In four-part realization, there are four parts: Soprano or First Top, and Alto or Second Top (women’s or children’s voices); Tenor and Bass (men’s voices.) In three-part realization, the two upper parts can be written for Soprano & Contralto, Soprano and Tenor, or Alto and Tenor.
EDITORS NOTE: The text originally used the term Contralto, but nowadays the ranges of Contralto and Alto are different. By referencing the table below, it will be seen that it more closely resembles the range of Alto, and thus Alto is used in place of Contralto.
Table of Pitch and Medium Ranges of the Voices
NOTE: the black notes placed at the end of each scale are used very rarely, and its better to refrain from them.
Order of the Parts
Crossing of the parts is when an upper part momentarily falls below a lower part, or vice versa.
Each part must always retain its relative position to the other parts. Crossing the parts is generally defective in simple harmony, and its forbidden until certain compositional tricks are learned, obtaining good effects by crossing.
OBSERVATION: Its better to arrange the final chord of a pieces wherein the fundamental is placed in the extreme parts.
Regarding the Exercises: All exercises proposed must be performed with choral performance in mind. They must not exceed the range of the voices prescribed in the table, but rather must be in the mediums of the voices. When a voice approaches the extreme limits, do not stay there too long.
Old Music Theory 