The bass singing voice has a vocal range that lies around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4).; The Oxford Dictionary of Music gives E2–E4/F4 As with the contralto singing voice being the rarest female voice type, the bass voice is the rarest for males, and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. However, the bass voice is determined not only by its vocal range, but also by its timbre, which tends to be darker than that of a baritone voice.
The term bass was developed in relation to classical and operatic voices, where the classification is based not merely on the singer's vocal range but also on the tessitura and timbre of the voice. For classical and operatic singers, their voice type determines the roles they will sing and is a primary method of categorization. In non-classical music, singers are primarily defined by their genre and their gender and not by their vocal range.Axelrod, Alan, The complete idiot's guide to jazz, Alpha Books, 1999, pp. 68–69 (). See also Tarasti, Eero, Signs of music: a guide to musical semiotics, Walter de Gruyter, 2002, pp. 157–178 () When the terms soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, and bass are used as descriptors of non-classical voices, they are applied more loosely than they would be to those of classical singers and generally refer only to the singer's perceived vocal range.
The following is a list of singers in country, popular music, jazz, and musical theatre who have been described as basses.
List of names Name Lifespan Nationality Associated act(s) Joe Ames 1921–2007 American Ames Brothers Bobby Bass 1998– American Lance Bass 1979– American NSYNC Bob Bingham 1946–2025 American 21 Savage 1992- British Greg Brown 1949– American Geoff Castellucci1980-AmericanVoicePlay Brian Cole 1942–1972 American The Association Ray Davis 1940–2005American Elmer Dresslar Jr. 1925–2005 American George Sanders1906-1972British James Farnsworth British Out of the Blue Tennessee Ernie Ford 1919–1991 American Markiplier1989–American Melvin Franklin 1942–1995 American The Temptations Sherman Garnes 1940–1977 American The Teenagers Geoffrey Holder 1930–2014 Trinidadian-American Corpse Husband 1997– American Jawan M. Jackson American The Temptations Avi Kaplan 1989– American Pentatonix Marc Lavoine 1962– French Till Lindemann 1963– German Nick Massi 1927–2000 American The Four Seasons Carlo Mastrangelo 1937–2016 American The Belmonts Michael McCary 1971– American Boyz II Men Stephin Merritt 1965– American Warren "Pete" Moore 1938–2017 or 1939–2017 American The Miracles Rex Nelon 1932–2000 American The LeFevres Patrick Page 1962– American London Parris 1931–1992 American The Blackwood Brothers Ray Perkins 1932– Canadian The Crew-Cuts Pop Smoke 1999–2020 American Thurl Ravenscroft 1914–2005 American The Mellomen Harold Reid 1939–2020 American The Statler Brothers Kevin Richardson 1971– American Backstreet Boys Paul Robeson 1898–1976 American Matt Sallee1994–AmericanPentatonixThomas Sanders1989–American Peter Steele 1962–2010 American Richard Sterban 1943– American The Oak Ridge Boys Tim Storms 1972– American J. D. Sumner 1924–1998 American The Blackwood Brothers, The Stamps Quartet T.O.P 1986– or 1987– South Korean Big Bang Ike Turner 1931–2007 American Josh Turner 1977– American Ray Walker 1934– American The Jordanaires Barry White 1944–2003 American The Love Unlimited Orchestra George Younce 1930–2005 American The Cathedrals Tay Zonday 1982– American
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See also Voice classification in non-classical music List of baritones in non-classical music List of tenors in non-classical music List of contraltos in non-classical music List of mezzo-sopranos in non-classical music List of sopranos in non-classical music Voice type
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