I'm glad people let my "self indulgent" (as simon would say) posts in this and another thread slide. Not that I said anything wrong but there was a lot of opinion that wasn't necessarily insightful spewed out.
I think the sharing of thoughts is probably a way of "venting" after a frustrating work week but hopefully not out of anger. Hopefully the internet scroll feature keeps it from being tedious for others when I run on.
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It is interesting how even using a term like "alto" with fairly standard agreement on range etc can be tricky.
I'm with Mercfan in that the point a singer begins to struggle is where you stop counting but if they're passable enough they can still sing the part that includes something that isn't truly in her range.
I also think that the typical Alto range is lower than Haley typically sings.
The girl in the video below is what I'd think of as a true alto. In the song below ... beyonce's "If I were a boy" they've started in a key that probably starts at her lowest passable note (passable, as in at the limits maybe just beyond where she's comfortable). I think they sing it in a key that has the song start at the very lowest range for even this true alto, that lets her to have the glory notes of the song within range.
Starting that low, the vast majority of the song is in Joanna Jone's (the girl bellow) sweet spots, and sweet it is in my opinion. And a full three steps lower than Beyonces studio version
(it could also relate to a key where her acapela group could let their best harmony's shine across all parts, bass to soprano.)
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I'm also putting a link below to a great little web page/blog entry that a young singer did describing the voices of about 7 known singers (including beyonce ) using some of the terms merc and others were using.
Really worth a quick look:
http://singers-voice-types-and-ranges.tumblr.com/
