Learning about Songs and Singing

Question 1

What study looked at ‘project zero’ in Boston?

Answer 1

Looked at children from birth upwards and looked at different stages children went through in terms of learning songs

Question 2

By what age can children pitch notes of learning basic songs?

Answer 2

18 months

Question 3

By what age are children able to organise music in a rhythmic way?

Answer 3

2 years

Question 4

What stage do ‘song frames’ appear consistent with?

Answer 4

Piaget’s ‘assimilation’ phase

Child needs to have some idea of how songs are organised (e.g., verse, chorus etc.) rather than just being random sequences of notes and rhythms. Need to recognise that songs have a frame and that the chorus and verse are normally the same tune.

Question 5

What does key stability refer to?

Answer 5

Ability to stay in tune

Question 6

What are the 4 stages of song acquisition in 5-year-olds, as identified by Davidson et al. (1981)?

Answer 6

1) Topological
2) Rhythmic surface
3) Pitch contour (up and down)
4) Key stability

Question 7

How are in tune singers defined?

Answer 7

Singers which make few pitch errors

Highly musical

Question 8

How are transposers defined?

Answer 8

Sing the correct melody and pitch contour but at a wrong pitch or out of key

Sing the right order of notes but at a different pitch

Question 9

How are random singers defined?

Answer 9

Correct contour but with pitch errors

Cannot reproduce some notes

Make errors of pitching

Might be flat or sharp etc.

Question 10

How are droners defined?

Answer 10

Largely monotonous singers

Question 11

Is it possible to move across the types of singers?

Answer 11

Yes, with training

The categories are more of a continuum. The categories are not fixed.

32% (one third) of 7-year-olds singing out of tune and droning improved their singing after training

Question 12

What does pitch contour refer to?

Answer 12

When pitch is going up or down

Question 13

What factors are involved in determining or influencing singers ability?

Answer 13

Group vs singing individually (may perform better in a group)

Method of assessment

Types of song they are singing (some songs might be easier or preferred than other songs)

Word memory (can you still sing in tune if you can’t remember the words?)

Confidence (lack of confidence can hinder one’s ability to stay in tune)