Download - A Longitudinal Study of Elementary Children's Acquisition of Their Singing Voices

http://upd.sagepub.com/Education

Update: Applications of Research in Music

http://upd.sagepub.com/content/22/1/1The online version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/87551233020220010401

2002 22: 1Update: Applications of Research in Music EducationJoanne Rutkowski and Martha Snell Miller

A Longitudinal Study of Elementary Children's Acquisition of Their Singing Voices

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

National Association for Music Education

can be found at:Update: Applications of Research in Music EducationAdditional services and information for

http://upd.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsEmail Alerts:

http://upd.sagepub.com/subscriptionsSubscriptions:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:

http://upd.sagepub.com/content/22/1/1.refs.htmlCitations:

What is This?

- May 1, 2002Version of Record >>

at CARLETON UNIV on November 30, 2014upd.sagepub.comDownloaded from at CARLETON UNIV on November 30, 2014upd.sagepub.comDownloaded from

http://upd.sagepub.com/

http://upd.sagepub.com/content/22/1/1

http://www.sagepublications.com

http://www.nafme.org

http://upd.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts

http://upd.sagepub.com/subscriptions

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

http://upd.sagepub.com/content/22/1/1.refs.html

http://upd.sagepub.com/content/22/1/1.full.pdf

http://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtml



UPDATE, Fall-Winter 2003, 5

A Longitudinal Study of Elementary Children�s Acquisition of Their Singing VoicesJoanne Rutkowski and Martha Snell Miller

Joanne Rutkowski is professor of music education in the School of Music at PennsylvaniaState University, and Martha Snell Miller is a music teacher at Foot of Ten Elementary Schoolin Duncansville, PA.

Singing has been a basic activity of general music since music was first included in theUnited States public school curricula in 1838. Consequently, teaching all children to sing hasbeen a goal of general music instruction. In fact, the first of nine content standards included inthe National Standards for Music Education is �Singing, alone and with others, a variedrepertoire of music� (Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, 1994, p. 26).However, since some children do not seem to sing �naturally,� teachers are continually searchingfor means of helping all children learn to sing. Researchers have also had an interest in thisperplexing problem, and numerous studies have been conducted to determine effective strategiesfor helping children learn to sing. These include a �speech to song� method (Gould, 1968;Roberts & Davies, 1975, 1976; Romaine, 1961; Solomon, 1994), breath control techniques(Phillips, 1985, 1992), varying types of accompaniment (Atterbury & Silcox, 1993; Hale[Runfola], 1977; May, 1993; Sterling, 1985; Whitman, 1971), use of a tape recorder (Klemish,1974), use of a vertical keyboard (Jones, 1979), use of kazoos (Runfola, 1981), various vocalmodels (Price, Yarbrough, Jones, & Moore, 1994; Small & McCachern, 1983), individual versusunison singing (Cooper, 1995; Goetze, 1985; Goetze & Horii, 1989; Smale, 1987), andindividual, small group, or large group instruction (Gaiser, 1961; Jersild & Bienstock, 1931,1934; Richner, 1976; Rutkowski, 1996; Rutkowski & Miller, 2003; Smith, 1963). However,�one of the most persistent problems in music education at the elementary level is the inaccuratesinger� (Klemish, 1974, p. 36). Even in studies where a strategy has been shown to significantlyaffect children�s singing ability (Rutkowski, 1996; Rutkowski & Miller, 2003, for example),some of the children still are not able to use a singing voice. In addition, although some researchhas shown that singing ability improves with age (Bentley, 1968; Boardman, 1964; Davies &Roberts, 1975; Geringer, 1983; Goetze, 1985; Goetze & Horii, 1989; Petzold, 1963), more recentdata indicate that this may not be the case. Levinowitz et al. (1998) �failed to find a statisticallysignificant difference in the use of children�s singing voices in Grades 1 through 6� (p. 41), and75�90% of their sample were �non-singers.� Furthermore, it is not unusual to find adults who donot have use of their singing voices (Lidman-Magnusson, 1998), although the incidence of poorsingers in the adult population has not been widely documented. Although singing has been included in general music instruction and numerous strategies forhelping children learn to sing have been identified, some children leave formal music instructionunable to sing. Perhaps it is just unrealistic to assume that all children can be taught to singwithin the structure of general music classes that often meet only once a week for 30 or 40minutes. Based on results of their 1995 study, Rutkowski and Miller recommended that a groupof children be studied over a period of time to investigate their singing-voice acquisition in ageneral music setting. Therefore, the purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the

