Phonational Frequency Ranges of Adults

Abstract

This paper reports data on the phonational frequency ranges of 332 male and 202 female adults, ages 18–36. Each subject was required to produce a series of consecutive phonations with the f 0 corresponding to the equal-tempered musical scale from the lowest sustainable phonation in his modal register to the highest in falsetto. The mean phonational frequency range was in excess of three octaves (specifically, 38 ST for males and 37 ST for females), mean values for the lowest and highest frequencies of phonation were 78 and 698 Hz for the males and 139 and 1108 Hz for the females, and there appeared to be no significant trends in phonational frequency ranges that correlated with advancing age in this population.