Will some singers enlighten me with their knowledge :D?

Question

Okay, it's been a while since I wanted to ask such a question but I decided to do it when I heard a different version of "One Winged Angel" called "The World's Enemy" and I think it rocks but then I see people arguing and saying "No no no the tenors should be louder..." or "No no no the altos, the sopranos blablabla", the point is that I also thought that something could've been done to improve the choir in the song but I didn't know what the shell they were talking about.

So the question is....

In a choir..

What are the altos/sopranos/tenors and how do they sing that makes them different between them?

both questions are pretty much the same but yea yea yea

you know what i mean

Answer 1

OK, in layman's terms (cos I don't know all the correct ones!) people's voices are grouped into... well, groups, depending on their pitch. You know how a guy's voice is lower than a girl's when they speak? Well, the guy's voice has a lower pitch, the girl's has a higher one. That's pitch.

Everyone has a pitch that they feel most comfortable singing, where their voice is strongest-- some can belt out the high notes (sopranos), some feel happier in the middle range (altos) and some are lower down (tenors). It's down to what we're born with.

In a choral piece (somethin sung by a choir) you can really play with the differences between the pitches to make really rich and interesting sounds when they all sing together. If you want a line or two of the song to sound all whispy and airy-fairy, you can have the sopranos (the high up lot) to sing the lines really softly and quietly on their own, and you'll feel like you're surrounded by angels (awwwww). Then if you want some real strong sturdy sounds, the tenors (or basses-- they're lower than tenors) can belt somethin out to make the floorboards rattle.

For a full and balanced sound all the groups need to sing at more or less the same volume. That's probably what the arguments you heard were about. The idea of a choir is that what you hear needs to become a cohesive whole, rather than a bunch of seperate groups all singin the same thing. It's like one of those massive chinese dragons at New Year-- unless everyone plays their part just right and moves at the right time in the right way, it just looks like a long bit of material with legs under it. Done right, you can stand back and see an actual dragon snaking its way down the street. See what I mean?

Hope that makes it clearer :)

Answer 2

They are the parts of the choir. Technically there are 8 parts to a choir should it be large enough.

1st soprano. (The highest range voice part) (the highest woman voice)

2nd soprano. (The second highest voice part)



1st alto (the lower range of the womens voice, but the third highest voice part overall)

2nd alto (the fourth highest voice part)

1st tenor is the highest male part or could be a low women voice)

2nd tenor.  (the second highest male part and 6 highest overall)

Baritone (the seventh highest part)

Bass (The lowest voice part)