Exactly so, s&r. Approximately an octave difference per voice type between males and females.

When I was writing all those four-part harmony exercises in freshman music theory, had there been female keys and male keys, I'm sure we would have heard about it. The guidelines had to do with the ranges of the S A T B voices, but not a word about gender.

Should anybody want a more authoritative word on this, I can talk to a professional choir director I know.

Don Firth