Contralto (Vocal)

Popular usage and even some music dictionaries use the words "contralto" and "alto" interchangeably. Strictly speaking, "alto" refers to a voice range or voice part, while "contralto" is a voice type: a woman (male falsetto singers in the alto range are referred to as countertenors or male altos) with a low, rich voice whose range may nevertheless extend into part of the usual soprano province. The alto part in choral music is the second highest of the four common voice ranges, below the soprano but above the tenor. Thus it sounds odd to specialists to refer to a solo singer as an alto or to choral singers as contraltos. The word "contralto" itself is a contraction that precedes the shorter form "alto," probably deriving from the medieval and Renaissance term contratenor altus, "higher voice against the tenor. Counter Tenor (Vocal)

Vocal Instruments