baritone or barytone, male voice, in a lighter and higher range than a bass but lower than a tenor. The term also designates a bass stringed instrument, fretted, with six or seven bowed strings, and up to 20 sympathetic (i.e., unplayed but freely vibrating) strings. Haydn wrote many works for this instrument.

In vocal music, the most common category of male voice, between the bass and the tenor. Its range is approximately from the second A below middle C to the F above middle C. The term baritonus was first employed in 15th-century five- and six-voice part music; when four-part settings became standard, the baritone part was dropped, and natural baritones were forced to develop either their bass or tenor register. Instruments that play principally in the baritone register include the baritone saxophone and the baritone horn.

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