Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T00:31:10.263Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Developmental View of Children's Singing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Graham F. Welch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research into children's singing has gradually gained momentum since the beginning of this century. These studies have principally concentrated on the identification of children's ‘comfortable’ singing ranges, and the identification and treatment of children who sing out-of-tune, usually termed ‘uncertain singers’ or ‘poor pitch singers’ (p.p.s.). Several investigators have commented that out-of-tune singing appears in different forms (for reviews, see Phillips 1984; Welch 1979a, b, 1985b). The aim of the present article is to discuss these findings and to suggest that children's singing has an underlying developmental process.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , November 1986 , pp. 295 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atterbury, B. W. (1984) Children's singing voices: a review of selected research. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 80, 51–62.Google Scholar
Davidson, L., Mckernon, P. & Gardner, H. (1979) The acquisition of song: a developmental approach. Documentary Report of Ann Arbor Symposium: Applications of Psychology to the Teaching and Learning of Music. Reston: Music Educators National Conference, 1979, 301–15 (in Atterbury, B. W., 1984).Google Scholar
Davies, A. D. M. & Roberts, E. (1975) Poor pitch singing: a survey of its incidence in school children. Psychology of Music, 3, 24–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fyk, J. (1985) Vocal pitch-matching ability in children as a function of sound duration. Paper to the Tenth ISME Research Seminar, 29 June–5 July 1984, University of Victoria, B. C., Canada., in Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 85, 76–89.Google Scholar
Gaiser, P. E. (1961) A study of the tone-matching techniques as remedial instruction for non-singers. Ph.D. Thesis, Oregon, 1961.Google Scholar
Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Harajda, H. & Fyk, J. (1981) The perceptibility of mistuned melodic intervals by school children. Archives of Acoustics, 6, 371–84.Google Scholar
Jones, M. (1974) A study of the use of a vertically-arranged keyboard instrument with the uncertain singer. Ph.D. Thesis, Florida State, see review by Peterson, M., Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 53, 1977, 96–9.Google Scholar
Jones, M. (1979) Using the vertical-keyboard instrument with the uncertain singer. Journal of Research in Music Education, 27, 173–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyner, D. R. (1969) The monotone problem. Journal of Research in Music Education, 17, 115–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyner, D. R. (1971) Pitch discrimination and tonal memory and their association with singing and the larynx. M.Phil. Thesis, Reading.Google Scholar
Mawhinney, T. H. & Cuddy, L. L. (1984) A factor analytic investigation of tone deafness. Paper to The Music Educators National Conference,Chicago.Google Scholar
Mckernon, P. (1979) The development of first songs in young children. In Wolf, D. ed., New Directions for Child Development, vol. 3. San Francisco: Bass Inc, pp. 43–58; (in Atterbury, B. W., 1984).Google Scholar
Moog, H. (1976) The development of musical experiences in children of pre-school age. Psychology of Music, 4, 38–45 (also in Atterbury, B. W., 1984).Google Scholar
Phillips, K. (1984) Child voice training research. Journal of Research in Singing, 8, 11–26.Google Scholar
Roberts, E. (1972) Poor pitch singing. A survey of its incidence in school children and its response to remedial training. M.A. Diss., Liverpool.Google Scholar
Roberts, E. (1977) Tone-deafness in children: studies of remedial treatment. Ph.D. Thesis, Liverpool.Google Scholar
Shuter-Dyson, R. & Gabriel, C.The Psychology of Musical Ability. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Sterling, P. (1984) The effects of accompanying harmonic context on vocal pitch accuracy of a melody. Unpublished paper, University of Miami.Google Scholar
Welch, G. F. (1979a) Poor pitch singing: a review of the literature. Psychology of Music, 7, 50–8.Google Scholar
Welch, G. F. (1976b) Vocal range and poor pitch singing. Psychology of Music, 7, 13–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, G. F. (1983) Improvability of poor pitch singing: experiments in feedback. Ph.D. Thesis, London.Google Scholar
Welch, G. F. (1985a) Variability of practice and knowledge of results as factors in learning to sing in-tune. Paper to the tenth ISME Research Seminar, June 29–July 5, 1984, University of Victoria, B. C., Canada, in Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 85, 238–247.Google Scholar
Welch, G. F. (1985b) A schema theory of how children learn to sing in-tune. Psychology of Music, 13, 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, W. T. (1971) An investigation into the singing abilities of Graham Welch kindergarten and first grade children in east Texas. ERIC EDO 69431 (in Atterbury, B. W., 1984).Google Scholar