early childhood education
developmentally appropriate. Songs that are written for adult voices need to be examined and adjusted for children’s voices.
• We need to watch our students and listen for any signs of vocal distress. If a child mentions that he/she cannot sing something we should look for the reason. We need to know our singers’ voices and allow for vocal rest if vocal fatigue has been detected.
• We also need to reassess our use of accompaniments for concerts. Some accompaniments are over orchestrated, with too many differ- ent kinds of instruments that force students to overcompensate to be heard. We need to make sure that we achieve appropriate blend be- tween the volume of the accompa- niment and voices of our students.
• We need to teach our students how to take care of their voices:
° Refrain from excessive screaming;
° Always stay hydrated and rested;
° Stay away from drugs and smoking;
° Be aware of medications that affect your voice.
• Music teachers who work with young voices and lack the train- ing background in vocal pedagogy should get voice lessons from a qualified professional. Unless we understand our own voice and how it works, we won’t be able to work effectively with children’s voices and may be hurting students’ voices by inadvertently modeling inappropriate and possibly harm- ful vocal behaviors. (Rutkowski & Trollinger, 2004; Bernstorf et al., 2004).
• Our goal should be to help students develop a healthy singing voice that they can enjoy using for their entire lives.
References:
Howard, F. (1898). The Child-Voice in Singing, New and Revised Edition. New York: Novello, Ewer & Co.
Finn, W. (1944). Child Voice Training in Ten Letters. Chicago, IL: H.T. Fitz Simons.
Fortunato, C. (1981). Children Music Ministry. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook.
Phillips, K. (1985). “Training the Child Voice.” Music Educators Journal. 72 (4) 19-22, 57-58.
Philips, K. (1996, 2013). Teaching Kids to Sing. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning.
Ross, W. (1948). Sing High, Sing Low. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Runfola, M. Rutkowski, J. (2010) Tips; the Child Voice. MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
Rutkowski, J,.& Trollinger, V. (2004). Singing. In The Musical Lives of Young Children by John W. Flohr. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Trollinger, Valerie. “Pediatric Vocal Development and Voice Science: Implications for Teaching Singing.” General Music Today 20/3 (2007): 19- 25.
Williams, J. (2016) Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults. UK: Compton Publishing.
Alena Holmes is associate professor and coor- dinator of music education in the Department of Music at UW-Whitewater. Email:
holmesa@uww.edu
Recognizing Excellence With WMEA Awards
Is Your Music Program:
• Creative? • Imaginative? • Innovative? If the answer is yes, then your program should be nominated for the Melvin F. Pontious Creative Sparks in Music Education Award! YouTube video footage highlighting award-winning creative music programs will be recognized on the WMEA website and highlighted in WSM. Self- nominations are encouraged. Go to
wmeamusic.org/creativesparksaward.
WMEA Service Awards
WMEA sponsors several awards that recognize people who have sustained a commitment to music education and made a positive impact in the school, community or state. Nominate someone you know today! Go to
wmeamusic.org/awards.
Wisconsin School Musician 43
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