VOICE TYPES - “SATB”

How different vocal ranges are labelled

SATB means Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass and is the most commonly used division of voices in a mixed choir.

The only reason for dividing the singers this way is for them to sing notes that function well with their vocal range. The vocal range means which notes they are able to produce: their highest and lowest notes, and therefore where they are comfortable singing. The voice category of a singer does not, however, indicate what style of music they sing, or if they are talented or not. The Mezzo soprano and the Baryton are not used in choirs, instead all the voices (SATB) are divided into 1 and 2, where for example soprano 1 sings the highest soprano parts and soprano 2 the lowest soprano part. In a classical choir there could therefore easily be 8 different voices sung a the same time. For a solo singer these labels are only useful to get a general idea of your type of voice, but it is not critical to know your voice type, since it is very easy to change the key of a song that you are singing.

FEMALE VOICES:

SOPRANO (highest): Alison Krauss, Monserrat Caballé, Diana Damrau

MEZZOSOPRANO (slightly lower soprano): Cecilia Bartoli

ALTO (deepest female voice): Tracy Chapman, Toni Braxton

MALE VOICES:

TENOR (highest): Three Tenors, Jeff Buckley, Freddie Mercury

BARYTON (middle): Johnny Cash

BASS (deepest male voice): JD Sumner