Contralto is one of the brightest female voices. His velvety low sound is often compared to a cello. This voice is quite rare in nature, so it is very much appreciated for its beautiful timbre and for the fact that it has the lowest notes for women.
How and when the contralto is formed
This voice has its own characteristics of formation. Most often it can be defined after 14 or 18 years. The female voice of the contralto is predominantly formed from 2 children: low alto, which already from an early age has a pronounced pectoral register or soprano with an inexpressive timbre.
Usually, at a transitional age, the first voice acquires a beautiful low sound with a velvety breast register, while the second one unexpectedly for all expands the range and begins to sound beautiful after adolescence.
Many girls are surprised at the changes and the fact that the range is getting lower, and the voice is getting beautiful expressive low notes.
Often there is such a situation: a girl with an expressionless 1 soprano is told that she has a weak voice and she should not practice vocals professionally. And then, after the age of 14, they have expressive chest notes and a feminine sound, which is characteristic of the contralto. The upper register gradually becomes colorless and inexpressive, and low notes, on the contrary, acquire a beautiful chest sound.
Unlike the mezzo-soprano, this type of contralto sounds like no juicy girlish voice, but the voice of a very adult woman, much older than her calendar age. If the mezzo-soprano voice sounds velvety, but very juicy and beautiful, then the contralto has a slight hoarseness, which the average female voice does not have.
An example of such a voice is singer Vera Brezhneva. She had a high soprano as a child, which, unlike other children's voices, seemed inexpressive and colorless. If at a transitional age, other girls only soprano gained strength and became richer in their timbre, beauty and chest notes, then in Vera the colors of the voice gradually lost their expressiveness, but the pectoral register expanded.
And in adulthood, she formed a rather expressive female voice contralto, which sounds deep and original. A vivid example of such a voice can be heard in the songs "Help Me" and "Good Day".
Another type of contralto is already formed in childhood. These voices have a coarse sound and often sing in alto parts in the school choir. By transitional age, they become mezzo-soprano and dramatic soprano, and some turn into a deep contralto. In colloquial speech such voices sound rude, become similar to boys.
Girls with such voices are sometimes victims of peer ridicule, and they are often denounced by male names. In the transitional age, this type of contralto becomes juicier and lower, although the male timbre does not disappear. Often in the record is difficult to understand who is singing, boy or girl. If the other altos become a mezzo-soprano or a dramatic soprano, then the contralto opens the pectoral register. Many girls even begin to boast that they can easily copy men's voices.
An example of such a contralto could be Irina Zabiyaka - a girl from the group “Chile”, who always had a deep voice. By the way, for many years she was engaged in academic vocals, which allowed her to reveal her range.
Another example of a rare contralto that forms after 18 years is the voice of Nadezhda Babkina. Since childhood, she sang in altos, and when she entered the conservatory, professors identified her voice as a dramatic mezzo-soprano. But by the end of the training, her low range had expanded and by the age of 24 she had formed a beautiful female voice contralto.
Why is this voice valued more than others?
In the opera, such a voice is rare, since there are not too many contraltoes that meet the academic requirements. For operatic singing, the contralto should not only be low enough, but also sound impressively without a microphone, and such strong voices are not often encountered. Therefore, girls with contralto go to sing on the stage or in jazz.
In choral singing, low voices will always be in demand, as there are always not enough violas with beautiful low timbre.
By the way, in the jazz direction the contralto is most of all, because the specificity of the music itself not only allows them to beautifully reveal their natural timbre, but also to play a voice in different parts of their range. Especially a lot of contralto among African-American or mulatto.
Their special chest timbre itself becomes an adornment of any jazz or soul song. A bright representative of such a voice was Tony Braxton, whose hit "Unbreak my heart" could not sing beautifully to any singer, even with a very low voice.
In the stage, contralto is appreciated for its beautiful velvety timbre and feminine sound. According to psychologists, they subconsciously inspire confidence, but, unfortunately, many young girls confuse them with smoky voices. In fact, it is easy to distinguish such a voice from a low timbre: smoky voices sound dim and inexpressive compared to the low but sonorous nature of the contralto.
Singers with such voices will be heard well in a large hall, even if they sing in a whisper. The voices of girls who smoke become dull and inexpressive, lose their overtone color and are simply inaudible in the hall. Instead of a rich and expressive female timbre, they become completely inexpressive and it’s harder for them to play on nuances, switch from quiet to loud when they need it, etc. And in modern pop, smoked voices are no longer in fashion.
Famous singers with such a voice
The female voice of the contralto is often found in different directions. In the opera, the famous contralto singers were Polina Viardot, Sonia Prina, Natalie Shtutsman and many others.
In popular music of foreign countries, the singer Cher, Shakira, Tony Braxton and Rihanna differed in the bright timbre of the contralto.
Among the Russian singers, Irina Allegrova, Verona, Irina Zabiyaka (soloist of the group “Chile”), Anita Tsoi (especially heard in the song “Sky”), Vera Brezhneva and Angelica Agurbash had a deep and expressive timbre of the contralto.
Author - Aristarkhova Maria
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