Editing Alto (section)

== In choral music ==
{{Choral voice classification}}
In [[SATB|SATB four-part mixed]] chorus, the alto is the second-highest vocal range, above the [[tenor]] and [[bass (voice type)|bass]] and below the [[soprano]]. The alto range in choral music is approximately from [[Scientific pitch notation|F<sub>3</sub>]] (the F below middle C) to F<sub>5</sub> (the second F above middle C). In common usage, alto is used to describe the [[voice type]] that typically sings this part, though this is not strictly correct. Alto, like the other three standard modern choral voice classifications (soprano, tenor and bass) was originally intended to describe a part within a [[Homophony|homophonic]] or [[polyphonic]] texture, rather than an individual voice type;{{sfn|Stark|2003}} neither are the terms alto and [[contralto]] interchangeable or synonymous, {{Citation needed span|though they are often treated as such.|date=November 2023}}

Although some women who sing alto in a choir are contraltos, many would be more accurately called [[mezzo-soprano]]s (a voice of somewhat higher range and different [[timbre]]). Men singing in this range are [[countertenor]]s, although this term is a source of considerable controversy,{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} some authorities preferring the usage of the term "male alto" for those countertenors who use a predominantly [[falsetto]] voice production (boys singing in their natural range may be termed "boy altos"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Curwen |first=J. Spencer |date=2018-09-20 |title=The Boy's Voice |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyBwDwAAQBAJ |language=en |isbn=9783734033841}}</ref>).