> Never mind that. I just saw a reader poll question that said, "What's your choral voice part?" I noticed that contralto outpolled soprano nearly two to one. I find that strange because I haven't known very many 'altos. ... They were always glad to get her, because most groups were made up of three dozen sopranos and little else.

As an alto myself, (or tenor, or soprano if that's what they need,) I think the overabundance of sopranos in non-professional choral groups is due to the fact that anyone who joins who doesn't really know what she's doing will sing soprano because it's the melody.

As for men, though- well, in my church choir, we're happy to get any men we can. They all sing bass, because I'm there to sing tenor. As my pastor told us: In the musical world, there are three genders: Male, Female, and Tenor.

~Mina "la la la" moon