at CARLETON UNIV on November 30, 2014upd.sagepub.comDownloaded from



feasibility of helping all children learn to use their singing voices within the traditional generalmusic class setting. Specific questions were: 1. Will children exhibit significant gains in use of singing voice, as measured by the SingingVoice Development Measure (Rutkowski, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1998a), between:� The beginning of first grade and the end of first grade?� The end of first grade and the beginning of third grade? � The beginning of third grade and the end of third grade? � The end of third grade and the beginning of fifth grade?� The beginning of fifth grade and the end of fifth grade? 2. How many children will have use of their singing voices:� At the beginning and end of first grade? � At the beginning and end of third grade?� At the beginning and end of fifth grade?

Procedures Twenty-eight children from one elementary school in central Pennsylvania participated in thisstudy during their first- and third-grade years. Three children in this sample moved to a differentschool between third and fifth grades, so the fifth-grade sample consisted of 25 children. Allchildren received music instruction from the same general music teacher once a week for 40minutes since first grade. All general music classes consisted of large-group, small-group, andindividual singing activities, rhythmic/movement activities, and listening activities. As inprevious studies (Rutkowski, 1996; Rutkowski & Miller, 2003, in press), small-group singingwas introduced prior to individual singing. Test administration. At the beginning and end of first grade, third grade, and fifth grade, theSinging Voice Development Measure (SVDM), an instrument designed to measure children�s useof singing voice (Rutkowski, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1998a), was administered by the music teacherto all subjects. In preparation for administration of SVDM, the children practiced the patterns inthe large-group setting following the exact procedure that was used for individual testing (Figure1). For individual testing, each child reported to a familiar, private room where his or her voicewas tape recorded as he or she echoed the teacher singing the SVDM patterns. Half of thechildren echoed all of the patterns first on text and then all of the patterns on the neutral syllable�bum�; the other half of the children echoed the patterns on the neutral syllable first. This sameprocedure was followed for all administrations of SVDM. Previous research results have beencontradictory regarding the use of a neutral syllable or text for evaluating children�s singing(Goetze, 1985; Levinowitz, 1987; Rutkowski, 1993; Smale, 1987), so use of both has beenrecommended for SVDM (Rutkowski, 1993, 1998a). Scoring SVDM. Two raters, who had previously used SVDM to rate children�s singingvoices, were employed to score SVDM for this study. Tape recordings were prepared for eachrater. Performances were presented in random order on the tapes, so raters were unaware of thetest to which they were listening. All performances were rated during the summer immediatelyfollowing the school year in which they were recorded. The raters were unaware of the ages ofthe children who were singing on the tape, were not told that they were rating the same children, and did not know the purpose of the study for which they were rating. The rating scale used by




Figure 1. SVDM: Procedures for Test Administrator

1. Play the first pattern in the tone bells or piano (ex: �see the bird�).

2. Sing the first pattern for the children with the text or �bum.� Do not use anyaccompaniment.

3. Have the children echo. Again, do not use any accompaniment.

4. Repeat steps 1�3 with each pattern.

5. Do not pause in between any of the above steps.

6. For half of the group of children, perform steps 1�5 on text first, then on �bum�; for theother half, perform steps 1�5 on �bum� first, then on text.

PATTERNS:

each rater is presented in Figure 2. The raters completed their evaluations privately; they werenot together while rating the performances.

