Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults - Jenevora Williams - Chapters 1, 2, 3 & Interludes A, B, C

Two A-HA moments I took away from the readings were:

1) The explanation that it is important to teach healthy singing right from the beginning, because there can be short-term effects, medium-term effects, and how important healthy singing is in the long-term. On page 8, Williams states that short-term effects can include “voice tiring [and] voice loss,” medium-term effects can include “the acquisition of bad habits,” and in the long-term “healthy development of the voice into adulthood.” I like this explanation because it explains that ‘safe’ singing is very important to instill in your students right away.

2) I enjoy how in chapter two it explains how to establish good habits for singing. On page 34, in the chapter two summary, it explains how to do this. 1) Encourage good posture, 2) Play with extending the pitch range, 3) Encourage in-tune singing by using melodic fragments, 4) Young children have a higher pitch range than older children and women, and 5) Involve parents with singing activities as much as possible. This was a great explanation to me because it makes more sense to me, and it is something that I can easily explain and do with my students.

Two questions I decided upon were:

1) After reading about ‘Singing in Tune’ on page 47, a question came to me. Why are people ‘tone-deaf?’ Why is it so hard for some people to sing in tune, but it is VERY hard for others? Is there a way to fix this, or is it something that they will deal with for their whole lives?

2) I read several times in these chapters: “boys tend to lag behind girls … in their ability to sing in tune and in their enthusiasm for singing.” When I become a teacher, what are some good ways to get boys involved in your school choir? How can we get boys feeling enthusiastic about singing? In my school ‘graduation singing ensemble’ there were no boys and no interest from any of the boys in my school.

Works Cited

Williams, Jenevora. Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults. Oxford: Compton Pub., 2013. Print.