Category: Matching Pitches

Matching Pitches

11/16/2019

My daughter invited me to come hear her children perform in their ward's Primary Presentation. I am always happy to attend performances of my grandchildren. She especially wanted my opinion on a new song the children had learned. For the most part, the 50+ children sang very well. But I learned what my daughter had observed from an earlier rehearsal. When they sang this new song, it was obvious that most of the pitches were much too low for the majority of the children's light, high voices. Where on the other songs, the pitches of the melody had a consensus of matching, in this new song, suddenly all we heard was a monotone croaking.

Sure, there will be adults and some older children who are more comfortable singing in a low alto range. But it is really unfair to insist that young children try to sing out of their natural singing range. Besides that --- and how many times must I rant from my soap box? --- unless children exercise singing in their light, high voices, THEY WON'T LEARN TO MATCH PITCHES very well!

Do you (as a song leader who is responsible for teaching young children) want to have that reality hang over your head? Just because you get some flack from some of the teachers and other adults complaining that the music in Primary is just too high, should you cave? No! A thousand times NO!!!!!

Little children (4-9) need to utilize their "head voice" apparatus. When the vocalization happens in their head and not in their throat or chest, the vibrations activate recognition between their ears and their brains. They learn to MATCH PITCHES. Most music educators agree that a child's first singing range is about 1 octave between Middle C and Treble C with a possible whole step beyond in either direction.

Unfortunately, too many children miss out on this learning opportunity. They don't get it at home. And rarely do they have singing instruction at school anymore. So, if they enjoy singing, where do they get their examples? All they do is listen and sing along with adult performers on the television or recordings. That can be very confusing. Some men have extremely high or very low voices that are completely out of the child's pitch matching capabilities. And many professional women have low voices or sing in a very expansive range. It is not unusual for a professional female vocalist to sing from low F (5th below Middle C) to high G (5th above Treble C) or higher. That is a span of more than 3 octaves!

Buck the trend! Be the teacher that helps kids learn to MATCH PITCHES!!!

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Singing Nice and Loud

9/10/2019

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I was a substitute accompanist last Sunday for a Church group of young singers ages 4-7. They were learning the second verse of a song that I had not known before. But when I started playing it, I had to catch myself. It was written in the form of a pop power ballad --- the chord progression, rhythms, and how the melody was constructed. I really had to pull back so that I did not go into Rock Band mode. The children hardly sang on the verse, but, boy, did they let loose on the chorus! They knew how to belt out a pop power ballad. It is what they know. That type of music is all over the TV, radio, recordings, and even commercials.
The song leader had probably asked them to sing NICE and LOUD when they were first learning, but they only perfected the LOUD part. The pitches that were between Middle C up to F were pretty close to being matched, but those down around G and A below Middle C were croaked and the notes above were monotone yelled. It wasn't NICE at all. The sad part was that they were singing a sacred song about the miracle of Jesus' Atonement. I doubt that the children actually understood that they were singing words that should be sung with absolute regard and reverence for the majesty of what the Savior did for us. The song leader tried to tell them that they needed to sing NICE. But it might be too late to get them to relearn something that they are having so much fun doing.
In general, children emulate what they hear. If a child grows up in a culture that uses chants and throat clucks for their singing, that is what they think is normal and good. If children grow up listening to only their culture's pop music, that is what they are accustomed to and is how they want to sing. Singing sacred music, reverently, requires a different approach. And singing any music in tune, requires expert teaching strategies. There is a danger in encouraging children to sing along with grown-up voices on professional recordings. The ranges adults sing in are not a fit for most children. The kids end up trying to sing too low or too high which is out of their physical range.
Most children have naturally higher and lighter ranges than adults and those usually fall within one octave and a few notes either direction from Middle C up to Treble C. The problem seems to be that the vast majority of American children are growing up only matching pitches in their speaking ranges and sadly they are not finding their head voices at all which would allow them to sing above F4 (only a fourth up from Middle C!). That's a singing range of about four notes, folks. They are not matching pitches lower than middle C -- just grunting. And they are not matching pitches above F -- just screeching out a monotone. They don't realize what it takes to match pitches because they have not learned to hear by singing in their "head voice" register.
Children can learn to match pitches when encouraged to find their light, high HEAD VOICE. Once they get acquainted with vocalizing above F in a sort of "siren" type sound, they can open the pathways to matching pitches. That song leader needs to get them matching pitches in their head voice range before turning them loose on a song so familiar in style that they lapse into pop power ballad mode. I hope she can reign them back in and help them sing NICE.

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Villain Voices

4/16/2014

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In the story of "The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff," the villain is the Troll. My dilemma: Obviously, the voice talent for the Troll should be masculine in a low register. But when young children attempt to sing along with an adult male voice in a low register, they get confused about pitch. So, when I make the recording, do I follow my "Teacher instinct" and have a treble voice do the recording or do I follow my "Director's instinct" and get a deep bass to sing the Villain's part?

As I was planning the songs I was hired to write for the story of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," I pondered my approach. I decided that I wanted to set the music to match the culture of the tale. Troll stories seem most comfortable in the setting of Norwegian folklore. The most famous composer I know from Norway is Edvard Grieg. I have visited his home in Bergen, Norway, and have toured the mountains and villages and sailed into the incredible fjords of Norway. His music perfectly suits the spectacular scenery and wealth of folklore of Norway.

