How do you know if you are an alto or soprano?

Question:My choir director has me in the alto section for class, but soprano for everything else... I'M SOOO CONFUSED!! Am I an alto or soprano?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My choir director has me in the alto section for class, but soprano for everything else... I'M SOOO CONFUSED!! Am I an alto or soprano?

It's not so much your range as it is with your tone quality within the range. I'm not talking about if your voice sounds good or bad--it's more of the actual sound qualities itself. Altos can have quite a range, no doubt. I'm a first ("high") alto in the chorus I sing with. On a good day, my voice can range from about an F below Middle C to a Bb that's two octaves above that..or possibly a bit higher. However, according to my director, my voice sounds best in the Alto 1 range. So this is a good thing if you're able to sing both Alto and Soprano as that means your voice is pretty flexible.

Voice type wise, the best thing to do is find out your true voice type from your teacher. Your teacher can do various types of vocalises with you to have a better understanding of where you honestly sound the best. If you're able to sing both Alto and Soprano, you might be considered a mezzo-soprano. Mezzos have a pretty wide range...they are considered sopranos, but have a range that goes down to Alto level. Again, it's more of the actual tone quality than the range itself. Anyone can sing high or low, it's just how they use their voice to do it.

Either way, have fun! I love singing Alto!

Well my choir teacher once told us that altos have a greater range, so they can go somewhat low and somewhat high whereas sopranos only stick with the high notes. So youre probably an alto that knows how to hit those high notes so...congrats!
=D

It all depends on your vocal range. All vocal sections have certain ranges. You obviously seem to fit more than one section, thats all, no need to worry. Just ask your choir director to check your range.