Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
Date:  Tue Jan 14, 2003  7:24 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Elementary School Vocal Instruction

Randy:

Because this is not the normal range of the child's voice. If one
listens to children as they play and if they are without the knowing
presence of adults, this is the range of both their singing and play
voices. It is also the normal phonational range of the young
children's vocal folds.

All music for children was presented in this range ( middle C to G5)
until about 35 years ago when the popular concept of unisex musical
ranges placed women's voices low and men's voices high as is common
in a lot of rock music. If you check the song books for classroom
singing from Ginn and Company, American Singer etc from their first
appearance at the end of the 19th century until about 1960 you will
find all of them present their songs in basically the Middle C to G5
vocal range. However, these same companies changed their song ranges
to about G3 to G4 in books published in the 1960's and after. I
taught music in the schools when these changes took place and can
testify to the drastic changes these ranges made in the quality of
singing that developed in the public schools as a result. Children
no longer sang well in tune and were less able to negotiate the
higher notes because they found it necessary to sing in their play
voices.

When young children sing below middle C they will tend to use their
play voices because the natural singing voice of the child is higher.
Prolonged use of the play voice in singing tends to overstress the
voice because singing requires a constant phonation to maintain the
musical line which is very different use of the play voice from that
which the child experiences while playing.

This is not to say that young children cannot sing in lower ranges
but that, for the classroom, it is a mistake to drive all young
voices into a range that is not natural for their native instrument.
But, evidently, that is what we as a society have decided we want to
have our children do. It appears most people today think that a
group of singing children should produce a tone that is an extension
of their loudest play voices as if this is more natural and more in
keeping with their exuberant personality.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson






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