It was a simple decision to borrow themes from Grieg's music to inspire the little songs I was to write for this story. I decided to borrow the sneaky rhythmic motives from "In the Hall of the Mountain King" to inspire the Troll's song. And I decided to quote a section from the etherial opening theme of "In a Morning Mood" to create the happy freedom song for the Billy Goats. Both of these orchestral pieces are from Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite." I also tried to keep true to the orchestration flavors as much as possible.

But the dilemma still remains. Because these songs are to be sung in a performance setting by young children, do I feature a gruff bass voice to sing the villain's part or not? If this story was intended just for the public's listening pleasure, there would be no dilemma at all. The Villain's Voice would definitely be sung by a bass doubled by the bassoon. But because the target performing group will be a classroom of young children, I had better stick to my "Teacher instinct" and have the Villain voiced by a treble voice Seems silly and against better judgement, but I would rather have the children model a voice in their proper range than cause them confusion of pitch! (Sigh!)

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Singing Warm-ups

11/19/2013

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Singing Warm-ups are just as important as Movement Warm-Ups when it comes to getting the children ready for a rehearsal or show.

A wise leader will have the children go through a routine of breathing exercises and vocalises to help children channel their energies and make the best sounds possible. Too many times, I hear directors call out to the children on stage, "Sing out! Yell! I can't hear you!" Isn't it curious that kids can't be heard on stage, but they can certainly be heard when they are supposed to be quiet backstage?

The challenge is to help the children focus their tone quality to sing beautifully and on pitch. When they all sing poorly and out of tune with each other, they cancel out their musical pitches and it just becomes indistinguishable noise.

The director can help by choosing material that is geared to the particular children's strengths. It is thought that most children sing best in roughly a one octave range, Middle C up to Treble C. There are many children that have wider ranges than that, but as a whole, this is a good, accepted range for most children.

Children learn easily and best when the song is modeled for them with proper singing. They seem to effortlessly mimic how the vocal sound is produced and the inflections used. Many kids have trouble matching pitch when the song is modeled by a deep, low voice in a deep, low register. Better to have the model sing in the Treble clef with a light, child-like quality. It can be amazing how fast children can learn the melodies and the words when given a good model to follow.

The actual Warm-ups to use can be varied, but should consist of scales, and skips, and motives up and down in their range. The best ones have little nonsense rhymes to go with the notes such as "Mommy Made Me Mash My M & M's" singing down the 5-note major scale. The repetitive M sounds help focus the placement of the vowel and encourage singing in tune as well as using good breath support. Besides, a fun, non-sense rhyme is much more interesting to sing than just vowels! I have collected other fun Tongue Twister Vocalises you could try. A few minutes of vocal warm-ups can improve the energy, focus and polish of any show!

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Doing Their Own Singing

8/21/2013

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May I just say how much I dislike going to a live children's theater performance to watch the performances of kids I know and love, only to find I cannot hear them because they are singing to a performance track complete with VOCALS on it!!!!! This happened again recently.

We attended a performance of an adaptation of a very famous book/movie, perfect for a children's theater production. Well...almost. I do not know how the script came about or where it came from, but it was missing some essential elements from the book and had none of the brilliant humor of the movie. It was a bit dry and definitely less than entertaining. Besides, the script had no original musical numbers, so, in their infinite wisdom, the directors randomly inserted one by just playing a song from the movie soundtrack. Out came 30+ little kids to sing and dance along to it. Those children were the brightest spot of the entire show in their adorable costumes doing delightful choreography, BUT YOU COULD NOT HEAR THEIR SINGING! They were overpowered by the voices already on the soundtrack!

This happens quite often in my experience -- from shows produced at dance studios to school productions to church youth talent shows. The leaders think that the children won't be heard or do not sing well enough or they do not have a P.A. system or something, but it never turns out well for them. They may have a point, though, about the children not singing well enough for the standards of their studio. Part of the problem is that they pick material that is not suited to the children's voices. The song is pitched too high or too low or the range is just too wide for the delicate voices to manage.

They might also create choreography that is too demanding for the children to both sing and dance to. They might also block the group away from the mics while they are singing or not have enough body mics to carry the sound of the little voices, or (my favorite pet peeve) they teach dances where the children use loud, heavy steps and overpower their own singing. Those are all very real problems and make the children look ridiculous even if it is not their fault!

My question to these leaders is simply this: How in the world do you think the children will learn to sing better and stronger if they are not allowed the opportunity to sing for themselves???????

Children need material that is suited to their vocal range and their ability to hear and reproduce properly. They should not be trying to imitate adult voices if they have not matured and developed enough vocally to handle it. Most children have a limited vocal range of between Middle C up an octave to Treble C. As they age and mature their vocal range widens. What happens then to kids who try to imitate deeper, mature voices too soon? They compromise their ability to hear and match pitch. No wonder many children grow up to be adults who cannot carry a tune in a bucket!

My counsel is this: Choose material for children that is of a suitable range. Demonstrate appropriate singing technique while teaching them the songs. Never encourage them to yell or to over-sing to make the sound louder. Use restraint in choreography to allow them the opportunity to sing well. And most of all --- Let the children DO THEIR OWN SINGING!

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Matching Pitches

Singing Nice and Loud

Villain Voices

Singing Warm-ups

Doing Their Own Singing

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