Dear Lunda and Vocalisters:
You wrote:
>Hello from in here in lurkdom!
>
>There was a reference in an earlier post to the fact that so much school
>music for children is now pitched so low. It's true, of course, but the
>creative teachers do not assume that all songs must remain in those keys,
>thank goodness. I do remember, however, a workshop I attended a number of
>years back...one during which a quality composer of childrens' choir music
>was speaking and working with a local boys choir. He said that when he
>submits a song of his to a publisher, the first thing a publisher says to him
>is, "The song is good, but you'll have to lower the key! No one will buy
>it!" . But it is a catch-22. If there are no songs out there in higher
>keys, obviously no one will buy them.
>
>There is a perception that writing for youngsters should be in speech
>register...but just think what speech register IS for young children! It is
>so high...I teach in a school which accomodates students from grades 1
>through 12, and the singing and speaking and shouting I hear every day goes
>into the stratosphere. Now -- that doesn't mean that all these students
>sing well in that area, however. It depends so much upon the vocal examples
>they hear. I have observed a colleague who directs a childrens' choir, and
>he has trouble getting these voices to sing up high with a clear and
>un-pushed quality...but when I listen to his singing for them in his
>octave...and/or his uncomfortable falsetto (not like the easy smooth sound
>many men create)...I see that they do not have a good example to follow.
>Perhaps if they could imitate during singing the sounds they themselves
>create during play, that lovely tone would be utilized better and more often!
COMMENT You describe the very problem that I have mentioned in a few
posts the week. Your description is an accurate portrayal of the
misunderstanding that is now prevalent about children's voices.
Children's singing voices are high, not low regardless of what the
public or publisher or school says. When children sing in the lower
portion of their voices the are putting excessive stress on their
voices and will, eventually, loose their high voices.
We always encouraged children to sing with their singing voices, not
their play voices. A simple demonstration and they understood
immediately. Occasionally a boy who was told his singing voice
should be "Male" low had to be reminded but that was usually all it
took.
By the way, the male and female voices prior to puberty are
indistinguishable from each other. The male lower voice only occurs
at puberty changes. However, many boys are conditioned to believe
that their voices should be lower and need to be instructed to
understand that this is not necessary nor healthy.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson
Flagstaff, Arizona
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