using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classical music, including chorales and most Bach cantatas.

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