Instruments

Counter Tenor (Vocal)

The countertenor is a male singer in the alto range, which is now usually the domain of females. Simplifying complex vocal issues, we can say that the countertenor voice is produced using falsetto. Many of the female roles in opera up to the eighteenth century were written for countertenors, and the same is true of the top parts of Renaissance vocal works. The word "countertenor" derives from the Latin contratenor altus, the "high voice against [i.e., added in counterpoint to] the tenor."