Results The degree to which the raters were consistent with each other in using SVDM wasdetermined by computing correlation coefficients. These coefficients, ranging from .738 to .956(all significant at p < .0001), were all within an acceptable range and indicate that the raters usedthe SVDM similarly when rating the children�s singing-voice performances. Statistical analyses were performed to determine any significant gains in use of singing voicefrom the beginning of first grade to the end of first grade, from the end of first grade to thebeginning of third grade, from the beginning of third grade to the end of third grade, from theend of third grade to the beginning of fifth grade, and from the beginning of fifth grade to theend of fifth grade. Significant differences existed for both text and neutral syllable performances between the end of first grade and the beginning of third grade as well as from the beginning of




Figure 2. SVDM: Rating Scale

1 �Pre-singer� does not sing but chants the song text.

1.5 �Inconsistent Speaking Range Singer� sometimes chants, sometimes sustains tonesand exhibits some sensitivity to pitch but remains in the speaking voice range(usually A2 to C3).

2 �Speaking Range Singer� sustains tones and exhibits some sensitivity to pitch butremains in the speaking voice range (usually A2 to C3).

2.5 �Inconsistent Limited Range Singer� wavers between speaking and singing voiceand uses a limited range when in singing voice (usually up to F3).

3 �Limited Range Singer� exhibits consistent use of limited singing range (usuallyD3 to F3).

3.5 �Inconsistent Initial Range Singer� sometimes only exhibits use of limited singingrange, but other times exhibits use of initial singing range (usually D3 to A3).

4 �Initial Range Singer� exhibits consistent use of initial singing range (usually D3to A3).

4.5 �Inconsistent Singer� sometimes only exhibits use of initial singing range, butother times exhibits use of extended singing range (sings beyond the register lift:B3-flat and above).

5 �Singer� exhibits use of consistent extended singing range (sings beyond theregister lift: B3-flat and above).

fifth grade to the end of fifth grade. Other gains of interest were found from the beginning ofthird grade to the end of third grade for both neutral syllable and text performances (p < .185 and.059) and from the end of third grade to the beginning of fifth grade for neutral syllableperformances (p < .165). While these differences are not significant, the probabilities are near tothe confidence interval set (p < .05), which implies they may have been significant with a largersample size. No significant gains were found from the beginning to the end of first grade forneutral syllable and text performances or from the end of third grade to the beginning of fifthgrade for text performances. Means and standard deviations for neutral syllable and text performances in each testingperiod are presented in Table 1. These scores are the sum of both raters� scores; therefore, amean of 8 reflects a singing-voice level of 4 on SVDM. The number in parentheses representsthe SVDM scoring level. The average child in first grade was a �limited range singer,� at thebeginning of third grade was an �initial range singer,� at the end of third grade was an �inconsistent singer,� at the beginning of fifth grade was an �initial range singer,� and at the end




Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations: SVDM Scores

Test 0 (SVDM score) SD

Pre 1st grade (n=28)

Neutral Syllable 6.732 (3.37) 2.672

Text 6.643 (3.32) 2.453

Post 1st grade (n=28)


Text 6.821 (3.41) 2.001

Pre 3rd grade (n=28)


Text 8.125 (4.06) 1.889

Post 3rd grade (n=28)


Text 8.946 (4.47) 1.235

Pre 5th grade (n=25)


Text 8.480 (4.24) 1.571

Post 5th grade (n=25)


Text 9.320 (4.66) 1.019

of fifth grade was an �inconsistent singer.� Seventy-six percent of the fifth graders were�singers� at the end of the year when performing on a neutral syllable. The larger standarddeviations for first-grade performances suggest that the students exhibited more diverse abilitiesregarding use of singing voice at this age. Third-grade performances reflected a morehomogeneous group. The fifth-grade standard deviations, particularly those for performances atthe end of fifth grade, reflected an even more homogeneous group. This is further evidenced byexamining the number of students at each scoring level for each testing period (see Table 2).Since these numbers reflect the average of both raters� scores, levels in between the SVDMscores occur, such as 3.75. As can be seen, 82% of the students were �initial range singers,�




