The Child-Voice in Singing / Treated from a physiological and a practical standpoint and especially adapted to schools and boy choirs

by Francis E. Howard

MUTATION OF THE VOICE.

The anatomical and physiological changes which occur in the larynx at puberty have been described in the chapter on “Physiology of the Voice.” It may be added that at this period the resonance cavities also undergo considerable alteration in size and form.

As childhood is left behind the individual emerges. Divergences in face, in form and in mental characteristics become emphasized. The traits of race and family are manifested and self-consciousness becomes more acute. This period of development, bringing as it does so much disturbance to the vocal organs, is particularly inimical to singing; and yet public school music is expected to produce its most elaborate results in those grades where the pupils are just about to enter, or are passing through this period of rapid growth and change. The singing in such grades may be discussed with reference first to the singing of girls and then to that of boys.

The vocal organs of girls often develop so gradually in size, and with so little congestion of the laryngeal substance, that no aversion is manifested to singing. In other cases the inflamed condition of the vocal organs is shown by the hoarseness which follows their use, and the huskiness of the singing-tone. The voices of nearly all during the mutation period show more volume of tone on the lower tones and evidences of strain at the higher tones.

It is a good plan to put girls who show throat-weakness, characteristic of their age, upon that part which requires only a medium range of tones, and to repress all inclination to force and push the voice. The desire which girls often express to sing the upper soprano need not affect the teacher to any great extent. A multitude of strong and constantly-shifting ambitions are thronging through their minds. Some wish to sing the highest part because it seems to them to be the most prominent part; some wish to sing it because they can do so with the least mental effort, and so on. These whims and wishes must be treated tactfully, but if the teacher is sure that a certain course is right, there is no alternative but to carry it out, with as little friction as may be. Large voices, that is, voices that proceed from large resonance cavities, are often badly strained at this period of life by too loud and too high singing. It must not for a moment be forgotten that the age is a critical one for vocal effort, and a strain that the adult woman’s voice will endure with apparent impunity may produce lasting evil effects on the voice of a girl of from fourteen to sixteen years of age.

If the requirements of the music are such that pitches above F, the fifth line G clef, must be occasionally sung, let the voices upon the part sing lightly. If some of the girls are put upon the lower of three parts, do not let them use the chest-voice, which is just beginning to develop, otherwise than lightly also.

The boy’s voice may change from the soprano to a light bass of eight or twelve tones in compass in a few months, or the change may extend over two or three years; that is, two or three years may elapse after the first distinct break before there is any certainty of vocal action in the newly-acquired compass. When the voice changes rapidly, all singing should be stopped. Really, in such cases, boys cannot sing even if they attempt to do so.

They are so hoarse, and the pitch alternates so unexpectedly between an “unearthly treble and a preternatural bass” that a boy can usually sing only in monotone, if, with courage proof against the ridicule occasioned by his uncontrollable vocal antics, he tries to join in. In those cases, where the larynx undergoes a slow change in growth, it is often possible for the boy to sing all through the period of change. The upper tones may be lost, while there is a corresponding gain of lower tones. This process, in many cases, goes on slowly and with so little active congestion of the larynx that the voice changes from soprano to alto, and thence to tenor almost imperceptibly. Voices which change in this way often become tenor, but not invariably.

The question now arises, Should those boys who can sing while the voice is breaking be required to take part in school singing exercises?

In Browne and Behnke’s work, “The Child Voice,” to which allusion has been made, there is given a resumé of 152 replies to the question: Have you ever known of boys being made to sing through the period of puberty, and, if so, with what result?