Contralto Voice Type

That is why contralto is so often confused with alto. Alto is a choral part; contralto is a voice type. In a choir the alto line is usually sung by mezzo-sopranos, with true contraltos taking the lowest notes. If you have been told you sing alto, you are more likely a mezzo-soprano than a contralto.

Genuine contraltos are rare — a small minority of female singers. The real test is not how low you can growl, but whether F3–G3 is usable: notes you can sustain with support for a phrase, at a volume that carries, without the tone thinning out. If your comfortable low end is really G3 and F3 only appears when you push it, you are almost certainly a mezzo-soprano with a strong low register.

Contralto vocal range: about F3–F5

On a piano, the contralto range runs from the F below middle C to the F two octaves above it. In sheet music, the top note, F5, is the top line of the treble staff, and the bottom note, F3, sits on the third ledger line below it — or on the fourth line of the bass clef. Two octaves is typical for any trained voice type. What sets contralto apart is not how wide the range is but where it sits.

Compared with a mezzo-soprano (A3–A5), a contralto’s range sits about a third lower at both ends. Compared with a soprano (C4–C6), the contralto’s top note is a fifth below the soprano’s high C. The three female voices share most of the octave above middle C, so most songs written in that octave can be sung by all three. The difference shows up at the edges, and above all in how long a singer can stay there.

Exceptional contraltos sing below F3, down to D3 or lower, and some reach above F5. Treat the published range as the core of the voice, not as a limit.

What a contralto sounds like

The contralto sound is usually described as dark, rich and heavy — closer in colour to a cello than a violin. Its strength is the lower-middle register, around middle C and just above, where a contralto sounds full and resonant without effort. Sopranos and mezzos often sound thin there.

Contraltos also tend to use chest voice comfortably through more of their range than higher female voices, and they change into head voice lower down. Their high notes can be strong, but they cost more effort, and a contralto rarely wants to sing for long at the top of her range. That is the practical difference between range and tessitura: a contralto may reach a soprano’s note, but her tessitura — where she can sing all evening — sits much lower.

Three recordings by singers whom standard references describe as contraltos:

Contralto vs alto vs mezzo-soprano

Contralto and mezzo-soprano are voice types; alto is a choir part. The alto line in a choir is the lower female part, and it is sung mostly by mezzo-sopranos, with any true contraltos taking the lowest notes. In pop and musical theatre, “alto” is also used loosely for any lower female voice, which adds to the confusion.

The most common mistake runs in one direction: a mezzo-soprano with good low notes gets called a contralto. Other frequent causes are a naturally low speaking voice, singing pop music mostly in chest voice, and a head voice that has never been trained. A singer whose top notes feel weak simply because she has never learned to use head voice can sound like a contralto, and turn out to be a mezzo or even a soprano after a few months of lessons. Teenage voices are still settling, so a voice type assigned at fourteen is provisional.

How to tell if you are a contralto

None of these settles it on its own, but if most of them fit, contralto is a real possibility:

• You can sustain F3–G3 for a full phrase, with real tone, at a volume that carries.
• Your fullest, easiest notes are around middle C and just above, not in the upper half of the treble staff.
• Notes above about D5 tire you quickly, even when you are warmed up and using head voice.
• In a choir you are drawn to the lowest notes of the alto part.
• Songs written for higher male voices often sit comfortably for you at their original pitch.
• A voice teacher who has heard you over several lessons agrees.

The quickest check is to take the vocal range test and look at where your held notes start, not your lowest momentary note.

Famous contraltos

Classical singers are listed where encyclopedias and their own biographies call them contraltos. Pop and jazz singers are rarely classified formally, so the label is often disputed; the three below are included only because Britannica, The New York Times or NPR describe them as contraltos.

Range is given only where a reliable source states it; “—” means none does. Note-by-note ranges quoted online for famous singers are almost always fan estimates from recordings.

Contralto songs and repertoire

Classical pieces written for contralto, or long associated with contraltos. Where a range is given, it is the written range of the vocal line in the key shown — compare it with the typical contralto range of about F3–F5. Pieces without a range are listed for who they were written for, not for a measured span.

Pop and jazz songs

Songs made famous by the contraltos in the table above. Sheet-music editions of pop songs come in many keys, so no single range applies — check the key of the arrangement against your own range.

• “We’ve Only Just Begun” — The Carpenters (1970). A No. 2 hit the Times called a showcase for Karen Carpenter’s contralto.
• “Rainy Days and Mondays” — The Carpenters (1971). One of the soft-rock singles the Times obituary credits to her contralto.
• “Feeling Good” — Nina Simone (1965). From the album I Put a Spell on You.
• “I Loves You, Porgy” — Nina Simone (1959). Gershwin, from Porgy and Bess — Simone’s first US hit.

Related

• Vocal range test
• All six vocal ranges explained