What is the Difference Between Treble and Soprano

The key difference between treble and soprano is that treble refers to a high-frequency tone, especially of a boy, while soprano refers to a high voice or a higher pitch of a female.

Treble is a tone whose range or frequency is at the higher end of human hearing. It is the highest section of notes. A soprano is a female singing voice with the highest vocal range of all voice types. It is a part of a treble since soprano voices can be considered treble sounds.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Treble 
3. What is Soprano
4. Treble vs Soprano in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Treble vs Soprano

What is Treble?

The word treble is derived from the Latin word ‘triplum’, which was used in the 13^th century. A treble has a frequency of about 2,048, and it increases to about 16,384 Hz (C₇–C₁₀). This frequency is at the higher end of human hearing. It can be represented in music as a treble clef. This sound falls in between 6KHz and 20Khz and even might consists of notes above 20Khz. These notes, which are above 20Khz, can not be heard by humans unless they have very sensitive ears.

In written music, treble sounds can be related to many voices and instruments such as piccolo and flute. Other than the treble, there are mid and bass voice ranges. However, as mentioned above, the treble has the highest frequency range. In an equalizer, when listening to songs, if the treble is turned up, it will emphasize the treble notes, which in turn will make the treble notes or the higher notes much clearer. Yet, this will suit only some genres, such as classical music. At the same time, this will be unhealthier to listeners since this will further increase the frequency of the higher notes. But the situation would be different when listening to radio stations; turning up the treble will make the speaker’s voice much clearer and easy to understand.

What is Soprano?

The term soprano is derived from the Italian word ‘sopra’ and the Latin word ‘superius’. Usually, this refers to women and is a classical female singing voice that has the highest vocal range. According to scientific pitch notation, the vocal range is approximately middle C (C₄) = 261 Hz to “high A” (A₅) =880 Hz in choral music or to “soprano C” (C₆) =1046 Hz or higher in operatic music.

The soprano is divided into few types. Coloratura is an energetic light voice with a high upper extension or has strong flexibility in high-lying velocity passages. Soubrette, on the other hand, is a bright and light mid-range voice, lyric, a warm voice that can be heard over a large orchestra. Moreover, spinto is considered similar to lyric soprano and dramatic, which is very emotional and powerful and can be heard over a full orchestra. Out of these categories, the lyric soprano is the most common female singing voice.

What is the Difference Between Treble and Soprano?

Teble refers to a high-frequency tone, especially of a boy, while soprano refers to a high voice or a higher pitch of a female. Thus, this is the key difference between treble and soprano. Soprano is one of the four main vocal ranges. The other three are Alto, Tenor, and Bass. The soprano voice is generally from middle C to the second A above and consists of five subcategories: coloratura, soubrette, lyric, and dramatic. But, there are no such subcategories in the treble. Women’s voices are categorized into three groups, and soprano is one of three groups; the other two are mezzo-soprano and contralto. However, in the treble, no such variety can be identified.

The following infographic summarizes the differences between treble and soprano in tabular form.

Summary – Treble vs Soprano

Treble is a tone whose frequency is the highest part of notes, which consists of a frequency of about 2,048, and it increases to about 16,384 Hz (C₇–C₁₀).  Meanwhile, the soprano is the highest female vocal range. There are various categories in soprano, but not in the treble. Thus, this is the summary of the difference between treble and soprano.

Reference:

1. “What Is Treble? Everything You Need to Know.” Music Critic.
2. Kuznetsova, Natalia. “Music Appreciation – Vocal Types and Ranges.” Lumen.