Meaning & use
alto
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Meanings
nouncountablemusic
A singing voice pitched below soprano and above tenor, or a person who sings in that range.
Grammar: Countable: she is an alto; the altos rehearsed separately.
Patterns
- sing alto
- an alto in something
Maya is an alto, so she sings the lower harmony line in the choir.
The altos came in a bar late during the second verse.
He trained as a tenor but discovered he was really a low alto.
adjectivebefore a nounmusic
Describing an instrument or voice part that sits in the alto range, usually placed before the name of the instrument.
Grammar: Always comes before the noun: an alto saxophone, not a saxophone alto.
Patterns
- alto saxophone
- alto part
She plays the alto saxophone in the school jazz band.
The alto line carries the harmony beneath the melody.
An alto recorder is larger than the soprano version most children learn on.
Word forms
| plural | altos |
|---|
Common combinations
- sing alto
- I always sing alto because the melody is too high for me.
- alto saxophone
- The alto saxophone has a warmer tone than the soprano.
- alto part
- The alto part in this hymn is easy to learn by ear.
- female alto
- The female alto in the quartet has a rich, dark sound.
- alto clef
- Violas read music written in the alto clef.
Synonyms and how they differ
- contralto
- Contralto names the lowest female voice and sounds more specialized, usually describing a solo singer rather than a choir section.
- countertenor
- A countertenor is a man who sings in a high range using a special technique, so it describes a male singer, whereas alto is used for either gender.
- mezzo-soprano
- A mezzo-soprano sits between soprano and alto, so it is higher than a true alto.
Opposites
Word family
- contralto noun
- the deepest female singing voice
- altos noun
- plural, often meaning the alto section of a choir
- altissimo noun
- the very high register of an instrument such as the saxophone
Commonly confused: alto or alt? alto or tenor?
alto vs alt
Alt is a short form of alternative or the alternate key on a keyboard; it has nothing to do with singing ranges.
alto vs tenor
A tenor is a higher male voice, while an alto sits lower than a soprano; they are neighbors in a choir but not the same range.
Practice
In a four-part choir, which voice part sings in the range between soprano and tenor?
Choose one answer.
Alto is the voice part between soprano and tenor. Bass and baritone are lower male voices, and treble is a high child voice similar to soprano.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “alto”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.