STRATEGIES FOR NURTURING THE YOUNG CHILDπS SINGING VOICE

 

 

 

 

                                             TMEC SW Summer Conference

Dallas, TX, June 14, 2003

 

 

 

 

 

                                                         Joanne Rutkowski, Ph.D.

                                               Associate Professor, Music Education

                                                  The Pennsylvania State University

                                                                 School of Music

                                                   University Park, PA 16802-1901

 

                                                             814-863-0419 Phone

                                                              814-865-6785 FAX

                                                                    rvi@psu.edu

 

 

General Strategies for Developing Singing Skills:

 

 

The following techniques have been found to be successful strategies for helping children learn to sing. They should be applied when engaging children in singing activities.

 

1. Suggest that the children use a "light voice". This is especially helpful for those in speaking voice or who are having difficulty getting over the register lift.

 

 

 

2. Suggest that the children use more energy (do not ask the child to sing louder). This is especially helpful to the child who is having problems projecting his voice.

 

 

 

3. Encourage good posture: sit up tall, hands away from face, etc. This is more critical for older children.

 

 

 

4. Have the children use ≥headphones≤ while singing. This is when they cup their hands over their ears. It seems to amplify and isolate each child's voice for him/herself. Often a child shouts or sings in a speaking voice range in order to hear him/herself.

 

 

 

5. Encourage the children to sing independently from the teacher. In other words - NEVER sing with the children! Rather, provide a vocal model for them.

 

 

 

6. Always provide feedback to the children after they sing. First make an honest, positive comment. Then make a suggestion to help the child, provide a model of what the sound should be, and then have him/her try again. NEVER tell a child that s/he canπt sing! Be positive but honest with the children. For example, ≥I could really hear you ≠ thanks! Now letπs see if you can use a lighter voice like this . . .≤

 

 

 

7. Sing songs with a neutral syllable (bum) as well as text. Many children find it easier to sing with a neutral syllable.

 

Activities:

 

It is very important that children have opportunities to sing alone and in small groups in addition to the more typical large group singing activities. However, it is also important that children are comfortable with a song or activity before asked to sing alone. Generally, start with large group singing, then smaller groups, then individuals.

 

 

1. Use songs that encourage individual singing such as "Who's That?", "Knock at the Door", ≥Music Time≤. As with most activities, be sure that the children are very familiar with the song before you ask them to sing alone. It is best to have each child sing his/her name within the large group prior to individual singing. Children will sing alone, and enjoy it, when they are not put in an awkward position or asked to perform something with which they are not really familiar and comfortable. When you do hear children individually, tell them something that they did well, and then give them a suggestion for improvement as well as an example. In many cases, you can have the child perform one more time trying out your suggestion. However, do not dwell on a problem: This tends to only discourage and often embarrasses the child.

 

 

 

2. "Simon Sings". This is similar to the typical Simon Says game, except the children may only do what the teacher sings, not what the teacher says. The words "Simon says" are not used. This technique helps very young children to aurally discriminate between the speaking and singing voice. Teacher should sing tonic major and minor patterns in the key of D initially, then dominant and subdominant may be used as well.

 

 

 

3. "Penny, Key, Button". Use three objects that the children can recognize and can fit comfortably in their close-fisted hands. Have the children close their eyes and put their open hands out in front of themselves. Sing "Who has the ___ ?". (Use descending major and minor tonic patterns in D as these are the easiest for helping the children "pop" into singing voice.) The children echo what you sang. Repeat for each object. During this singing, place each object in a child's hand. Then sing "Don't let us see", have the class echo, all close their hands tight, and open their eyes. Instruct the students to stand and sing "I have the ___ " if you sing what they have in their hands. (You may want to practice this as a group first with preschool and kindergarten children.) Sing "Who has the ___?" and have the children respond as described. Again, you may use this opportunity to give helpful suggestions to the children regarding their singing. When all objects have been located, sing "Bring them to me.", have the children echo and those with objects bring them up to you. This game may be repeated several times, but not more than 5.

4. "Postman". This game is very similar to ≥Penny, Key, Button≤ except you pass out envelopes to the children. You may have "anything" in the envelopes, but have several of one thing, two of another, and one of others. As with ≥Penny, Key, Button≤, sing "Who has the ___?". Any children who have that object in their envelope sings back ≥I have ____.≤ It is best to keep a list of the envelope contents handy. Further, begin with an object of which there are many. That way the children will not be reluctant to stand and sing what they have.

 

 

 

5. Group variation of ≥Postman≤. I have also done a version of ≥Postman≤ where the children sit in a group. They all close their eyes or bend over on the floor. I put a card with a picture on it in front of each group. As I am doing this, the children echo me singing, ≥Who has a ___.≤ Then the children look at the card for the group. The game is played just like ≥Postman≤. I find this is a great activity to also encourage sharing among the children. The concept of a ≥group card≤ does not come immediately!

 

 

 

6. Small group singing is also a good technique for helping the children to hear their own voices as well as providing the teacher a chance to offer suggestions for singing improvement. With a familiar song, have one part of the class sing the whole song and the other part of the class sing only the first half. This allows you to hear one part of the class sing the second half of the song "alone". Eventually narrow the groups down to just a few students. Again, do not proceed with this whole procedure on one day. When the students seem comfortable, diminish the group slightly. Small groups can be the animal sound of a song or the dialog part of a song.

 

 

 

7. Echo singing with the teacher as a model is very important for helping children gain use of their singing voices. Use short phrases from songs or major and minor tonic patterns: in D. Also have the children echo you singing on the neutral syllable ≥bum≤.

 

 

 

 

8. Voice Exploration: It is important for the children to have opportunities to explore their voices. Animal sounds work well for this. I often us a picture book to prompt their sounds.