Vocal Parameters. Phillips. 1996.

 

SUMMARIZE:

Ø       Vocal Registers

·         Average adult capable of three octaves

·         Three different registers – head, chest, middle

·         All three can be passed between easily, but only practice makes it sound good

Ø       Child Vocal Registers

·         Typically, only head voice used with kids

·         Should use some chest voice, but not too much

·         If developed carefully, can even negate effects of puberty on boys

Ø       Adolescent Vocal Registers

·         Girl do have pubescent voice changes, just more subtle

·         Their breathiness can be controlled

·         Entire vocal mechanism needs to be exercised, even if not used regularly

·         Pubescent boys can continue to use head voice in old middle voice territory

·         Falsetto = bad

·         Gaps can exist in sound

Ø       Quality

·         “General American quality” has bell or nasal-pharyngeal resonance

·         Greatly influenced by registers, too

Ø       Child Vocal Quality

·         Often too boisterous or weak

·         Voices need to be well-supported

Ø       Adolescent Vocal Quality

·         As they grow up, sound matures and becomes bigger

·         Still must not be allowed to be too big, lest it become forced or strained

·         Vibrato is good, but cannot be forced

·         An open larynx and throat helps this

Ø       Range and Tessitura

·         Range – highest possible to lowest possible

·         Tessitura – highest useable, good-sounding to lowest useable, good-sounding

Ø       Research on Vocal Range

·         What is possible and what most kids seem to be able to do are often vastly different

·         Words sometimes confuse the issue

·         The fact that one is singing sometimes psychologically limits one’s range

Ø       Child Vocal Ranges and Tessitura

·         1^st grade: c1-c2

·         2^nd grade: b-d2

·         3^rd grade: bb-eb2

·         Etc.

Ø       Adolescent Vocal Ranges and Tessituras

·         Subsequently lower (see tables)

·         Etc.

 

DISCUSS:

This article was very interesting to me.  Though I do really enjoy singing, I had never sung in any organization except 5^th grade choir, which I do not remember very well.  The mere fact that there are this many different ways to look at singing is fascinating to me.  If I become a general music teacher someday, I will need to truly understand all of this in order to best teach and prepare my students.  Even if not, I still can apply many of these concepts to my own voice now.  It’s not too late.