Orchestration
Instrument Ranges for Arrangers: Playable, Comfortable, Usable
A playable range and a usable register are different facts. Transposition arithmetic, endurance, doubling, and the notes that are another instrument.
Range
The span from the lowest to the highest note a voice or instrument can sound, or the notes a written part uses.
Also called: vocal range, instrument range, pitch range, compass
Range is the span from the lowest to the highest note a voice or instrument can produce. A standard concert flute sounds from C4 to about C7, a span of three octaves. The range of a part is the span of notes the composer writes for it, which may be narrower than the instrument's full range. Range is usually given in scientific pitch notation, with middle C as C4. A singer's range is often described by voice type, and an arranger checks range before fixing a key. Range differs from tessitura. Range is the extremes, and tessitura is where most notes lie. A part can sit within range but still strain the player if it is pitched too high or too low for long.
Related terms
- TessituraThe part of a voice or instrument's range where most notes lie and where the performer sounds most comfortable.
- Transposing instrumentAn instrument whose written notes sound at a different pitch, such as a B♭ clarinet, which sounds a major second lower.
- PitchThe perceived highness or lowness of a sound, which for most sounds follows its fundamental frequency.