What is the normal range for adult female fundamental frequency (F0)?

• A. 100-150 Hz
• B. 180-250 Hz
• C. 50-100 Hz
• D. 300-350 Hz

Answer: (B)

Fundamental frequency reflects how fast the vocal folds vibrate, which determines the perceived pitch of the voice. In adults, females typically have a higher F0 than males because their vocal folds vibrate more rapidly. For adult females, the normal speaking F0 generally falls around 180–250 Hz, with many speakers near about 200 Hz. That makes the range 180–250 Hz the best match for a normal adult female speaking voice. The other ranges are outside the typical adult female range: 100–150 Hz is more common for many adult male voices, 50–100 Hz is too low for adults, and 300–350 Hz is higher than usual for adult female speech (toward high falsetto or child-like ranges).