Baritenor is an informal term that refers to baritone male voices with extended upper range, or baritones that can sing in a tenor range. However, baritenor voice is more agile than that of a baritone. Sometimes it can also mean low tenor voice.
Richard Miller, professor of singing and author of numerous books on singing technique, used the term baritenor to refer to singers with comfortable singing range between that of a baritone and a tenor.
The term was originally used for opera in mid 1800s, but now is predominantly used in musical theater (Broadway). It is argued that many male roles in musical theater are baritenors. Here is a nice sample of baritenor Broadway songs.
Baritenor Vocal Range
Most common baritenor’s vocal range is between F2 and C5. Of course, like with any other voice it can extend lower and higher. Baritenor’s voice can sound dark and heavy in the lower range, and bright and ringy in the upper range.
Baritenor Passaggio
Richer Miller preferred to define voice types by location of passaggio (breaking points in the voice). For a baritenor’s voice the passaggio would be between C4 and F4.
A word or warning: it can be trick to identify your own voice type based on passaggio without an experienced teacher.
Baritenor singers
Since baritenor is not a formal part of a voice classification, and there is no “official” vocal range for a baritenor, many singers who fall into this category are usually prescribed to either baritones or tenors (or some kind of a version of those two).
Based on the vocal characteristics some well-known “baritenors” are Elvis Presley, Chris Cornel, and Josh Groban.
Freddie Mercury can be classified as a baritenor with an outstanding vocal range vocal range (F2-D6).
Another outstanding baritenor is Morten Harket of AHA with a C2-A5 vocal range.
Do you have a baritenor voice?
Many beginning singers are wondering what their voice type is. In fact, there seems to be unhealthy obsession with this whole vocal range thing, especially among male singers.
If you are like me, you are probably wondering am I a baritone, a tenor, or perhaps a baritenor? For me, as I progressed in my vocal training the answer seemed to be changing (and is still changing) every single day.
One day I felt my voice is rich and thick like a baritone voice. The next day it would be kind of thin and ringy like a tenor voice. Of course that would also depend on the vocal range I was practicing in. Perhaps I am a baritenor?!
Unless you had some years of vocal training you won’t know for sure it is probably really hard to tell whether you are a baritone, tenor, or baritenor.
The voice needs time to develop to its full potential. It also changes as we age.
One thing for sure is vocal range alone does not define your voice type. You also need to take into account color, tessitura (comfortable range), agility or flexibility of your voice.
It is no doubt possible to push your voice in a certain direction too, so if you find you have a lower voice, but would love to sing songs in tenor range, it is something you can definitely achieve with time and dedicated practice. But it is best to leave it to the experienced vocal coach.
