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From:  leskayc@a...
leskayc@a...
Date:  Fri Oct 5, 2001  6:15 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Information on young voices


In a message dated 10/5/01 12:30:30 PM Central Daylight Time,
harrisstudio@h... writes:
harrisstudio@h... writes:


>
> I am looking for information on the female adolescent voice, primarily
> changes between age 12-17. If anyone has any expertise in this area or can
> recommend a web-site or text on the subject, I would appreciate a reply.
> Thanks
>
>

I also have been most interested in this subject, especially since I have 2
adolescent females who sing. I have never been able to find a great lot of
info, but there IS a book titled THE VOICE OF SINGING by Esther Andreas and
Robert M. Fowells that has a chapter on the "growing voice." While much of
the chapter deals with smaller children and of course, the changing male
voice, there are several tidbits that pertain to females.

As a singer mother of 2 singer daughters,ages 14 and 19 who both sing/sang in
a professional children's touring choir (so I have heard LOT of adolescent
females sing!) I can vouch for the fact that girl's voices DO change. They
seem to lose quite a few tones off of the top when puberty hits, then
sometime, say around about 18-24 months after menarche the top begins to come
back. With my girls their voices became/are becoming larger and richer than
their child voices were. We see this all the time in the Chorale-a girl who
was a heady, windy, stratospheric soprano in May comes back in September
complaining loudly about high notes and begging to sing alto. Or crying
because they can't hit the highest notes anymore and not wanting to sing
alto. My biggest complaint with this particular director is that she puts
these girls in the alto section (actually, since it is an SSA choir they sing
2nd but sometimes onthe bottom) and leaves them there forever. They then
lose the top for sure. I have had to fight o keep my daughters singing on
both ends of their ranges, and I have been right both times-they are neither
altos nor mezzos (like one can be called an alto or a mezzo at
14.............or 19 either for that matter!) but have growing, developing
soprano voices. Dr. Tom Cleveland at the Vanderbilt Voice Center says that
98% or all females are sopranos of one sort or the other. SOOOOO, I think
that it would behoove those of us who work with kids to remember that and
encourage everyone to sing all over their voice, not just in the part where
they can sing the loudest and thereby fill out our
section.........................

Didn't mean to get off on a rant,
Leslie




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