Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T12:45:06.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adolescence, Singing Development and National Curricula Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

John M. Cooksey  and
Graham F. Welch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Adolescence is characterised by a distinctive phase of vocal development which bridges childhood and adulthood. Various research studies over the past twenty years have demonstrated that the physical maturation of the adolescent voice mechanism produces a systematic change in both the male and female singing voice. Longitudinal research data indicate that there are distinctive features to each stage of adolescent voice change and that, with an appropriate matching of repertoire, it is possible for all young people to continue to sing successfully throughout this period. The traditional and stereotypical notion that adolescent male voices ‘break’ is untenable in the light of this research evidence and it is suggested that a concept of adolescent singing voice ‘transformation’ or ‘change’ is a more accurate representation of the physiological reality. It is a weakness of the revised National Curriculum for Music (1995) that it makes no appropriate reference to this unique period of adolescent voice change and, as a result, teachers receive inadequate statutory guidance on the development of singing at Key Stage 3.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 1998 , pp. 99 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alderson, R. (1979). Complete Handbook of Voice Training. West Nyack, New York: Parker Publishing Inc.Google Scholar
Aronson, A. E. (1985). Clinical Voice Disorders. 2nd edn. New York: Thieme, Inc.Google Scholar
Barresi, A. L. and Bless, D. (1984). The relation of selected aerodynamic variables to the perception of tessitura pitches in the adolescent changing voice. In Runfola, E. M. (Ed.), Proceedings: Research Symposium on the Male Adolescent Voice. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo Press, 1, 97–110.Google Scholar
Brodnitz, F. S. (1983). On the Changing Voice. National Association of Teachers of Singing Bulletin, 40 (2), 24–26.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1977a). The development of a contemporary, eclectic theory for the training and cultivation of the junior high school male changing voice: Part I, Existing Theories. The Choral Journal, 18, 2, 5–14.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1977b). The development of a contemporary, eclectic theory for the training and cultivation of the junior high school male changing voice: Part II, Scientific and Empirical Findings: Some Tentative Solutions. The Choral Journal, 18, 3, 5–16.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1977c). The development of a contemporary, eclectic theory for the training and cultivation of the junior high school male changing voice: Part III, Developing an Integrated Approach to the Care and Training of the Junior High School Male Changing Voice. The Choral Journal, 18, 4, 5–15.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1978). The development of a contemporary, eclectic theory for the training and cultivation of the junior high school male changing voice: Part IV, Selecting Music for the Junior High School Male Changing Voice. The Choral Journal, 18, 5, 5–18.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1985). Vocal-acoustical measures of prototypical patterns related to voice maturation in the adolescent male. In Lawrence, Van L. (Ed.), Transcripts of the Thirteenth Symposium, Care of the Professional Voice, Part II: Vocal Therapeutics and Medicine. New York: the Voice Foundation, 469–480.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1988). Understanding male-adolescent voice maturation: Some significant contributions by European and American researchers. In Paine, G. (Ed.), Five Centuries of Choral Music: Essays in Honour of Howard Swan. Festschrift Series. Stuyvesant. N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 75–92.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1992). Working with the Adolescent Voice. St. Louis, Mo: Concordia Publishing House.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1997). The Adolescent Male Changing Voice. In Thurman, L. & Welch, G. (Eds), Bodymind and Voice: Foundations of Voice Education. Iowa City, Iowa: National Centre for Voice and Speech/University of Iowa Press, 495–515.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M. (1993b). Do adolescent voices 'break' or do they 'transform'?. Voice 2, 1, 15–40.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. M., Beckett, R. L. and Wiseman, R. (1984). A longitudinal investigation of selected vocal, physiological, and acoustic factors associated with voice maturation in the junior high school male adolescent. In Runfola, E. M. (Ed.), Proceedings: Research Symposium on the Male Adolescent Voice. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo Press, 1, 4–60.Google Scholar
Cooksey, J. and White, P. (forthcoming). An assessment of selected acoustic factors in the vocal development of adolescent male singers. The London Oratory Study. London: ASME.Google Scholar
Cooper, I. & Kuersteiner, K. O. (1965). Teaching Junior High Music. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.Google Scholar
Cyrier, A. (1981). A study of vocal registers and transitional pitches of the adolescent female. Unpubl. Master's Thesis, University of Missouri-Kansas City.Google Scholar
Department for Education [DFE] (1995). Music in the National Curriculum. London:HMSO.Google Scholar
