
to sing four C's means you can sing four octaves -- so
the octave count is inflated based on this
misinformation. If a singer like Mariah Carey can
growl out a baritone's low C and can also squeak out
high notes that run all the way OFF the keyboard, she
can sing five octaves. Note that the highest note
ever recorded is the C above high C (an octave below
the end of the keyboard) -- none of these pop divas
has ever managed to show anyone if they can sing the
higher notes, they just say they can.
A range of four octaves is not unusual, but certainly
not very useful -- except when trying to impress non
musically-trained fans. A range of five octaves has
never been demonstrated on a recording, as far as I
know. So as to whether they are lying or mistaken
about what an octave is -- you can be the judge.
Isabelle B.
=====
Isabelle Bracamonte, ibracamonte@y...
San Francisco, CA
moderator of Vocalist: the mailing list for singers
(vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com)
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