So, let me take you back to what you should have known already. In English Studies, we say, "Parts of Speech".
A Part of Speech is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic (grammatic) functions.
In relation to this, Voices in Music are simply the types of voice of singers, which are classified based on their vocal range.
Take note: Music in general uses two instruments - "The Sound Instrument" (which includes, the Piano, the Saxophone, the Trumpet, the Flute, etc), and "The Vocal Instrument" (which is the human voice).
What makes music sound great? It's not just about having a nice voice. What brings the melody in it is the various parts, blending and harmonizing together. If you are a musical keyboard player, you would agree with me that when two or three harmonic notes are played, it sounds better than just a single note; and when you make it four, it even sound sweeter! That's the power of different parts harmonizing one another.
So, understand, every single part of music so important, but even more important when sung together with others.
Now, in almost everything I would be talking about in Music, am gonna be relating it with the usual, simple and already learned things in "English Language". This is to enable you have a better understanding. Which is why you shouldn't get bored about it, please.
Like I mentioned (note: this is my own opinion), Voices in Music can be related to Parts of Speech in English Language.
When an English word is acting as a Subject or Object of a given sentence, we say that word is a "Noun". The word could be a name of a person, a place, a thing, or any given name for any given thing you could imagine.
For instance:
* Jesus, is all that the world needs.
*We have two Nouns in the sentence above: Jesus and world.
From the sentence: What does the world need? Jesus.
Who needs Jesus? The world.
So, 'Jesus' is the Subject of the sentence, while 'the world' is the Object.
*Subject: Anything or Anyone spoken about in a sentence is referred to as the Subject.
Also, the performer of an action in a sentence is also referred to as the Subject.
*Object: The receiver of an action is the Object of a sentence.
Let's move on. From the beginning of this chapter, we understood that the category a word is assigned in English, is dependent on its grammatical (syntactic) function.
In the same vein, the vocal range of a voice determines what category it is based.
Below, are the main voice types from the highest to the lowest:
*soprano - this is usually the highest female voice.
*mezzo-soprano - this is the middle-range female voice.
*contralto (alto) - the lowest female voice.
Then,
*countertenor - a male voice that sings in the female contralto range.
*tenor - the next highest male voice.
*baritone - the second to the lowest male voice.
*bass - the lowest and deepest male voice.