Category: concept
GlossarySATB
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, the standard four-voice arrangement of a mixed choir, written as four parallel lines of music where each voice has its own range.
SATB is shorthand for the four-part choral texture used in Western (and African church) hymnody, chorales, anthems, and motets. Soprano is the highest female voice (roughly C4–A5), alto the lower female (G3–E5), tenor the higher male (C3–A4), and bass the lowest male (E2–E4). The voices move together rhythmically in homophonic textures, or weave independently in contrapuntal ones. SATB is the default arrangement target for hymn-tune harmonisation, Bach's chorales, the Methodist hymnbook tradition, and the Sunday-morning anthem in most African church choirs all live in this format.
In context
| Example | What it means |
|---|---|
S: d r m f | A: d t, d r | T: s, l, s, f, | B: d, s, l, d | Four parts of a hymn-tune phrase notated in tonic solfa, one voice per line |
S range: C4–A5 | Soprano's comfortable range, used as the melody line in most hymns |
B range: E2–E4 | Bass's range, anchors the harmony with the chord root |
Sources
Reference: en.wikipedia.org , consulted for the definition above; DomiSol's wording is original.
See also
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Tonic solfa →
A movable-do music notation that uses the syllables d r m f s l t (do re mi fa sol la ti) for the seven scale degrees, 'do' = the tonic of the current key.
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Movable do →
A solfege convention where 'do' (or '1' in jianpu) is always the tonic of the current key, the same syllables describe the same scale degree in every key.