Short answer: the widest vocal range ever verified belongs to Tim Storms (USA): 10 octaves, from about G−5 to G5 (0.7973 Hz to 807.3 Hz), recorded by Guinness World Records in 2008. The widest female range is Georgia Brown‘s 8 octaves, G2 to G10 (2004). A typical trained singer covers two to three octaves.
“Widest” means the biggest distance between a singer’s lowest and highest note, counted in octaves. It is a different record from the highest or the lowest single note, although in Tim Storms’ case the extreme low end is what makes the span so large. Want to know your own span? Our free vocal range test measures it in about a minute.
Widest Vocal Range World Records
| Record | Holder | Range | Octaves | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greatest vocal range, male | Tim Storms (USA) | G/G♯−5 to G/G♯5 (0.7973–807.3 Hz) | 10 | 1 August 2008, Citywalk Studios, Branson, Missouri |
| Greatest vocal range, female | Georgia Brown (Brazil) | G2 (98.00 Hz) to G10 (≈25,088 Hz) | 8 | 18 August 2004, São Paulo, checked with piano, violin and Hammond organ |
Guinness notes that Storms’ endpoints fall between G and G♯. Counted strictly in semitones that is 9 octaves and 11 semitones, but measured in hertz the top frequency is more than 1,000 times the bottom one, which is why it is recognised as a full 10 octaves (each octave doubles the frequency, and 210 = 1,024).
Who Has the Widest Vocal Range in the World?
Tim Storms: the widest range of any human
Tim Storms is a bass singer from Missouri, best known as a member of the vocal group Pierce Arrow. His record range is so wide mainly because of how low he can go: the bottom octaves sit far below the roughly 20 Hz limit of human hearing and are produced in the vocal fry register, then confirmed with measuring equipment. In 2012 he extended the low end again with the lowest note ever recorded, G−7, which is covered on our lowest vocal range page.
Georgia Brown: the widest female range
Georgia Brown’s eight octaves run from G2, lower than most female voices reach, up to G10. That top note, about 25,000 Hz, is also the highest note on record; the story of that note and the male record (E8) is on the highest vocal range page.
Widest range in popular music
Outside formal record attempts, the widest ranges usually quoted belong to Mike Patton and Dimash Kudaibergen (about six octaves each), Axl Rose (F1 to B♭6, about 5.4 octaves, in a 2014 comparison built from recordings) and Mariah Carey (about five). These are estimates from recordings, not measured tests. The full ranked list, including 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10-octave claims, is on our 7-octave vocal range singers page.
Widest Range vs Highest Note vs Lowest Note
| Record | What it measures | Current holder |
|---|---|---|
| Widest vocal range | Distance from lowest to highest note, in octaves | Tim Storms, 10 octaves (female: Georgia Brown, 8) |
| Highest vocal note | The single highest pitch | Georgia Brown, G10 (male: Wang Xiaolong, E8) |
| Lowest vocal note | The single lowest pitch | Tim Storms, G−7, 0.189 Hz (female: Joy Chapman, C♯1) |
A soprano can reach C7 and still have a modest range if her lowest note is C4. A bass can sing down to C2 and never reach C5. Only a voice with both extremes produces a record-breaking span.
How Vocal Range Is Measured in Octaves
- Find the lowest note the singer can produce with a stable pitch.
- Find the highest stable note, including falsetto and whistle register if used.
- Count the semitones between them and divide by 12, or compare the frequencies: every doubling is one octave.
| Example | Low note | High note | Octaves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical untrained male | A2 (110.00 Hz) | A4 (440.00 Hz) | 2 |
| Wide pop range | E2 (82.41 Hz) | E6 (1,318.51 Hz) | 4 |
| Five octaves | E2 (82.41 Hz) | E7 (2,637.02 Hz) | 5 |
| Axl Rose (2014 chart) | F1 (43.65 Hz) | B♭6 (1,864.66 Hz) | 5.4 |
| Georgia Brown (record) | G2 (98.00 Hz) | G10 (25,088 Hz) | 8 |
To turn any note into hertz, use the note to frequency converter. For how notes, frequencies and octave numbers fit together, see frequency vs note vs octave.
Male vs Female: Who Has Wider Ranges?
Men’s longer, thicker vocal folds give them lower floors; women more often reach whistle register, which gives them higher ceilings. The records reflect that: the male record is built on extreme lows, the female record on extreme highs. In everyday singing both sexes cover similar spans, typically two to three octaves once trained. The standard voice types and their usual ranges are listed in types of vocal ranges and on the vocal range chart.
What Makes an Extremely Wide Range Possible
- Register coverage: vocal fry at the bottom, chest and head voice in the middle, falsetto and whistle at the top.
- Anatomy: fold length, thickness and flexibility set the natural limits at each end.
- Control: smooth transitions between registers so the notes in between stay usable.
- Measurement method: record attempts count any stable pitch, even one too low or too high to hear, which is why records exceed musical ranges.
Can You Train a Wider Vocal Range?
Partly. Training mostly adds notes at the top, smooths the break between registers and makes notes you can already touch usable in songs. It cannot change the length of your vocal folds, so nobody trains their way to eight or ten octaves. Safe drills are in our vocal exercises to increase range, and the singing note detector tells you exactly which new note you reached.
For the complete overview of ranges, voice types and records, visit the vocal range hub, or read the human vocal range guide for what a normal voice can do.
Widest Vocal Range: Quick Answers
Which singers have a 10-octave range?
Only Tim Storms, whose 10-octave range is a Guinness record from 2008. There is no documented female 10-octave range.
Who has the largest vocal range in the world?
Tim Storms. “Largest”, “biggest” and “widest” range all refer to the same record.
Which female singer has the widest range?
Georgia Brown, with eight octaves from G2 to G10, verified by Guinness in 2004.
What does a wide vocal range mean?
It means a singer can produce notes across many octaves. Most people have about two; three is wide; five or more is exceptional.
How many octaves can a human sing?
An untrained adult usually manages about one and a half to two octaves, a trained singer two to three usable octaves, and a few exceptional performers five or six. The measured maximum is Tim Storms’ ten octaves, most of which lies below audible pitch.
Is a 10-octave range real?
Yes, as a measured record: Guinness verified it with acoustic equipment in 2008. It is not a singing range in the everyday sense, because the lowest octaves are pulses far below 20 Hz that nobody can hear as notes. A musical range of that size does not exist.