Solo

[theyellowhobbit]

I ended up getting a small mezzo solo in the middle of "Egypt" this song that they've done in previous semesters, which I now need to learn, and which I only was sight-reading the solo. It's not a whole song or anything that shiny, but it's definitely a solo. And maybe I'll get the counter-melody at the end of Yonatan Shapira.

So again Techiya thinks I'm a mezzo, because I'm singing mezzo for Egypt. Actually, let's do a comparison of songs we sing and parts I have:

Alto:
Eli
Yonatan Shapira
Rumania

Mezzo/lower Soprano:
Miriam's Song, kinda (soprano II, but goes to alto when there are only 2 female parts)
Adon Olam
Egypt
Carmen Sandiego (lower soprano)

Undetermined:
Rumania
Carmen Sandiego
Melech Shelach
Rak B'Yisrael
Yesusum (if we get to it)
timmypowg's Hatikvah

(Actually, timmypowg, did they assign parts for any of these while I was gone?)

So as of now I have 2 alto parts and 3 mezzo parts, or 2.5 and 2.5 if you count Miriam's as something in between.With the updated information it's 3 alto and 4 mezzo or soprano parts.

I think part of it is a lack of sopranos. If we had more sopranos I'd probably be consistently an alto. Or if we had more women in general maybe they'd let me occasionally sing tenor.

Gah. I have to learn my parts. With no time to do so!!!

*Edit* Yeah. I'm officially a mezzo or something. Does my low D mean nothing?

Comments

[spazerrific.livejournal.com]

your low D does mean something (I have one when I'm warmed up too), but there's probably enough low voices, and you tone probably is better in a mid-register than other people's. I was in an all-girls a cappella group for 2.5 years... I wasn't in the "man" section for every song b/c I had a better middle range than some of the other low girls.

[midnight-sidhe.livejournal.com]

The absence of more sopranos is sort of confusingly weird... I mean, true contraltos are the rarest female voice type; most women are mezzos. If you're not in the sort of choir formed mostly of older women who don't sing a lot, you'd think it would be altos they'd be short of. (My mother was dragooned into singing soprano in her choir, but she's not a contralto; she's a second soprano who prefers singing alto.) So, while I'd agree with spazerrific that you have a really good mid range, too, it just sort of strikes me as bizarre that a good low contralto like you would have to be dragooned into singing soprano in the first place.

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

It's because in general we don't have enough people. Ideally there would be at least 16 of us, 4 on each part. I think we currently have 12 members, and for girls we have 4 sopranos and 3 altos, though one of the sopranos is actually a mezzo and doesn't sing so loudly. (I'm counting myself in the altos.) So when there are 3 women's parts, or even 3 plus a soloist, they need one of the altos to go to mezzo, and I guess that alto is me.

[midnight-sidhe.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. That makes sense.

Oops - I just realised that I forgot to congratulate you on your solo in my first comment. Congratulations!

[superducky1.livejournal.com]

I have a theory that there are a lot of women out there who don't have formal voice training and thus don't know how to sing using their upper registers, even though it is definitely there.

When I was younger, I would sing sort of like it was in my speaking voice, but I had a ridiculously limited range (Eb below middle C to A above middle C). I can still do it, but now it hurts if I do it too much. My "real" voice is what I used to think was my "falsetto" range!

Anyway, I agree that voice classification-- and what parts choirs will choose for their members-- is as much qualitative (who sounds best where, where voices are needed) as quantitative (what notes you can hit).

[midnight-sidhe.livejournal.com]

Something very similar happened to me, I think. (It hurts when I try singing too much in my lower register, too.) I used to think I was "cheating" if I slipped into head voice. Then eventually I worked out that actually my voice is much happier there.

[platypuses.livejournal.com]

I thought for a long time that my low speaking voice and ability to hit low notes made me a definite alto, but... turns out I was a high soprano with training. Woops. And voice classification is not really about what notes you can hit once you get training -- people expand their lower and upper registers so that everyone pretty much hits the same notes. It's mostly about the timbre and quality of the voice. In summation, I agree with superducky.

[timmypowg.livejournal.com]

Jamie seems to think that you have a very developable upper range and that you should be using it. You're definitely not a high soprano, but also, you're not that low -- your effective range goes down to a G or so, like mine goes to a B. I can sing a low G, or even a low F#, but you wouldn't want to depend on that note! Same thing at the lower extreme of your range. Jamie can sing a low D, too, but it depends on how you define "sing" -- she can hit it, but she can't sustain it with any power. I'd personally say you're an alto, but on the other hand, I'd personally also say Meena's an alto, so for balance reasons, it's better to spread the wealth on the more powerful voices to make sure the parts have balance when there are multiple parts.

I have some other comments, too; email me and I'll tell you, if you'd like.

[timmypowg.livejournal.com]

Oh, and actually getting to Hatikvah will be unlikely this semester. Adon Olam is too hard, it turns out, so it's very doubtful that we'll have time to get to it.