Repertoire for Altos: Bach Cantatas

Here's a YouTube compilation of performances of Bach arias suitable for Alto solos.

Amazing Altos: Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson (Feb. 27, 1897-April 8, 1993) was a pioneer in more than just music; she served as a United Nations Human Rights Committee goodwill ambassador by giving concerts worldwide, and she was active in the civil rights movement. Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership in the Daughters of the Revolution when the DAR refused to let Anderson perform in their Constitution Hall in 1939. Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial instead, for an audience of 75,000.

Her early career in the U.S. was thwarted by segregationist policies that kept her from performing in many venues, and she ended up going to Europe, where she sang to enthusiastic audiences and began collaboration efforts with such noted musicians and composers as Jean Sibelius.

A-List of Top Alto-Voiced Popular Artists

Ladies, we are in great company! Here is Wikipedia's list of non-classical singers who would qualify as altos. This list includes some of my own favorite singers, including both women in Fleetwood Mac; I hope you find a few of your favorite artists here.

The Forest or the Trees?

A music director I worked with years ago once remarked to me that too many musicians fixate on "getting the notes" when they first tackle a piece, assuming that attention to phrasing and expression should come only after the notes have been mastered. This, he insisted, only insures that the piece probably won't come together at all, since the notes may never be perfect.

"Getting the notes" is kind of like seeing the trees, while working on phrasing is akin to seeing the forest. Both are important. I know that when I'm listening to or watching a group perform, the first thing I tend to notice is whether the singing is expressive or wooden and, if it's a live performance, how well the group members engage the audience.

My music director friend tried to get us, his choir, to cultivate an ability to focus on both the trees and the forest simultaneously. It's not an easy skill to develop. Most of us find one focus easier than the other.

 I'm a forest person myself, and so find that I have to work harder at getting the notes themselves nailed. We big-picture generalists often find it difficult to pay sustained attention to minute details. My pianist friend Sandi, on the other hand, is as detail-oriented as they come; she admits that seeing things through a wider lens is a challenge for her, particularly when she's struggling with a particularly difficult piece.

The trees-and-forest approach to learning music is similar to blending left-brained and right-brained thinking styles when strategizing or problem-solving. Relying heavily on one or the other creates an imbalance. Cultivating both approaches is hard work but I'm finding that the results are much better.

(Thanks, Tim, for pointing all this out to me!)

Leaving the Do-Wop Chorus: Knowing When it's Time to Break Out

The reason why choral singers join choirs is that we love singing with others. But for an alto, choral singing can be pretty limiting if it's the only singing you do and if the music is basic. Boredom can set in quickly once you're able to master intermediate-level music quickly. What to do?

Several years ago I found myself in that position and decided to explore new musical genres. I signed up for a jazz vocals class and continued studying under the teacher as a private voice student after the class ended. This teacher held a Sunday afternoon open mic twice a month for her students, with a guitarist for accompaniment. Each participating student had the opportunity to sing a solo song or two. This challenged me in a way I'd never experienced before.

Here are a few things to try when you're ready for further challenges that your current group can't provide:

• Take private lessons if it's in your budget. Many instructors keep tabs on opportunities for vocalists and can notify you of auditions as they come up.
• Explore music outside of "your" genre. I chose jazz because I'd always sung in traditional choral groups that focused on classical choral repertoire. 
• Get friends together for a karaoke party or a trip to an open mic event. 
• Find out if your local paper (or its online version) has a weekly arts insert that includes audition notices. Choose something that looks appealing and try out. Having to prepare for an audition challenges you to work harder at developing certain skills such as sight reading. 
• Round up a few musical friends who may also be ready for new challenges or post an ad on a site that draws singers, and try out new-to-you material for small groups. 

If you try several of these options, one thing will probably lead to another and soon you'll be out of the doldrums.

Here's an Amazon Listmania list of recordings by women with good range and color for altos.

Altos Need Attitude (Sometimes)

 You love to sing. You can belt out a solo tune a la Liza Minelli or Lena Horne & blend with the choir equally well. You passed your sight-reading test with flying colors. You've nailed the entire score - memorized it, even! - long before the required date. Your phrasing is impeccable. You work to engage the audience during each performance.

So why do you sometimes feel like vocal wallpaper?

The straight-up definition of Alto as understood by modern singers might be lower-range women's part, approximately G3 to F5, which includes Mezzo-Soprano and Contralto voices. In my experience, however, the real definition could include any of the following:

•  The drone line in the standard 19th C. harmonization of hymn tunes. D-D-D-E-C-D-F-D. Or some variation thereof.  It's the line that makes you think of the composer or arranger, "Why did he hate us so much?"
• Backdrop for flashy vocal pyrotechnics by Soprano, Tenor or Bass soloists. 
• Choral bridesmaids. It's  like a variation on the old bridesmaid joke - Q:  Why are bridesmaids' dresses often so ugly?  A: To help create the illusion of a beautiful bride. In other words, making everyone else look good.
• The section in which the overworked volunteer church choir director places any woman who can read music, no matter her vocal range or color.

And so forth. In a sense, Alto isn't simply a vocal range or choral part, it's often a way of singing, performing or even being. In all my large-choir experiences, starting in high school, I was part of the group that was most often encouraged to blend in, make the melody line sound good, and not be too noticeable. Maybe it wasn't an accident that in my high school choir the geeky, shy, brainy or loner girls were altos.

But if we Altos stick with singing long enough, somewhere along the line many of us get tired of remaining quietly in the background. When you know that your musicianship and skill levels are on par with your choir's usual Soprano or Tenor soloists but you never get a chance to shine, you may have trouble staying motivated.

I hope to offer a better picture here. This blog will feature profiles of well-known singers, both in the classical and popular worlds, who could be considered Altos. I'll be hunting down music that's friendly to us A-ladies. I'll seek out tips on ways to find or create opportunities for solo or small group work, either within a larger chorus or on your own. And I'll post links to recordings and videos. Along the way, I hope you'll decide that you're an Alto with Attitude and you're ready to take a share of the spotlight.

About me: My dad was a choir director (not his day job) and I've sung in choirs large and small since I was 7 & in Sunday School. I've been an Alto, Sop. II and a "floater." Throughout this musical odyssey I've joined fellow choristers in singing most of the standards, including the B-Minor Mass, Messiah, various requiems, and Carmina Burana. For 7 years I played and sung in an SCA-affiliated early (Medieval & Renaissance) music group. For the last 12 years I've been fortunate to sing with a local madrigal group of 10-16 singers.

Here are several renderings of Alto's Lament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HABEHXu40fw 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnlyWGLq-Yc 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSoR4zpWeyk 

And here's a link to the lyrics.