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alto

 
Dictionary: al·to   (ăl') pronunciation
n., pl., al·tos.
  1. A low female singing voice; a contralto.
  2. A countertenor.
    1. The range between soprano and tenor.
    2. A singer whose voice lies within this range.
    3. An instrument that sounds within this range.
    4. (Abbr. A) A vocal or instrumental part written in this range.

[Italian, from Latin altus, high.]


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Thesaurus: alto
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adjective

    Being a sound produced by a relatively small frequency of vibrations: bass, contralto, deep, low, low-pitched. See sounds/pleasant sounds/unpleasant sounds/neutral sounds or silence.

(It.: ‘high’)

Term originally used for a high vocal part, lying above the tenor and sung by one or more male voices. It implied, from the 16th century to the 18th, a part roughly of the pitch g-c″, sung by men (falsettists, high tenors or castratos) or by boys, in church music, but sometimes by women in secular music. In English usage, ‘alto’ is usually applied to a male voice, ‘contralto’ to a female one, though the distinction is not rigid. In choral music, ‘alto’ is used for either sex (it is the ‘A’ in SATB).

In French and Italian, ‘alto’ is the term for the viola (its pitch relates to that of the violin as the alto voice does to the soprano). It is also used as an adjective for other instruments, especially wind: the alto clarinet is usually in E♭, a 5th below the standard soprano instrument; the alto flute is in G, a 4th below the standard. The alto recorder (an American term; in English usage it is called the treble) is itself the standard instrument. The alto trombone, now largely obsolete, was pitched a 4th or 5th above the standard, tenor instrument in B♭. The english horn (cor anglais) is sometimes called an ‘alto oboe’. The alto saxophone, in E♭ (occasionally F), is the standard instrument of the family.

The alto clef, used particularly by the viola, the viola da gamba (in high-lying music) and the alto voice, is shown with the sign for c′ on the middle line of the staff.




Voice or register that extends approximately from the F below middle C to the second D above it. The second-highest part in four-part music, it is normally sung by women. The name derives from contratenor altus, the part above the tenor part. It is used for some instruments that play principally in the alto range (alto saxophone, alto flute, etc.). See also countertenor.

For more information on alto, visit Britannica.com.

 
alto, singing voice the range of which is lower than the soprano by the interval of a fifth. More generally, the term refers to the register in which this voice sings, i.e., the second highest part in a four-part musical texture, and to instruments utilizing this register. See countertenor.


The lowest range of the female singing voice, also called contralto. (Compare mezzo soprano and soprano.)

Music: Alto
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1. In most choirs, the lowest female vocal part. Occasionally, extremely high tenors may be said to sing this part. 2. An instrument in the alto range. 3. A viola.

Word Tutor: alto
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: The lowest female vocal part.

pronunciation Frieda could only sing her part as an alto.

Wikipedia: Alto
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Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high", that has several possible interpretations.

When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano.[1] Hence, for example, the term "alto saxophone". In other "families", such as the trombone, there is no soprano, the alto having been the highest, although it is absent from the standard modern symphony orchestra.

In choral music, "alto" describes the second highest voice part in a four-part chorus. As well as being the modern Italian word for "high", in the present context it is an Italian abbreviation derived from the Latin phrase contratenor altus, used in medieval polyphony, usually to describe the highest of three parts, the line of which was in counterpoint (in other words, against = contra) with the tenor (which "held" the main melody; this word itself originates in the Latin verb tenere, meaning "to hold").

The alto range in choral music is approximately from G3 (the G below middle C) to F5 (the F in the second octave above middle C). In common usage, alto is used to describe the voice type that typically sings this part, though this is not strictly correct: alto, like the other three standard modern choral voice classifications (soprano, tenor and bass) was originally intended to describe a part within a homophonic or 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. 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), and many men countertenors (this latter term is a source of considerable controversy, some authorities preferring the usage of the term "male alto" for those countertenors who use a predominantly falsetto voice production). The contralto voice is a matter of vocal timbre and vocal 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.[3]

Alto is rarely used to describe a solo voice, though there is a plethora of terms in common usage in various languages and in different cultures for solo singers in this range. Examples include contralto, countertenor, haute-contre, and tenor altino among others.

The term alto is also used to designate a specific kind of musical clef. See alto clef.

See also

References

  1. ^ alto - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  2. ^ Stark (2003), Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy
  3. ^ Smith (2005), Choral Pedagogy

Further reading

  • Appelman, D. Ralph (1986). The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application. Indiana University Press. ISBN 13: 978-0253203786. 
  • Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 13: 9781877761645. 
  • Coffin, Berton (1960). Coloratura, Lyric and Dramatic Soprano, Vol. 1. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 13: 9780810801882. 
  • Peckham, Anne (2005). Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer. Berklee Press Publications. ISBN 13: 978-0876390474. 
  • Smith, Brenda (2005). Choral Pedagogy. Plural Publishing, Inc. ISBN 13: 978-1597560436. 
  • Stark, James (2003). Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 13: 978-0802086143. 

Translations: Alto
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - alt, altsanger

Nederlands (Dutch)
alt (stem/instrument)

Français (French)
n. - contralto (voix féminine), haute-contre (voix masculine), alto (un instrument)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Alt, Altist, Altstimme

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μουσ.) άλτο

Italiano (Italian)
contralto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - contralto (m) (Mús.), viola (f) (Mús.), saxotrompa (f) (Mús.)

Русский (Russian)
альт, контральто (певец), контр-тенор

Español (Spanish)
n. - contralto

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - alt

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
次高音, 次高音歌手, 女低音

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 次高音, 次高音歌手, 女低音

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 알토음부, 알토가수

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アルト, アルト歌手
adj. - アルトの

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الألتو : أعلى صوت في الغنا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אלט (קול), הקול הגברי הגבוה ביותר, מעל טנור‬


 
 
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