Bass Vocal Range: Notes, Famous Singers & Karaoke Songs
The notes a bass typically sings, E2 to E4, on a piano keyboard, plus karaoke songs that fit the voice as written.
Are you a bass? Sing into your mic and find out in about a minute.
Test your vocal rangeThe typical bass vocal range runs from E2 to E4, two full octaves. Lowest male voice type. On the keyboard above, the green band is the bass range, lined up with the keys it covers, and the grey bands are the other male voice types (tenor, C3–C5; baritone, A2–A4) for comparison.
What is a bass?
Bass is the lowest voice type. It has the lowest tessitura of all the voices, which means its comfortable zone sits lower than anyone else's, and a typical bass sings from E2, the second E below middle C, up to E4. Opera recognizes six kinds of bass.
If people comment on how deep your voice is, you can rattle a room with a low note, and even baritone songs feel a little high, you might be a bass. Basses are less common than baritones, and a real low voice stands out at karaoke, because hardly anyone else in the room can go there.
Karaoke tips for basses and low voices
Most pop and rock is written above a bass's sweet spot, so a bass has to be pickier than anyone. The upside is that when you find the right song, nobody else can sing it like you.
- Go for low, steady melodies. Old-school country, crooners and spooky novelty songs are bass gold.
- Lower the key, a lot if you need to. Dropping a song three or four steps is completely fine. Ask the KJ before your turn.
- Sing from the chest. Let your voice sit low and relaxed rather than pushing up to the higher notes.
- Own the deep notes. If a song has a low line, lean into it. That's the moment the room will remember.
How to tell if you're a bass
Your voice type comes from more than your top and bottom notes. Voice teachers also listen for your tessitura (where your voice is most comfortable), your timbre and the spots where your voice shifts gears. Range on its own doesn't decide it. Still, range is the easiest place to start, and it's all you need to pick better karaoke songs.
- Measure your range. The free vocal range test listens through your mic while you slide from your lowest comfortable note to your highest. It takes about a minute and your audio never leaves your device.
- Compare it with E2–E4. If your range covers most of the bass band and lines up with it better than with tenor or baritone, bass is your closest match. Once you've taken the test, your range shows up on the chart above as a dashed band, with how many semitones you share.
- Check where it feels good. Sing a song from the list below. If the verses feel easy and the chorus doesn't strain, you're in the right zone. If everything feels like a stretch, try the songs on the tenor page or the baritone page instead.
Famous basses
We only list a singer when a source we trust states their range, and we never guess one. The singer vocal range pages are where those sourced ranges live, and basses will show up here as their pages go up.
Karaoke songs for basses
These are the songs from our karaoke lists whose published range fits inside E2–E4 as written, so you can sing them in the original key. The ones with the most room to spare at both ends come first. Each one links to its write-up, with the range source.
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Want more? The Best karaoke songs for men list has more picks for every kind of voice, with range and difficulty for each song. Songs slightly outside your range still work with a key change, and the karaoke song list lets you filter every song by range.
All six voice types compared
| Voice type | Typical range | Voice | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soprano | C4–C6 | Female | [1] |
| Mezzo-soprano | A3–A5 | Female | [1] |
| Alto | F3–F5 | Female | [1] |
| Tenor | C3–C5 | Male | [1] |
| Baritone | A2–A4 | Male | [1] |
| Bass | E2–E4 | Male | [1] |
Ranges: Wikipedia, "Voice type", which follows the classification in McKinney's The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Alto is listed there as contralto.
See them all on one keyboard on the vocal range chart.