Frank, F. and Sparber, M. (1970a). Stimmumfange bei Kindern aus neuer Sicht. [Vocal ranges in children from a new perspective] Folia Phoniatrica, 22, 397–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, F. and Sparber, M. (1970b). Die Premutationsstimme, die Mutationsstimme und die Postmutationsstimme in Sonagram. [The premutation voice, mutation voice, and the postmutation voice in the sonagram] Folia Phoniatrica, 22, 425–433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gackle, L. (1987). The effect of selected vocal techniques for breath management, resonation, and vowel unification on tone production in the junior high school female voice. Unpubl. PhD. thesis, University of Miami.Google Scholar
Groom, M. (1984). A descriptive analysis of development in adolescent male voices during the summer time period. In Runfola, E. M. (Ed.), Proceedings: Research Symposium on the Male Adolescent Voice. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo Press, 1, 80–85.Google Scholar
Harries, M. LL.Griffin, M., Walker, J. & Hawkins, S. (1996). Changes in the male voice during puberty: speaking and singing voice parameters. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 21, 2, 95–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herman-Giddens, M. E., Slora, E. J., Wasserman, R. C, Bourdony, C. J., Bhapkar, M. V, Koch, G. G. & Hasemeier, C. M. (1997). Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: a study from the Pediatric Research in Office Settings Network. Pediatrics, 99, 4, 505–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huff-Gackle, L. (1991). The adolescent female voice: the characteristics of change and stages of development. The Choral Journal, 31, 8, 17–25.Google Scholar
Huff-Gackle, L. (1997). Female adolescent changing voices: voice classification, voice skill development and music literature selection. In Thurman, L. & Welch, G. (Eds), Bodymind and Voice: Foundations of Voice Education. Iowa City, Iowa: National Centre for Voice and Speech/University of Iowa Press, 582–588.Google Scholar
Hurlock, E. B. (1973). Adolescent Development. 4th edn.New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Kahane, J. (1978). A morphological study of the human prepubertal and pubertal larynx. American Journal of Anatomy, 15, 1, 11–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, W. A. and Tanner, O. M. (1970). Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in boys. Archives of Diseases in Children, 45, 13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKenzie, D. (1956). Training the Boy's Changing Voice. London:Bradford and Dickens, Drayton House.Google Scholar
Mills, J. (1996). Starting at Secondary School. British Journal of Music Education, 13, 1, 5–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naidr, J., Zboril, M. and Sevcik, K. (1965). Die pubertalen Veranderungen der Stimme bei Jungen im Verlauf von 5 Jahren. [Pubertal voice changes in boys over a period of 5 years] Folia Phoniatrica, 17, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OFSTED (1995). Music - a review of inspection findings 1993/94. London:HMSO.Google Scholar
Rice, F. P. (1984). The Adolescent: Development, Relationships, and Culture. 4th edn.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.Google Scholar
Ruble, D. N. (1982). The experience of menarchy. Child Development, 53, 1557–1566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutkowski, J. (1984). Two-year results of a longitudinal study investigating the validity of Cooksey's theory for training the adolescent voice. In Runfola, E. M. (Ed.), Proceedings: Research Symposium on the Male Adolescent Voice. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo Press, 1, 86–97.Google Scholar
Sergeant, D. C. & Welch, G. F. (1994). Perceived similarities and differences in the singing of trained children's choirs. Choir Schools Today, 11, 9–10.Google Scholar
Swanson, F. (1959). Voice mutation in the adolescent male: an experiment in guiding the voice development of adolescent boys in general music classes. Unpubl. PhD thesis, University of Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M. (1962). Growth at Adolescence. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas Press.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M. (1972). Sequencing, tempo, and individual variation in growth and development of boys and girls aged twelve to sixteen. In Kagan, J. and Coles, R. (Eds), Twelve to Sixteen: Early Adolescence. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Thurman, L. and Klitzke, C. A. (1994). Voice education and care for young voices. In Enninger, M. and Johnson, A. (Eds), Vocal Arts Medicine: The Care and Treatment of Professional Voice Disorders. New York: Theime Medical Publishers, 226–268.Google Scholar
Titze, I. (1993). Critical periods of vocal change: puberty. The NATS Journal 49, 3, 23.Google Scholar
Vennard, W. (1967). Singing: The Mechanism and the Technique. New York, NY: Carl Fischer, Inc.Google Scholar
Watson, E. H. and Lowry, G. H. (1951). Growth and Development of Children. Chicago: The Year Book Publishers Inc.Google Scholar
Weiss, D. A. (1950). The pubertal change of the human voice. Folia Phoniatrica, 2, 125–159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Welch, G. F. and Murao, T. (1994). Onchi and Singing Development. London:David Fulton/ASME.Google Scholar
Williams, B. B., Larson, G. W. and Price, D. W. (1996). An Investigation of Selected Female Singing- and Speaking-Voice Characteristics Through Comparison of a Group of Pre-Menarcheal Girls to a Group of Post-Menarcheal Girls. Journal of Singing, 52, 3, 33–39.Google Scholar
Wolverton, V. D. (1985). Classifying adolescent singing voices (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Iowa, 1985). Dissertation Abstracts International 47 (03), 708A.Google Scholar