Table 2. Number of Students for Each SVDM Score (average of 2 raters� scores)

Total Pre 1st Post 1st Pre 3rd Post 3rd Pre 5th Post 5th

NS Text NS Text NS Text NS Text NS Text NS Text

5 5 4 4 5 7 5 12 11 8 9 19 13

4.75 1 2 4 3 5 3 4 5 5 2 1 5

4.5 3 1 2 2 5 8 3 2 2 1 2 2

4.25 - 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 3 - -

4.0 3 3 2 1 2 2 3 3 3 2 1 3

3.75 1 - 1 - - - 1 1 1 3 2 -

3.5 4 2 2 3 1 4 3 2 1 1 - 1

3.25 1 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 - - 1

3.0 1 2 3 3 2 1 - 1 2 3 - -

2.75 - 1 1 1 - 1 - - 1 - - -

2.5 - 1 2 7 1 - - - - - - -

2.25 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - -

2.0 1 2 2 1 - - - - - - - -

1.75 1 2 - - - 1 - - - - - -

1.5 3 1 - 1 1 1 - - - - - -

1.25 1 2 1 - - - - - - - - -

1.0 1 - - - - - - - - - - -

�inconsistent singers,� or �singers� by the end of third grade, while 92% of the students were�initial range singers,� �inconsistent range singers,� or �singers� by the end of fifth grade.

Conclusions and Recommendations Based on the results of this descriptive study, it was concluded that by the end of fifth gradeall children can be taught to use at least a limited singing range when given instruction in a general music setting where small-group and individual strategies are employed in weekly classmeetings. Furthermore, the majority of students can be taught to use at least an initial singingrange by the end of fifth grade. These results were very different from those of Levinowitz et al.(1998), in which only 10�25% of the first- through sixth-grade sample were �initial rangesingers.� These comparisons may confirm previous research that suggested small-group and




individual strategies employed in weekly class meetings significantly contribute to children�sacquisition of use of singing voice (Rutkowski, 1996; Rutkowski & Miller, 2003, in press).However, this longitudinal study was descriptive and not experimental, so cause and effectshould not be assumed. It also appears that children make more significant gains in their singing after first grade.These results are consistent with the results of other researchers, who have found that age plays arole in singing ability (Bentley, 1968; Boardman, 1964; Davies & Roberts, 1975; Geringer,1983; Goetze, 1985; Goetze & Horii, 1989; Petzold, 1963). It also appears that gains in singingachievement are possible even during fifth grade. It is recommended that this longitudinal study be continued through the 12th grade todetermine the use of singing voice exhibited by these children as they progress through theirpublic school years. Previous research has shown that singing voice achievement decreases inthe early middle school years (Green, 1990; Serafine, 1988). It would be of interest to determineif these students experience the same phenomenon. Future research should also investigate therole that additional singing experiences, such as participation in a non-auditioned school orchurch choir, play in children�s acquisition of singing voice. In addition, since SVDM measuresuse of singing voice, not accuracy of singing, a tool that measures children�s singing accuracyonce they are using a singing voice needs to be constructed and validated. The singing behaviorsrelated to intonation identified by Junda (1994) have not been found to be valid (Rutkowski,1998b). While development of a tool to measure accuracy of intonation for those children whoare �singers� would be helpful to teachers in further assessing children�s singing, construction ofa reliable tool has been difficult (Rutkowski & Barnes, 2000). It appears that all children can be taught to use at least a limited-range singing voice withinthe general music instructional setting and that the majority of fifth graders can be taught to useat least a singing range of D�A when small-group/individual strategies are used. While we canassume that many factors influence children�s acquisition of singing voice, music teachers arestrongly encouraged to employ small-group/individual strategies in their lessons, as researchseems to support their effectiveness in assisting children in learning to sing successfully.

