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Q: what's a minor second?
A: two altos singing the same note.
okay, okay, not actually true. (but funny! from the same joke series: Q: what do basses use for birth control? A: their personalities. Q: what do tenors get on their IQ tests? A: drool. Q: how does a soprano change a light bulb? A: she holds it in place and waits for the world to revolve around her.)
(corollary: Q: how many sopranos does it take to change a light bulb? A: five; one to do it, and four to say "i could have done it better.")
all of this is by way of noting that, as of today, i am singing alto in my college's christmas carol choir. i have never actually been an alto; i was in the alto section of my high school chorus in seventh grade, that being because i could read music, which was apparently the only criterion. (the boys were divided up even more easily: if your voice had changed, you were a baritone; if not, you were a tenor.) but every time in my life i've been in a chorus where parts were separated according to where the voice was? yeah, i was all the way at the top. every time. in three-part children's choirs? i was on the top line. in high school, i was a soprano in the mixed chorus and a sop1 in the women's and a sop1 in the fancy-schmancy youth chorus downtown. in summer theatre, where the cast age range was about 11 to 16, mainly girls, and we were doing gilbert and sullivan (no, it's true; don't worry about it, it's not the point), and the cast was therefore divided into two parts rather than four?
actually, that was a separate case. with a cast that young and not a lot of time to work on the show, the director normally just cut out the men's lines in the choruses altogether. an understandable decision. but sometimes you need those lines, man. so a friend and i -- both strong singers, and both able to read music -- took it upon ourselves to be the men's chorus. and even then, we put her on bass (an octave up, sure, but down in her chest voice) and me on tenor (not an octave up, but in my chest voice). (practical upshot: i sang the tenor line on "hail, poetry" in the pirates of penzance. ha!)
anyway. we lost a couple of altos to scheduling difficulties, so because the choir was soprano-heavy, i offered to drop down and the director leaped at the suggestion like a happy person. so it's an alto i am, now, and i can read the music and sing the notes, but man, does my voice not belong there. in my head voice, i can't quite support it like it ought to be supported; and if i try to get more volume, my voice breaks and i switch into chest. at least it's low enough that it doesn't sound belt-y.
meeting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sebastienne's chapel choir director tomorrow to go over stuff so i won't be totally at sea on sunday, in the choir where they were pleased at the idea of having a soprano who was confident in the top of her range. much more happiness for singer!fox. am willing to do this alto thing for the team. :-)
okay, okay, not actually true. (but funny! from the same joke series: Q: what do basses use for birth control? A: their personalities. Q: what do tenors get on their IQ tests? A: drool. Q: how does a soprano change a light bulb? A: she holds it in place and waits for the world to revolve around her.)
(corollary: Q: how many sopranos does it take to change a light bulb? A: five; one to do it, and four to say "i could have done it better.")
all of this is by way of noting that, as of today, i am singing alto in my college's christmas carol choir. i have never actually been an alto; i was in the alto section of my high school chorus in seventh grade, that being because i could read music, which was apparently the only criterion. (the boys were divided up even more easily: if your voice had changed, you were a baritone; if not, you were a tenor.) but every time in my life i've been in a chorus where parts were separated according to where the voice was? yeah, i was all the way at the top. every time. in three-part children's choirs? i was on the top line. in high school, i was a soprano in the mixed chorus and a sop1 in the women's and a sop1 in the fancy-schmancy youth chorus downtown. in summer theatre, where the cast age range was about 11 to 16, mainly girls, and we were doing gilbert and sullivan (no, it's true; don't worry about it, it's not the point), and the cast was therefore divided into two parts rather than four?
actually, that was a separate case. with a cast that young and not a lot of time to work on the show, the director normally just cut out the men's lines in the choruses altogether. an understandable decision. but sometimes you need those lines, man. so a friend and i -- both strong singers, and both able to read music -- took it upon ourselves to be the men's chorus. and even then, we put her on bass (an octave up, sure, but down in her chest voice) and me on tenor (not an octave up, but in my chest voice). (practical upshot: i sang the tenor line on "hail, poetry" in the pirates of penzance. ha!)
anyway. we lost a couple of altos to scheduling difficulties, so because the choir was soprano-heavy, i offered to drop down and the director leaped at the suggestion like a happy person. so it's an alto i am, now, and i can read the music and sing the notes, but man, does my voice not belong there. in my head voice, i can't quite support it like it ought to be supported; and if i try to get more volume, my voice breaks and i switch into chest. at least it's low enough that it doesn't sound belt-y.
meeting
sebastienne's chapel choir director tomorrow to go over stuff so i won't be totally at sea on sunday, in the choir where they were pleased at the idea of having a soprano who was confident in the top of her range. much more happiness for singer!fox. am willing to do this alto thing for the team. :-)
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