What does alto do in choir?

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.

What is the role of alto?

Among the upper voices, the alto plays the important role of filling in the space between the tenor and soprano voices. Like most middle children, the alto voice is often forgotten but still integral to keeping the family unit together.

Is alto low or high in choir?

In a choir, alto describes the lowest singing part written for a female voice. While occasionally men are described as altos — in which case, the word describes a fairly high pitched singing voice — it more often describes a woman whose voice is lower than a soprano.

What is alto in choral music?

alto, (Italian: “high”), in vocal music the register approximately between the F below middle C to the second D above—the second highest part in four-part music. The word alto originally referred to the highest male voice, singing falsetto (see countertenor).

Do altos sing melody or harmony?

Altos Singers Make the Sound “Full” While sopranos generally carry the melody in a group, the altos supply the harmony, which gives the choir a full rich sound. The harmony is vital to the overall sound that a choir or ensemble has.

Who has an alto voice?

List of singers

Name	Lifespan	Nationality
Karen Carpenter	1950–1983	American
Neko Case	1970–	American
Rosanne Cash	1955–	American
Tracy Chapman	1964–	American

Can alto sing tenor?

One such flavour, the counter tenor is a very rare voice, but dips well into soprano range. An alto capable of singing extremely high would be called a soprano. Therefore a counter tenor will often be higher than an alto. However, altos are not a rare voice to the extent of the counter tenor.

Can an alto become soprano?

Usually, you will be adding notes to your natural range, in other words, you will develop the ability to sing both alto and soprano, but sometimes you just need to stop singing one in favor of the other, at least until your singing muscles adapt. …

Can altos sing?

Alto refers to the second highest vocal range in choral music, above the tenor and bass ranges but below soprano. Although anyone can be an alto singer, women are more often able to sing in the alto range than men.

Is an alto voice good?

The Alto is the second lowest of the female voice types and has a tessitura of F3-F5. While this voice still has a good amount of weight, many trained Altos can hit huge notes at the top of their range. Others stay low all the time.