Is there a defined range for tenor, alto, soprano etc.? I ask because I was looking at a recorder website and it said that the tenor recorder has a range from middle c and up about two octaves - surely this is the same range as the concert flute which is classed as soprano? Does it vary from instrument to instrument? I'm guessing that the tenor recorder doesn't play the same notes as the tenor sax for instance....

Just intrigued!

I think it is different depending on the instrument (and player) on the recorder.
I can get around 3 octaves on the tenor and bass recorders, on the treble and Descant (soprano) I'm 2 notes under 4 octaves and my sopranino gets 3 octaves and a tone.

the flute is 4 octaves but I'm sure clever people can get more then that. and I dont know aboot the sax.

hope this helps.

Interestingly, in the Renaissance the flute, like the recorder, was made in SATB sizes. However, it was the tenor flute which was further developed into the concert flute we know today. The tenor flute had a similar pitching to a tenor recorder. Today's alto flute corresponds to the bass flute of earlier times.

Recorders also sound an octave higher than they're often notated, so a tenor recorder sounds, note for note, two octaves higher than even an old C melody tenor sax.

The key thing to bear in mind is the length of the tube!

Are you sure you're not an octave out? 'top' F on a treble is only 2 octaves above bottom F, so to go another octave higher than that, let alone two doesn't sound right.

Modern recorders have a range of 2 and a half octaves. Tenor and alto play as written, soprano plays an octave higher than written. The lowest note for tenor and soprano is c and for alto f.
With clever technique you can go a bit below the advertised lowest note and also a bit above the 2 and a half octaves.

Ina

I'm not sure that we're answering the OP's question.

No, there are not fixed ranges for soprano, alto etc. These terms really just indicate the relationship between one instrument in a given family and another. So soprano voice has a different range to soprano sax, which is different from soprano recorder, which is different from soprano clarinet etc. All that you can say is that each is higher than their respective altos.

Also, while the treble recorder is an alto instrument, a treble voice is closer to a soprano voice!

best
Nick

Yes, that clears it up - it's little bit like referring the first born, second born etc. in a family - they could be of any age but it's the relationship they have to each other that matters.

Thanks!

I think you might be right. on the treble i get 3 Fs and the E above that top F. the descant is the same but with Cs insted of Fs

so the flute gets 3 octaves??

Yes.

ok.
sorry aboot that I was counting an octave too much well i'm an idiot.