9/3/2013
Vibrato
 Yarbrough, Bowers and Benson (1992) found that
vibrato does affect pitch matching, especially of
uncertain singers (children who cannot match pitch
and sing in tune). There were more correct responses
to the non-vibrato model than to either the vibrato or
the child model. Further analyses demonstrated that
certain singers produced a higher percentage of
correct responses regardless of their sex, grade level,
or model presented. In contrast, uncertain singers
responded most accurately to a non-vibrato model.
Toward accurate singing, p. 138-139
Children with both individual and
group instruction became the more
accurate singers. Thus, it can be
concluded that some children benefit
from opportunities to sing alone
before they are expected to sing in
unison with others.
What you can do, p. 131-135(notes
from Dr. Lineburgh)
 Make sure you sing in a light, high head voice
using notes that are above D (above middle C).
 Provide individual singing opportunities in every
lesson: Echo, call & response.
 Using reading books, body movements, story to
explore different kinds of voices – Vocal
exploration.
 Make siren sounds going up and down with your
children to help them explore their voices. Siren
up to a given pitch. Then start a song on that
pitch.
Group and individual singing:
 The researchers noted that a five-year-old child,
who could sing perfectly in tune alone, became a
monotone in a group.
 Kindergartners and first graders sang more
accurately alone than in unison.
 Rutkowski (1990) carried the idea further by
providing kindergarten children either a
combination of group and individual instruction
or group instruction alone, finding that the
children with both individual and group
instruction became the more accurate singers.
Helping children to sing
 Why some children do not sing?
– The children may not have discovered their singing or
“head” voice. Sometimes young children have trouble
distinguishing between their speaking and singing
voices.
– The child may have allergies that affect the singing
voice. Hearing or speech problems can also contribute
to a child’s inability to sing tunefully.
– The child may be able to sing perfectly if he/she start
the song, but he is unable to match pitch. These
children may appear to be non-singers when they sing
with a group, but sing well on their own.
cont.
 Talk about the different types of voices
(whispering, talking, singing voices), so the child
know there is a difference, especially between the
speaking and singing voices.
 Help your children differentiate high and low
sounds in many situations.
 Sing, sing, sing!
 Always praise all attempts to sing. Never make a
child feel concerned about his/her singing voice.
 Be patient! A little bit of work goes a long way.