ReferencesAtterbury, B. W., & Silcox, L. (1993). The effect of piano accompaniment on kindergartners�

developmental singing ability. Journal of Research in Music Education, 41(1), 40�47.Bentley, A. (1968). Monotones: A comparison with normal singers in terms of incidence and

musical abilities. Music Education Research Papers No.1. London: Novello.Boardman, E. (1964). An investigation of the effect of preschool training on the development of

vocal accuracy of young children. Dissertation Abstracts International, 25, 1245A. (UMI No. 64�8354)

Consortium of National Arts Education Associations. (1994). National standards for artseducation. Reston, VA: MENC.

Cooper, N. A. (1995). Children�s singing accuracy as a function of grade level, gender, and individual versus unison singing. Journal of Research in Music Education, 43(3),222�231.

Davies. A. D. M., & Roberts, E. (1975). Poor pitch singing: A survey of its incidence in school children. Psychology of Music, 3(2), 24�36.

Gaiser, P. E. (1961). A study of tone-matching techniques as remedial instruction for non-




singers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.Geringer, J. M. (1983). The relationship of pitch-matching and pitch-discrimination abilities of

preschool and fourth-grade students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 31(2),93�99.

Goetze, M. (1985). Factors affecting accuracy in children�s singing. Dissertation Abstracts International, 46, 2955A. (UMI No. DA8528488)

Goetze, M., & Horii, Y. (1989). A comparison of the pitch accuracy of group and individual singing in young children. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 99,57�73.

Gould, A. O. (1968). Finding and learning to use the singing voice: A manual for teachers.(Report No. OEC�6�10�016). Macomb, IL: Western Illinois University. (ERICDocument Reproduction Service No. ED 025 531)

Green, G. A. (1990). The effect of vocal modeling on pitch-matching accuracy of elementary schoolchildren. Journal of Research in Music Education, 38(3), 225�231.

Hale, M. [Runfola] (1977). An experimental study of the comparative effectiveness of harmonic and melodic accompaniment in singing as it relates to the development of a sense of tonality. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 53, 23�30.

Jersild, A. T., & Bienstock, S. F. (1931). The influence of training on the vocal ability of three-year-old children. Child Development, 2(4), 272�291.

Jersild, A. T., & Bienstock, S. F. (1934). A study of the development of children�s ability to sing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 25, 481�503.

Jones, M. (1979). Using a vertical-keyboard instrument with the uncertain singer. Journal of Research in Music Education, 27, 173�184.

Junda, M. E. (1994). Developing readiness for music reading. Music Educators Journal, 81(2),37�41.

Klemish, J. (1974). Treating the uncertain singer through the use of the tape recorder. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 37, 36�45.

Levinowitz, L. M. (1987). An experimental study of the comparative effects of singing songswith words and without words on children in kindergarten and first grade. DissertationAbstracts International, 48, 863A. (UMI No. DA8716497)

Levinowitz, L. M., Barnes, P., Guerrini, S., Clement, M., D�April, P., & Morey, M. J. (1998). Measuring singing voice development in the elementary general music classroom. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46(1), 35�47.

Lidman-Magnusson, B. (1998). Singing development: Comparisons between poor pitch singers and other groups. In B.A. Roberts (Ed.), Sharing the Voices: The Phenomenon of Singing(pp. 145�149). St. John�s, Newfoundland, Canada: Memorial University.

May, W. (1993). An investigation of a group of third graders� pitch matching skills when using male voice, piano, and resonator bells as melodic models. Masters AbstractsInternational, 31 (01), 51. (UMI No. AAC 1349956)

Petzold, R. G. (1963). The development of auditory perception of musical sounds by children in the first six grades. Journal of Research in Music Education, 11, 21�43.

Phillips, K. H. (1985). The effects of group breath-control training on the singing ability of elementary students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 33(3), 179�191.

Phillips, K. H. (1992). Teaching kids to sing. New York: Schirmer Books.Price, H. E., Yarbrough, C., Jones, M., & Moore, R. S. (1994). Effects of male timbre, falsetto,




and sine-wave models on interval matching by inaccurate singers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 42(4), 269�284.

