A few months ago I attended a few workshops on basic voice with Byron McGilvray. To my astonishment, after testing he said that I was meant to be a soprano. This, despite my very low voice; I can sing lower than just about any woman I know, and lower than a great many men.

He said that my 25 years of smoking are a factor. In addition, I suspect that my childhood indoctrination in avoiding "shrill" sounds (I have four brothers) may also account for my developing low tones.

He said that if he had six months with me, the first thing he would have me learn to do is to speak in a higher tone. (Since then, I've tried that- and discovered I don't have a clue as to how do that!)

I would love to develop a greater range and have discovered in recent years that I can sing in more keys than I had used to think, but I'm not planning to make any serious efforts.