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I'm trying to decide whether my voice type is bass or baritone.

I'm an 18 y.o. guy. I never had vocal education, I just sometimes sing or hum for fun.

In chest voice I can do E2 - E4. The lower end feels much more comfortable to sing in. Up until recently I could barely reach C4.

My head voice range is D4 - E5.

My speaking range is around G2 - C3

Judging from what I read, I could be either. Can you help me decide?

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  • Why bother? In choir settings, both baritones and basses will sing "bass". And if you never had any vocal education, you'd better get started singing somewhere at some point of time before worrying about your specialization. It's like somebody wondering whether he is more of a long-distance runner or a sprinter when his training so far is answering the door.
    – user20113
    Commented Apr 25, 2015 at 17:31
  • For men, the voice changes continually into the mid to late 20s. When I was 18 I went from a comfortable tenor to bass-baritone back to tenor and back again till my mid 20s and then rested at dramatic tenor. And that is typical. Speaking range has almost nothing to do with this so you can leave that out. What will make a Bass, a Baritone or a Bass-Baritone will be what rang does your voice sound best at compared to what range your are most comfortable singing. To quote a gifted vocal coach coaching a young singer who's voice was still changing as yours is still changing, sing where you feel co
    – user21079
    Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 0:25
  • Related: music.stackexchange.com/q/7992/28
    – user28
    Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 22:30

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According to the Wikipedia article on vocal range, E2-E4 is the general range for a bass, whereas the general range for a baritone is G2 - G4.

I've been singing in choirs for over 40 years and have always sung bass. My range is roughly E2 - E4 as well and I'm most comfortable from F2 - A3.

That said, there is a fair amount of overlap between bass and baritone ranges and at the relatively young age of 18, I wouldn't worry too much about defining yourself. If you are not singing in a choir or an ensemble it doesn't really matter anyway. Any particular song or part will either be comfortable for you or not, regardless of how you label yourself. If you do audition for a choir, the director will most likely take you through the audition process and then decide which part would best suit you.

If you have the time, means and inclination to do so, I would strongly recommend taking voice lessons so that you learn proper singing technique and don't develop bad habits. If you take voice lessons, you might find that you can extend your range even more beyond where it is now.

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