Richner, S. S. (1976). The effect of classroom and remedial methods of music instruction on the ability of inaccurate singers, in the third, fourth, and fifth grades, to reproduce pitches. Dissertation Abstracts International, 37, 1447A. (UMI No. 76�19,898)

Roberts, E., & Davies, A. D. M. (1975). The response of �monotones� to a programme of remedial training. Journal of Research in Music Education, 23(4), 227�239.

Roberts, E., & Davies, A. D. M. (1976). A method of extending the vocal range of �monotone� schoolchildren. Psychology of Music, 4(1), 29�43.

Romaine, W. B. (1961). Developing singers from non-singers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.

Runfola, M. (1981, April). An investigation of a technique for identifying early childhood uncertain singers. Paper presented at the national meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Minneapolis, MN.

Rutkowski, J. (1984). Development of a rating scale to assess individual children�s use of the vocal instrument. Unpublished manuscript, State University of New York at Buffalo.

Rutkowski, J. (1986). The effect of restricted song range on kindergarten children�s use ofsinging voice and developmental music aptitude. Dissertation Abstracts International,47, 4706A. (UMI No. DA8619357)

Rutkowski, J. (1990). The measurement and evaluation of children�s singing voice development. The Quarterly: Center for Research in Music Learning and Teaching, 1(1�2), 81�95.

Rutkowski, J. (1993, March). The use of words versus a neutral syllable for evaluatingchildren�s use of singing voice. Paper presented at the Eastern Regional meeting of theMusic Educators National Conference, Springfield, MA.

Rutkowski, J. (1996). The effectiveness of individual/small group singing activities on kindergartners� use of singing voice and developmental music aptitude. Journal of Research in Music Education, 44(4), 353�368.

Rutkowski, J. (1998a). The nature of children�s singing voices: Characteristics and assessment.In B.A. Roberts (Ed.), Sharing the Voices: The Phenomenon of Singing (pp. 201�209). St. John�s, Newfoundland, Canada: Memorial University.

Rutkowski, J. (1998b, April). Validation of the �Singer Accuracy Measure.� Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

Rutkowski, J., & Barnes, P. J. (2000, March). Validation of the �Singer Accuracy Measure�: Versions 2.1 and 2.2. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Washington, DC.

Rutkowski, J., & Miller, M. S. (2003). The effectiveness of frequency of instruction and individual/small group singing activities on first graders� use of singing voice and developmental music aptitude. Contributions to Music Education, 30(1), 23�38.

Rutkowski, J., & Miller, M. S. (in press). The effect of teacher feedback and modeling on first graders� use of singing voice and developmental music aptitude. Bulletin of theCouncil for Research in Music Education.

Serafine, M. L. (1988). Music as cognition. New York: Columbia University Press.Smale, M. J. (1987). An investigation of pitch accuracy of four-and five-year-old singers.

Dissertation Abstracts International, 48, 2013A. (UMI No. DA8723851)Small, A. R., & McCachern, F. L. (1983). The effect of male and female vocal modeling on




pitch-matching accuracy of first-grade children. Journal of Research in Music Education,31(3), 227�233.

Smith, R. B. (1963). The effect of group vocal training on the singing ability of nursery school children. Journal of Research in Music Education, 11(2), 137�141.

Solomon, J. C. (1994). Correcting out-of-tune singing in upper elementary grade students. Masters Abstracts International, 32 (02), 407. (UMI No. AAC 1355008)

Sterling, P. A. (1985). A developmental study of the effects of accompanying harmonic context on children�s vocal pitch accuracy of familiar melodies. Dissertation Abstracts International, 45, 2436A. (UMI No. DA8425896)

Whitman, C. F. (1971). The effects of piano instruction on vocal pitch accuracy in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 32, 479A�480A. (UMI No. 71�17, 438)



Download - A Longitudinal Study of Elementary Children's Acquisition of Their Singing Voices

Top Related