On Fri, 16 Jun 2000, Joel Figen wrote:
> Is there a correlation between adult height and vocal range? I
> think if we factor out gender, there isn't. When I look at a
> choir, I don't notice that the basses are taller than the tenors
> or that the altos are taller than the sopranos.
There probably isn't much correlation between uppermost notes for a
woman and her height, since head voice range is not directly correlated
to vocal cord length (this mode of phonation does not use full cord
length). Still, there is an indirect correlation, though I can't really
get into the right now...
With men (most of whom use the full length of their cords throughout
most of their ranges), range often correlates to cord length. There will
be a wide range of diversity, but on *average* body parts on a given
person are proportional. Since most men are baritones, you end up with a
Bell curve. It is therefore difficult to gauge the relationship by
simply looking at the men in a typical choir, where tenor1 through bass2
will be populated mostly by baritones, sometimes using falsetto or
strohbass to extend their ranges.
The tendencies are only obvious at the extremes. Most true basso
profundos will be very tall. The only one I know personally (speaks on
D2, projects A1) is 7'0". Most true tenorinos will be very short.
-Tako, the 5'11" countertenor ;-)
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