Alto
['æltəʊ] or ['ælto]
Definition
(noun.) the pitch range of the lowest female voice.
(noun.) (of a musical instrument) the second highest instrument in a family of musical instruments.
(noun.) a singer whose voice lies in the alto clef.
(adj.) (of a musical instrument) second highest member of a group; 'alto clarinet or recorder' .
(adj.) of or being the lowest female voice .
Checked by Kenneth--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Formerly the part sung by the highest male, or counter-tenor, voices; now the part sung by the lowest female, or contralto, voices, between in tenor and soprano. In instrumental music it now signifies the tenor.
(n.) An alto singer.
Checker: Marge
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. (Mus.) Counter, counter-tenor.
Typed by Cyril
Definition
n. (mus.) properly the same as counter-tenor the male voice of the highest pitch (now principally falsetto) and not the lowest female voice which is properly contralto though in printed music the second part in a quartet is always called alto.
Typed by Gordon
Examples
- This kept him out of the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Alto piano, Gino said, but no piano. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- The difference between a soprano and an alto voice is merely one of length and tension of the vocal cords. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- This timber was struck six or eight miles out from the besieged garrison, at a point known as Palo Alto--Tall trees or woods. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- One here and the other over the Alto del Leon near the Escorial. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Edited by Daniel