SATB

In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass.

Choral music

Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classical music,[http://www.musiklexikon.info/musiklexikon/satb SATB] musiklexikon.info[https://www.carus-verlag.com/en/choral-music/choral-collections/choral-collections-choir-satb/ Choral collections – Choir SATB] Carus-Verlag 2022[https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1046950285 Voces8 SATB / A Cappella Songbook] thalia.de 2022{{cite thesis | last=Dai | first=Jiajie | title=Modelling Intonation and Interaction in Vocal Ensembles | website=QMRO Home | date=12 April 2019 | url=https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/56861 | access-date=25 March 2022| type=Thesis }} including chorales and most Bach cantatas.Shrock, Dennis: [https://books.google.com/books?id=-SVnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA298 Choral Repertoire] Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 298, {{ISBN|978-0-19-532778-6}}

The letters of the abbreviation are also used by publishers to describe different scorings for soloists and choirs other than four-part harmony. For example, the listing "STB solos, SATB choir" of Bach's Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, indicates that a performance needs three soloists: soprano, tenor and bass, and a four-part choir. "SATB/SATB" is used when a double choir is required, as in Penderecki's Polish Requiem.[https://en.schott-music.com/shop/polnisches-requiem-no38258.html Polish Requiem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511131432/https://en.schott-music.com/shop/polnisches-requiem-no38258.html |date=2022-05-11 }} Schott Music 2022 or SSATB, with divided sopranos, is a typical scoring in English church music.{{rp|322}}[https://www.alfred.com/te-deum-in-d/p/00-K06382/ Te Deum in D / By Henry Purcell] alfred.com A listing for Bach's Mass in B minor includes the maximum of SSATB soloists and SSAATTBB eight-part choir and also indicates that it contains choral movements for SATB, SSATB, SSATBB and SATB/SATB, as well as arias for individual soloists, and duets for SS, ST and SA.{{rp|299}}

Other letters of abbreviation, however with less consistency, have been used by publishers, such as "Tr" for treble (boy soprano), "Mz" for mezzo-soprano,{{cite web |url=https://www.tfront.com/p-146873-requiem-for-s-mz-t-b-soli-satb-chorus-and-orchestra-latin-ed-by-kurt-soldan.aspx |title=Requiem : For S Mz T B Soli, SATB Chorus, and Orchestra [Latin] |last=Verdi |first=Giuseppe |editor-first=Kurt |editor-last=Soldan |website=tfront.com |year=2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507153517/https://www.tfront.com/p-146873-requiem-for-s-mz-t-b-soli-satb-chorus-and-orchestra-latin-ed-by-kurt-soldan.aspx |archive-date=2022-05-07 }} "Ba", "Bar" or "Bari" for baritone, "C" for both canto (the highest part) and contralto, and "Ct" for countertenor.[https://www.universaledition.com/miserere-fuer-soli-sopran-alt-ct-2-tenor-bass-chor-satb-ensemble-und-orgel-paert-arvo-ue30871 Arvo Pärt: Miserere] Universal Edition 2022 "SATB div." indicates that parts are sometimes divided (divisi) during a piece, often sharing the same staff.

Moreover, multiple parts can be assigned; first tenors, second basses, and so on.

Notation

When the soprano and alto are notated in one staff, all stems for the soprano go up, and all for the alto go down. Similarly, when the tenor and bass are notated in one staff, the upper voice is marked by stems up, and both voices are written in bass clef, while the tenor is usually written in treble clef marked an octave down if it has its own staff.[https://music.utk.edu/theorycomp/courses/murphy/documents/PartWritingRules.pdf Dr. Barbara Murphy, University of Tennessee, School of Music]{{cite web | title=Voice Leading | website=Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom | date=4 August 2021 | url=https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/VoiceLeading.html | access-date=26 March 2022 | archive-date=7 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507153517/https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/VoiceLeading.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=LilyPond Learning Manual: A.1.1 SATB template | website=LilyPond – Music notation for everyone | url=https://lilypond.org/doc/v2.21/Documentation/learning/satb-template.html | access-date=26 March 2022}}{{cite web | title=LilyPond Learning Manual: 3.4.2 Four-part SATB vocal score | website=LilyPond – Music notation for everyone | url=https://lilypond.org/doc/v2.23/Documentation/learning/four_002dpart-satb-vocal-score.html | access-date=26 March 2022}}

voice	staff	stem
class="wikitable" \|+ "SATB-style"
soprano (S)	treble clef	up
alto (A)	treble clef	down
tenor (T)	bass clef	up
bass (B)	bass clef	down

The rules of voice leading apply to SATB notations.

Instrumental music

In a broader sense, choirs of instruments can also be described by the abbreviation SATB, often for members of the same family of instruments, such as consorts of recorders,[https://en.schott-music.com/shop/the-schott-recorder-consort-anthology-no42204.html The Schott Recorder Consort Anthology] Schott Music 2022 viola da gamba,[https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/ensembles/viola-da-gamba/satb/500040+900097?se=2828 Viola da Gamba SATB] sheetmusicplus.com 2022 saxophones{{efn|SATB saxophone quartets consist of a soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone.}}[https://saxpress.com/product-category/sax-quartet/ Saxophone Quartet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507153517/https://saxpress.com/product-category/sax-quartet/ |date=2022-05-07 }} saxpress.com 2022{{cite book |last1=Ruedeman |first1=Timothy J.| last2=Lamneck | first2=Esther | title=Lyric-form archetype and the early works for saxophone quartet, 1844—1928: An analytical and historical context for saxophone quartet performance. | isbn=978-1-109-20991-4 | oclc=768132112 | page=}} and trombones.[https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/ensembles/trombone-solo/satb/500040+900177?ge=7 Trombone Solo SATB Music] sheetmusicplus.com 2022 The abbreviations are also a common way to describe which "voices" perform in instrumental compositions such as fugues, including Bach's The Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering, written without indicating specific instruments.

SATB

Choral music

Notation

Instrumental music

Notes

References

Further reading