Alto Vocal Range: F3 – F5, Notes & Chart

The typical alto (contralto) range is F3 to F5 — 2 octaves. The alto is the lowest female voice. “Alto” is the name of the choir part; the solo voice type is the contralto.

The alto range in notes and hertz

Lowest note	F3 · 174.6 Hz
Highest note	F5 · 698.5 Hz
Span	24 semitones · 2 octaves
Middle C (C4) is	7 semitones above the bottom, 17 below the top

Notes are in scientific pitch notation, where C4 is middle C, and the frequencies are at A4 = 440 Hz. Press the keys above to hear any of them, then check your own pitch against the voice tuner.

Where the alto sits

Below it is the tenor (C3 – C5), starting 5 semitones lower; the two share 19 of their 24 semitones. Above it is the mezzo-soprano (A3 – A5), 4 semitones higher, with 20 semitones in common. That overlap is the reason a range on its own cannot say which of two neighbouring types a voice is.

Music written for the alto

A true contralto is the rarest of the six voices, and composers have used its dark colour for fortune-tellers, earth goddesses and nurses: Erda in Wagner’s Ring, Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

The word itself points the other way. “Alto” is Italian for “high”: in Renaissance music the altus was a high male part, sung above the tenor. The name stayed with the line when women began to sing it, which is how the lowest female voice came to be called “high”.

The alto in a choir

In four-part writing the alto is the lower of the two female lines, an inner part between soprano and tenor. Choral alto sections are mostly mezzo-sopranos — a choir’s alto line rarely needs the bottom of a real contralto’s range, and there are not enough contraltos to fill it.

Is this your range? The vocal range test listens for your lowest and highest notes and shows how they compare with the typical alto range.

Take the vocal range test

Songs in a typical alto range

A voice can sing a tune in any key, so the useful question is which key. These are the keys that put each tune in the middle of the typical alto range, with room to spare above and below — worked out from the melodies in our public-domain song library. Other keys fit too; this is the one with the most headroom at both ends.

Song	Key	Notes
Amazing Grace	E major (4 semitones higher than written)	B3 – B4
Auld Lang Syne	E♭ major (3 semitones higher than written)	A♯3 – C5
Happy Birthday	E major (4 semitones higher than written)	B3 – B4
Ode to Joy	D♭ major (1 semitone higher than written)	C♯4 – G♯4
Silent Night	A♭ major (4 semitones lower than written)	G♯3 – C♯5
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star	C major (as written)	C4 – A4
Joy to the World	B major (1 semitone lower than written)	B3 – B4
O Holy Night	A major (3 semitones lower than written)	A3 – C♯5

Frequently asked questions

What is the alto vocal range?

The typical alto range runs from F3 to F5 — 2 octaves, or 174.6 Hz to 698.5 Hz at standard concert pitch. It is a description of where most alto voices lie rather than a requirement: individual singers reach notes above and below it.

What is the difference between alto and contralto?

Alto is a part: the second-highest line in four-part choral music. Contralto is a voice type: the lowest female voice, with real weight below middle C. Most people who sing alto in a choir are mezzo-sopranos singing the alto part, not contraltos.

Can a man be an alto?

Yes. A countertenor sings the alto range in falsetto, and the alto line in English cathedral choirs has been sung by men for centuries. A man’s range reaching these notes in full voice usually makes him a tenor; reaching them in falsetto makes him a countertenor.

How do I know if I am an alto?

Start by measuring your range: if it sits around F3 – F5, alto is a reasonable first guess. But range alone does not decide it — the neighbouring types share most of the same notes. What settles it is where your voice is strongest and most comfortable (its tessitura), its timbre, and where it changes register, and those are judged by a teacher listening, not by a test.