The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

226 Par t 6:Arranging

Voice Characteristics

When you’re writing for a choir, you have to know the voices that are available

at your disposal. In general, you have two female voices and two male voices,

with an optional third male voice to work with.

◆Soprano This is the highest female voice. The soprano typically sings

the lead part, as the highest voice naturally stands out from the rest. Some

sopranos can sing quite high, although you might want to avoid the very

upper reaches of the range; these high parts often sound shrill, especially

with younger or less-experienced singers.

◆Alto The alto is the lower female voice, with a deep and resonant tone.

The alto range overlaps the soprano range, but know that an alto will

sound strained at the top of her range—just as a soprano will sound

strained at the bottom of hers.

◆Tenor The tenor is the highest male voice; it overlaps significantly with

the range of the female alto. Tenor parts are written in treble clef, but

actually sound an octave lower than written.

◆Baritone The baritone is an optional male part; most choruses don’t

have separate baritone lines. The baritone falls smack between the tenor

and the bass, but typically has more of a bass-like sound—without the very

low notes.

◆Bass The bass is the lowest male voice. It’s natural to assign bass notes

to the bass voice, which works out okay most of the time. At the low end

of the bass range, the sound gets a tad rumbly.

Vocal Ranges

It’s important that you write vocal parts that can actually be sung. It’s no good

to write a bass part that sounds forced—if the poor fellow can hit the note at

all.

For that reason, pay close attention to the ranges listed in the following table

and stick within these ranges when writing your vocal parts.

Vocal Ranges

Voice Range (Concert Pitch) Write It ...

Soprano Concert pitch

Alto Concert pitch