Approach to the Changing Voice in Rehearsal

Assign yourself by Allison Grant

Component Details and Rehearsal Techniques
Overview Coaching the adolescent voice in the choral rehearsal is a
challenging task for educators who are already multi-tasking at
a high rate, the whole class period. Often too, students with
changing voices are hard to address and help in the rehearsal
setting, without a lack of attention on students whose voices
havent changed yet or are confident with their voice
placement for the time being.

From this, I see a need for ways to approach, assist, and assess
issues in the changing and adolescent voice in the rehearsal
period. This issue includes all genders and ages throughout the
elementary and middle school choir experience. Among
possible solutions for this need may include part assignments
and classification, grouping, and rescoring to fit the needs of
the students in the time presented. In short, I am looking for
ways to meet the needs of all adolescent singers in any stage
of their choir experience in a healthy, helpful, and encouraging
way to hopefully see more students continue choir in their high
school experience.
Process Research the physiological, musical, and mental needs of the
adolescent student in the choir.
Define and Determine the main issues and conflicts that
arise when addressing the adolescent voice in a rehearsal
period.
Find or Create exercises conducive to the adolescent voices
of all genders that serve a direct purpose for assisting the
changing voice.
Select pieces conducive to the goals of meeting the adolescent
voice needs based on part-writing, grouping, and compositional
value.
Practice and determine ways to address issues and change
original composition intentions to meet the needs of your
students voices.
Finding #1: Knowledge I power for your developing students! Provide them
Knowledge and yourself with the knowledge to give them that power and
further validate our work to others
Knowledge to Provide: *In Rehearsal*
Anatomy: take the rehearsal time to discuss and learn about
the muscles and functions of the voice. Give students the
resources to understand the actions produced and how to
create them. Be sure to also explain how their voice is
developing and what problems occur during development that
may cause them frustration.
Knowledge to Have: *To Prepare for Rehearsal*
As an educator, know the ranges, abilities, and several different
resources of child voice stages of development to be able to
assist and get to know your students voices and development.
Finding #2: Power Providing emotional acknowledgement, embracing, validation,
and Support and belonging for your students will give them the confidence
and power to grow with their voice and feel confident about the
growth theyve made.
*In Rehearsal*
Validate their feelings, emphasize accomplishments, embrace
emotions, connect their feelings to music, teach empathy and
humanity, and give them the power to create and grow through
warm-ups, songs, and exercises.
Finding #3: Three ways we can create enjoyable experiences for our
Enjoyable students:
Experiences Repertoire: *To Prepare for Rehearsal*
Make all parts accessible in some way, re-writing parts if
needed, re-notating, transposing.
Warm-ups: * In Rehearsal*
Use warm-ups in context at any time in the rehearsal to engage
proper singing, make them interesting and useful, make sure
they are technically fit, and allow creativity with student driven
warm-ups, improvisation, or a chosen excerpt from their
repertoire.
Classification and Assessment: *In and/or prepared for
Rehearsal*
Keep track of development through classification, have
frequent and comfortable assessment, and have everyone
audition and placed in a choir.
Conclusion 1. Knowledge: Students are only as capable as the knowledge
you provide them with.
2. Power and Support: Give them control over one thing in their
life and support them through it.
3. Enjoyable experiences: Choir would not be special to us if we
didn't have enjoyable, memorable experiences!
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the Choral Rehearsal: A Survey of Research-Based Strategies.
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Freer, P. K. (2007, November). Between Research and Practice:

How Choral Music Loses Boys in the Middle. Music Educators
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Phillips, Kenneth H. Teaching Kids to Sing. Boston: Schirmer,

2014.
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