A choir piece's voicing is the list of parts it's written for, printed on the music as letters: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass (or, in SAB, baritone). SATB, the four parts of most choir music, is the best known. The others tell you how a piece splits or leaves out those parts, and so which choirs can sing it.
Reading the letters
- One letter, one part. SATB has four parts: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. If you're new to them, start with what SATB means.
- A letter twice means that section splits in two. SSA has two soprano parts and one alto part.
- Split parts are numbered from the top. Soprano 1 sings above Soprano 2, and Tenor 1 above Tenor 2.
Upper voices: SA, SSA and SSAA
- SA is two parts, soprano and alto. It's common for children's choirs, and a gentle first step into harmony.
- SSA is three parts: first soprano, second soprano and alto.
- SSAA is four: two soprano parts and two alto parts.
Music like this is often called treble or upper-voice music. Women's, girls' and children's choirs sing it most, but anyone whose voice sits in those ranges can.
Lower voices: TTB, TBB and TTBB
- TTBB is four parts: first tenor, second tenor, baritone and bass (sometimes called first and second bass).
- TTB is the usual three-part version, with the tenors split. TBB, with the lower voices split, is rarer.
Men's choirs sing these most. Barbershop also has four parts, but they're named tenor, lead, baritone and bass, with the tune in the lead, the second part from the top. The barbershop course explains how they fit.
Mixed voices with few men: SAB
SAB is soprano, alto and baritone: three parts, with one lower part for all the men, written where most men's voices can reach it, between tenor and bass. It suits choirs with only a few tenors and basses. Three-part mixed is a close relative, and some publishers use the two names for the same music. Where they differ, three-part mixed puts the men's part higher, for school choirs whose boys' voices are just starting to change.
More parts: SSATB, divisi and double choir
- SSATB is five parts, with the sopranos split. Other five- and six-part voicings split different sections, as in SATBB.
- Divisi means a section splits only for a passage, marked "div." in the music, and sings one part again where it says "unis.".
- SATB/SATB, or double choir, is two four-part choirs singing together, eight parts in all.
Which voicing fits your choir?
Count your singers by where their voices sit, not by who they are.
- Cover every part. Each part needs at least two or three singers who can hold it, so one missing singer doesn't leave a hole.
- Check the lowest part. If your lowest voices can't reach a bass part's bottom notes, an SAB piece may sound better than an SATB one.
- Fewer parts, more voices on each. A small choir often sounds fuller in three parts than spread thin across four.
Not sure where a voice sits? The free vocal range test finds a singer's lowest and highest notes and the part that fits them.
Practise a part with Stackapella
Most songs in Stackapella's library are SATB, for 2 to 4 singers, and each part has its own page: hear it on its own or with the others, then sing it and watch each note light up. Learn your part, then record it and sing another over your own voice, to hear how the parts fit. Every one of the hymns is SATB, with the tune in the soprano.