What Everyone Should Know About Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Basses

Most choirs of adult singers include four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Beyond "sopranos and tenors sing high while altos and basses sing low," each part performs specific functions in the musical ensemble. Beware! What follows is gross generalizations - none of these things are always true, but they generally hold true in choirs with singers of more than one gender.

Members of the Valparaiso Chorale performing at St. Mark's in 2018.
The choir includes sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses.

Four-part music

Have you ever noticed that music in hymnals usually has four separate lines to follow? There are two on the top line (treble clef) and two on the bottom line (bass clef). This is because since the time hymns began to be printed with lyrics AND musical notation, it was written for four-part music - not the organ! Each voice part is responsible for a specific line. (For a long time, hymnals only included texts. Scandal and vigorous debate ensued when someone decided to publish music and words together.)

In more modern times, hymns occasionally appear with a single vocal line. This usually means the choir (and assembly) sing the melody against a specially composed accompaniment from the organ or piano.

Sopranos

Sopranos almost always sing the melody, especially in hymn singing. When people from the assembly don't read music, they sing the soprano line. This includes bass-clef voices who sing the melody an octave down. In hymn singing, soprano notes aren't particularly high - that happens with music written for choirs to sing alone. In many church choirs, some sopranos will sing a descant - a much higher counter-melody that soars above the other singers to add interest and drama.

Altos

Altos are glue! They provide the harmonies that let us know if what we're hearing is in a major or minor key. They add harmonic colors that tell us if we're singing a hymn from northern Europe or something with a touch of jazz.

Heard by itself, the alto part is often. . .unimpressive. But what would we do without it? One young woman has achieved a certain amount of fame for recording just the alto line of the classic Christmas song "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Give it a listen at the link. It might sound odd on its own, but imagine a choir without altos. It's sad, isn't it?

https://youtube.com/shorts/-DozFTez4c0?feature=share

Tenors
There are more jokes about tenors than all other voice parts combined! Our choir room used to contain the following warning (that I will always believe was probably placed there by a tenor):

All kidding aside, tenors work with the altos to support the harmonic texture. They also add color and fullness to the choir's overall sound. (UPDATE: Since this article was printed in the Messenger, a BASS came forward and confessed to posting the sign!)

Basses

There's a reason they are called basses - they are the base of the choir! Basses normally sing a harmonized part that is usually the "root" of a chord. Basses help the rest of the choir sing in tune by providing a solid foundation. They also add richness and depth to the choral sound.

Which part do you sing?
All singers are welcome to join the Festival Choir in its work of leading the church's song at St. Mark's. Whether you sing soprano, alto, tenor, or bass, we hope you will join us. For more information, contact Tony Cruz or any choir member.

Come sing with us!

Note: A version of this article appeared previously in the St. Mark's Messenger newsletter.