(music) The lowest female voice or voice part, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. The terms contralto and alto refer to the same musical pitch range, but among singers, the term contralto is reserved for female singers; the equivalent male form is counter-tenor. Originally the contratenor altus was a high countermelody sung against the tenor or main melody.
Used in a Sentence
contralto
Definition, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for contralto.
Editorial note
Funny you should mention that, because the Living Computer Museum wrote a high-quality emulator (ContrAlto) for the Alto.
Examples12
Definitions1
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(music) The lowest female voice or voice part, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. The terms contralto and alto refer to the same musical pitch range, but among singers, the term contralto is reserved for female singers; the equivalent male form is counter-tenor. Originally the contratenor altus was a high countermelody sung against the tenor or main melody.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of contralto gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for contralto.
noun
(music) The lowest female voice or voice part, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. The terms contralto and alto refer to the same musical pitch range, but among singers, the term contralto is reserved for female singers; the equivalent male form is counter-tenor. Originally the contratenor altus was a high countermelody sung against the tenor or main melody.
See also: low-pitched, alto
Example sentences
Funny you should mention that, because the Living Computer Museum wrote a high-quality emulator (ContrAlto) for the Alto.
If you're looking for an Alto simulator (and who isn't?), you should definitely use ContrAlto rather than Salto.
The contralto gently turned him around so he could SEE the ovation, being unable to hear it.
ContrAlto won't work, since it's the name of the Alto simulator written by the Living Computers Museum.
The only drawback to ContrAlto is it is in C# and only works on Windows.
If you want to play around with a simulated Alto, the ContrAlto simulator from the Living Computer Museum works very well.
Whenever her mouth was not corked with clothes pegs she was singing in a powerful contralto: It was only an 'opeless fancy.
Passage from Nell's first experience with the Primer: The book spoke in a lovely contralto, with an accent like the very finest Vickys.
He recommended I use Windows - ContrAlto worked without problems so I gave up on using Mono.
ContrAlto is much more reliable and provide tools for examining the Alto's internal behavior, while Salto tends to crash after a few minutes.
Within soprano and mezzo soprano there are subtypes, like lyric soprano, coloratura soprano, contralto, etc.
For most purposes, you'd be better off using the ContrAlto emulator.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use contralto in a sentence?
Funny you should mention that, because the Living Computer Museum wrote a high-quality emulator (ContrAlto) for the Alto.
What does contralto mean?
(music) The lowest female voice or voice part, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. The terms contralto and alto refer to the same musical pitch range, but among singers, the term contralto is reserved for female singers; the equivalent male form is counter-tenor. Originally the contratenor altus was a high countermelody sung against the tenor or main melody.
What part of speech is contralto?
contralto is commonly used as noun.