According to their composition, choirs are divided into several main types:
Homogeneous choir. It consists of either only men or only women. The men’s choirs consist of two tenor and two bass parts, and the women’s choir consists of two sopranos and two altos.
Strictly speaking, the children’s choir is also homogeneous, but due to the specifics of its sound and the work with the performers, it stands out as a separate group. This includes the boys’ choir (only boys and teenagers singing in falsetto). It is divided into two treble and two alto parts.
Mixed choir. The performers are male and female, with the names of the principal parts duplicating those of the uniform choruses. Until the beginning of the 19th century, especially in sacred music, the mixed choir consisted of men and boys. Nowadays, the most common choir is the mixed choir /with male and female voices/. It usually consists of: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices, often abbreviated as SATB. Often one or more voices are divided into two, for example SSAATTBB, where each voice is divided into two parts, and SATBSATB, where the chorus is divided into two semi-independent four-part voices. Sometimes a baritone voice is also used (eg SATBarB), often sung by the upper basses. In smaller choirs with fewer men, SAB or Soprano, Alto and Baritone arrangements allow the few men to share the tenor and bass roles in one part.
Some choirs specialize in performing different musical genres or types of music. Depending on this, they can be operatic, folk, church, military, etc. According to the status of the performers, choirs can be defined as professional and amateur, as well as departmental, student, school, etc. However, such a division is too conditional and does not affect the way of working and the musical qualities of a given choir.
Choirs are also categorized depending on the institutions to which the choristers work: npar. “Choir of Medics”.