Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T19:56:26.816Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Once a poor pitch singer, always a poor pitch singer? A bottom up study of factors that may support singing development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2017

Anne Kristine Wallace Turøy
Anne Kristine Wallace Turøy*
Affiliation:
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Post office box 7030, N- 5020 Bergen, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Approximately 10% of students have singing difficulties appearing as poor pitch singing. During the period 2012 to 2014, I assessed 2390 recordings from 239 students. 25 students were graded below C, and thus were defined as poor pitch singers (PPS). However, these students showed varying patterns of mastery within their own portfolios of recordings. This raised the initial research question: Are there features within the musical material itself that can explain the varying degrees of mastery? The best and the weakest performances of the PPS were analyzed in terms of musical structures and lyrics. Features of the singing repertoire, self-concept and practice appear to influence singing development with PPS.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 91 - 103
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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

ANDERSON, S., HIMONIDES, E., WISE, K., WELCH, G. & STEWART, L. (2012) Is there potential for learning in amusia? A study of the effect of singing intervention in congenital amusia. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 12521 (1), 345–353. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06404.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
BANDURA, A. (1997) Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman.Google Scholar
BERKOWSKA, M. & DALLA BELLA, S. (2013) Uncovering phenotypes of poor-pitch singing: The Sung Performance Battery (SPB). Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1–12.Google Scholar
BJØRKVOLD, J.–R. (1985) Den Spontane Barnesangen – Vårt Musikalske Morsmål: en Undersøkelse av Førskolebarns Sang i tre Barnehager i Oslo. Oslo: Cappelen.Google Scholar
BROWN, O. L. (1996) Discover Your Voice: How to Develop Healthy Voice Habits. San Diego: Singular.Google Scholar
CUDDY, L. L., BALKWILL, L. L., PERETZ, I. & HOLDEN, R. R. (2005) Musical difficulties are rare. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1060 (1), 311–324. doi:10.1196/annals.1360.026Google Scholar
DALLA BELLA, S., GIGUÈRE, J.–F. & PERETZ, I. (2009) Singing in congenital amusia. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 126 (1), 414–424. doi:10.1121/1.3132504CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
HERESNIAK, M. (2004) The care and training of adult bluebirds: Teaching the singing impaired. Journal of Singing, 61 (1), 9–25.Google Scholar
HUGHES, M. (1977). A quantitative analysis. In Yeston, M. (Ed.), Readings in Schenker Analysis and Other Approaches (pp. 144–164). New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
HUTCHINS, S. M., PERETZ, I. & GAUTHIER, I. (2012) A frog in your throat or in your ear? Searching for the causes of poor singing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141 (1), 76–97. doi:10.1037/a0025064CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
HYDE, K. & PERETZ, I. (2004) Brains that are out of tune but in time. Psychological Science, 15 (5), 356–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
JØRGENSEN, C. (1975) Noder, Rytmer og Toner (3rd Edn.) København: Wilhelm Hansen.Google Scholar
KNIGHT, S. (2013) Exploring a cultural myth: What adult non-singers may reveal about the nature of singing. The Phenomenon of Singing, 2, 144–154.Google Scholar
KNOPOFF, L. & HUTCHINSON, W. (1983) Entropy as a measure of style: The influence of sample length. Journal of Music Theory, 27 (1), 75–97.Google Scholar
KRUMHANSL, C. L. (1990) Cognitive Foundations of Musical Pitch. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
KRUMHANSL, C. L. & KESSLER, E. J. (1982) Tracing the dynamic changes in perceived tonal organization in a spatial representation of musical keys. Psychological Review, 89 (4), 334.Google Scholar
LÉVÊQUE, Y., GIOVANNI, A. & SCHÖN, D. (2012) Pitch-matching in poor singers: Human model advantage. Journal of Voice, 26 (3), 293–298. doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2011.04.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH. (2011) Framework Plan for the Content and Tasks of Kindergartens. Retrieved from https://www.udir.no/in-english/framwork-plan-for-the-content-and-tasks-of-kindergartens/Google Scholar
NUMMINEN, A. (2005) Laulutaidottomasta Kehittyväksi Laulajaksi: Tutkimus Aikuisen Laulutaidon Lukoista ja Niiden Aukaisemisesta. PhD. Sibelius-akatemia, Helsinki.Google Scholar
PERETZ, I., CHAMPOD, A. S. & HYDE, K. (2003) Varieties of musical disorders: The Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 999, 58–75.Google Scholar
PERETZ, I. & COLTHEART, M. (2003) Modularity of music processing. Nature Neuroscience, 6 (7), 688. doi:10.1038/nn1083Google Scholar
PERSEN, Å. B. (2005). ‘Utrolig å Få Synge Ut’: Om Hvordan Sangglede Kan Fremmes og Hemmes. Master thesis. Universitetet i Oslo.Google Scholar
PFORDRESHER, P. Q. & BROWN, S. (2007) Poor-pitch singing in the absence of ‘tone deafness’ Music Perception, 25, 2, 95–115.Google Scholar
RAITIO, S.–S. (1971) Lectio sonorum: Sävel– ja rytmitapailun oppijakso: 1 (4th Edn.) Helsinki: Fazer.Google Scholar
RAVN, JENSEN H. (1956) Prima Vista: 1: Nodelæsningsøvelser for Folkeskoler og Seminarier: Elevens Hefte. København: W. Hansen musik forlag.Google Scholar
SCHEI, T. B. (1998) Stemmeskam: Hemmede Stemmeuttrykks Fenomenologi, Arkeologi og Potensielle Rekonstruksjon Gjennom Sangpedagogikk. Hovedoppgave. Høgskolen i Bergen.Google Scholar
SLOBODA, J. A. (2005) Exploring the musical mind: Cognition, Emotion, Ability, Function. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
SLOBODA, J. A., WISE, K. J. & PERETZ, I. (2005) Quantifying tone deafness in the general population. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1060 (1), 255–261. doi:10.1196/annals.1360.018CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WELCH, G. F. (1998) Early childhood musical development. Research Studies in Music Education, 11 (1), 27–41.Google Scholar
WELCH, G. F. (2000). The developing voice. In Ostrem, J., Thurman, L., & Welch, G. F. (Eds.), Bodymind & Voice: Foundations of Voice Education: 3: Book Three (Rev. Edn., pp. 704–717). Kenilworth: VoiceCare Network.Google Scholar
WELCH, G. F. (2001) The Misunderstanding of Music. London: Institute of Education.Google Scholar
WISE, K. J. (2009). Understanding ‘Tone-Deafness’: A Multi-Componential Analysis of Perception, Cognition, Singing and Self-Perceptions in Adults Reporting Musical Difficulties. PhD. Keele University, Keele.Google Scholar
WISE, K. J. & SLOBODA, J. A. (2008) Establishing an empirical profile of self-defined ‘tone deafness’: Perception, singing performance and self-assessment. Musicae Scientiae, 12 (1), 3–26. doi:10.1177/102986490801200102CrossRefGoogle Scholar
YOUNGBLOOD, J. E. (1958) Style as information. Journal of Music Theory, 2 (1), 24–35.Google Scholar