Learn about the countertenor voice – Rochdale Borough Council (2024)

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Learn about the countertenor voice – Rochdale Borough Council? ›

The countertenor is the rarest of all voice types. The countertenor was not originally an operatic voice type as historically it was the castrati who would sing the female operatic roles in an age when it was not proper for women to sing in the opera.

All male voice types can learn to sing with a nice countertenor quality in their falsetto range, which extends up past their normal bass, baritone or tenor ranges by one or one and a half octaves.

A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G₃ to D₅ or E₅, although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano's range of around C₄ to ...

A contralto's vocal range is almost identical to that of a countertenor, while a woman who sings lower still might be called contralto profundo, equivalent to a male tenor, or even contralto basso, equivalent to a baritone, but all these distinctions are full of variation.

The countertenor is the rarest of all voice types. The countertenor was not originally an operatic voice type as historically it was the castrati who would sing the female operatic roles in an age when it was not proper for women to sing in the opera.

A selection of singers share their skills from the lowest voice type to the highest, demonstrating the power of the bass, baritone, tenor, mezzo-soprano, countertenor, and soprano voices.

Countertenors are divided into sopranist, haute-contre, and castrato. Some examples of well-known countertenors include Adam Levine, Nick Pitera, Chris Kirkpatrick (NSYNC), Howie D (Backstreet Boys), Barry Gibb (Bee Gees), Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), and Mitch Grassi (Pentatonix).

His “beautiful counter-tenor,” as Neil Strauss described Art's voice in The New York Times, is clear and resonant, surely one of the finest instruments in all of popular music, and a time-honoured friend to a world of listeners.

In classical music, a "pure" contralto is considered the rarest type of female voice.

countertenor, in music, adult male alto voice, either natural or falsetto. In England the word generally refers to a falsetto alto rather than a high tenor. Some writers reserve the term countertenor for a naturally produced voice, terming the falsetto voice a male alto.

What is another word for countertenor? ›

Definitions of countertenor. the highest adult male singing voice. synonyms: alto.

Compare your lowest and highest note

The top and bottom note are not the only things to determine voice type: factors such as tessitura (the most comfortable part of the range to sing) and timbre (texture and quality of the voice) also inform voices types.

Castrati are boys who've been castrated (had their balls cut off) in order to preserve their childhood treble voices. Countertenor is a rare adult male voice type which is similar to the female contralto (it's also called male alto).

Within the countertenor voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories: the sopranist or “male soprano,” the haute-contre, and the castrato.

James Thomas Bowman CBE (6 November 1941 – 27 March 2023) was an English countertenor. His career spanned opera, oratorio, contemporary music and solo recitals.

He is simply a non-lazy tenor, who explores his range. Most tenors who actually use their range are labelled countertenors (eg. Bruno Mars, Mitch Grassi), just like Michael.