Maintains that solo singing is an important tool for developing children's voices for two reasons: (1) the music educator can assess a student's vocal development and then give feedback as needed; and (2) children have a chance to hear their own voices and learn how to produce a good vocal sound. (CMK)

Examines the song leading effectiveness of undergraduate education majors under three conditions: unaccompanied, accompanied with autoharp, and accompanied by recording. Finds that students rate themselves higher than experts do; there is greater eye contact using rote or recording; and there is greater tempo accuracy using rote and autoharp. (DSK)

Investigates the changing voices of boys in the fifth and sixth grades. Categorizes their voices by J. M. Cooksey's changing voice stages and uses his criteria for determining stages (highest and lowest pitches sung, overall range, and pitch of the speaking voice). Results indicate an earlier voice change than previous research. (CMK)

Addresses the benefits of teaching about acoustics and vocal anatomy and physiology to secondary students. Provides a brief outline of a ten-lesson unit intended for students who have either completed or are enrolled in biology or health science courses. Includes a list of selected resources and ideas for other sources of information. (CMK)

Relates a technique that helps students learn dictation while enjoying the topic. Provides six steps: (1) send students to the blackboard to take dictation; (2) have students listen first; (3) ask students to isolate melody from rhythm; (4) have all students sing using solfege syllables; (5) provide feedback; and (6) accommodate varying abilities.…

Explains that labor songs were song parodies with lyrics frequently written by college students. States that labor songs were used not to teach about music, but about labor concepts. Reports that labor colleges taught singing and acting to prepare students to speak in front of large crowds. (DAJ)

Provides an interview with Robert Goulet who reflects on the role music played in his young life, his entrance into the New York theater scene, his use of different characterizations, and his experience of taking Broadway on the road. Offers advice to young people considering a career in music. (CMK)

Discusses individual childrens process in acquiring new songs that is based on structure-genetic constructivism, a theory in the tradition of Piaget, through a microanalytic approach. Provides a graphic representation of a childs consecutive singing and also addresses joint singing, pitch quality, and strategies of applying melodic patterns. (CMK)

Examines what songs are familiar to most people. Uncovers various epistemological definitions of what it means to "know" a song. Discovers how many of the 42 songs listed in Music Educators National Conference (MENC) publication, "Get America Singing Again!", appeared in previous investigations and in community song movement books. (CMK)

Describes the sixth in a series of studies designed to explore factors that may affect pitch matching. Classifies undergraduate nonmusic majors enrolled in a music fundamentals class as uncertain, modulating, or certain singers. Reveals that there was a significant difference among singer types with uncertain singers being less able to match…

The purpose of this study was to examine sight-singing requirements at junior and senior high school large-group ratings-based choral festivals throughout the United States. Responses to the following questions were sought from each state: (1) Are there ratings-based large-group choral festivals? (2) Is sight-singing a requirement? (3) Are there…

In this article, a professional composer shares his experiences writing music for a middle school band. Michael Colgrass was commissioned, along with fourteen other composers, by the American Composers Forum BandQuest project to write a short piece for eighth-grade band. They were asked to pay a couple of visits to a nearby school to work with…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of sight-singing instruction using specific pitch skills emphasizing scale degree and harmonic function. Fifteen pitch skills encompassing scalar, cadential, and chordal tasks were included in the study. Over a 12-week period, two randomly assigned groups of novice high school singers…

The article focuses on teaching commonalities in diverse musical genres. Teachers need to relate the musical activities performed in class to music that students experience in the world around them since they understand music in relation to history and culture. A key to selecting high-quality musical examples is to find music pieces that contain…

Festival performance is no trivial endeavor. At one midwestern state festival alone, 10,938 events received a rating over a 3-year period (2001-2003). Such an extensive level of participation justifies sustained study. To learn more about variables that may underlie success at solo and small ensemble evaluative festivals, Bergee and Platt (2003)…