Grade 5 Theory Exam

For piano students of Tony O’Brien Home. Exam Structure. Learning Pathway. Exam Topics.

10

Set a melody to words  - select the voice



I don’t suppose there’s any correct or incorrect choice of voice, although a “machismo” text might suggest an adult male voice, while a more “feminine” text, a female voice.  But given their can be no accusations of sexist bias and the texts are generally gender neutral, I would pick a voice to suit a clef you are most comfortable working in:-


i.e. “pick” a soprano voice if you want to work in the treble clef, a baritone voice for the bass clef.



I write “pick” in quotes because you never explicitly state the voice you are writing for (unless you include it as a “performance direction”, which I would recommend) - but you have to pitch your melody within the normal compass of a singer.  Writing a melody spanning 2 or more octaves in pitch  for instance would be very hard for a singer to manage, and would reveal your ignorance on the limited range of the human voice.


So whatever voice you “pick”, you must work within its pitch range - lowest and highest notes - because your melody cannot go outside this range.  A soprano voice gives you a comfortably large range so long as you don’t pitch notes below middle C too often.  A baritone voice gives you a range spanning the entire bass clef staff.



Select the Voice