Alto

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Alto (voice)
)
For other uses, see Alto (disambiguation).
Voice type
Female
Male

The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: altus), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by either low women's or high men's voices. In vocal classification these are usually called contralto and male alto or countertenor.

Etymology

In

Ockeghem's generation wrote two contratenor parts and designated them as contratenor altus and contratenor bassus; they were respectively higher and lower than the tenor part. From these derive both the modern terms "alto" (and contralto) and "bass
".

Solo voices

treble staff
(left) and on piano keyboard in green with the yellow key marking middle C
{ \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } \clef "treble" f f'' }

The contralto voice is a matter of vocal timbre and tessitura as well as range, and a classically trained solo contralto would usually have a range greater than that of a normal choral alto part in both the upper and lower ranges. However, the vocal tessitura of a classically trained contralto would still make these singers more comfortable singing in the lower part of the voice. A choral non-solo contralto may also have a low range down to D3 (thus perhaps finding it easier to sing the choral tenor part), but some would have difficulty singing above E5. In a choral context mezzo-sopranos and contraltos might sing the alto part, together with countertenors, thus having three vocal timbres (and two means of vocal production) singing the same notes.[1]

The use of the term "alto" to describe solo voices is mostly seen in contemporary music genres (pop, rock, etc.) to describe singers whose range is lower than that of a mezzo-soprano but higher than that of a true contralto, and is very rarely seen in classical music outside of soloists in choral works. In classical music, most women with an alto range would be grouped within mezzo-sopranos, but many terms in common usage in various languages and in different cultures exist to describe solo classical singers with this range. Examples include contralto, countertenor, haute-contre, and tenor altino, among others.

In choral music

Voice classification
in choral music

In

polyphonic texture, rather than an individual voice type;[2] neither are the terms alto and contralto interchangeable or synonymous, though they are often treated as such.[citation needed
]

Although some women who sing alto in a choir are contraltos, many would be more accurately called mezzo-sopranos (a voice of somewhat higher range and different timbre). Men singing in this range are countertenors, although this term is a source of considerable controversy,[citation needed] some authorities preferring the usage of the term "male alto" for those countertenors who use a predominantly falsetto voice production (boys singing in their natural range may be termed "boy altos"[3]).

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Smith 2005.
  2. ^ Stark 2003.
  3. ISBN 9783734033841
    .

General and cited sources

Further reading

External links

  • The dictionary definition of Alto at Wiktionary
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