Guys, I'm really bad with musical theory
Just wondering how many octaves a typical song covers? I know it's different with every song, but a ballpark estimate with the verses and chorus.

This is a really really really vague subject. This goes into style, how wide the singer's range is, too many factors to mention really. A song could be 2-3 notes, or 3-4 octaves. There is no average. Sorry.

Now if you're asking how many octaves i'd say where in a good song, i'd say anywhere from 1-2 octaves would be great, shows alot of range, 3 if you can pull it off, anything more is pushing it a bit. But less than 1 octave to me gets a little boring unless you know how to use it.

I would say that how many octaves a song covers is completely irrelevant, musically. Singing, to me, is about emotion and melody. If you feel that you need to go higher for something, you do, if not, you don't.

Typically the songs I've sung in my classical rep. cover about... I'd guess about 1.5 octaves. However those are usually on the higher end of the singer's range since the idea is to be able to project the notes without a microphone.


Typically what I've done for things like competitions is had one piece that sits lower in my range to show off the lower end, and one that sits higher to show off the higher notes. Typically you wont find a -lot- of songs that will show off every inch of your range, although those are definitely out there.


I have no idea what the average range for other types of music are! Sorry.



You say you don't know much about musical theory: I would REALLY suggest you learn some more. Not to be snobby, but because I've found that the more theory I study the more I appreciate the music and... just little things click into place. It's just cool!

You probably wont be crippled or anything if you don't know a lot of theory, but it certainly can be a help.