The purpose of this study was to investigate the uses of the falsetto voice in training the male singer. Developing the upper voice is one of the most difficult problems facing the male singers. A most controversial approach to solving this problem is the use of the falsetto. The falsetto has been a subject of mystery among singers and vocal teachers for centuries. Some authorities have ignored it; some have denounced; others have greatly extolled this vocal enigma. Many myths and misconceptions surround the subject of falsetto. Even in the present age of scientific research and knowledge, there is little understanding of the falsetto--of its value and its use. The material dealing with falsetto is very brief and inconclusive in most pedagogy books. Therefore, there seemed to be a need for a systematic collection of pedagogical ideas concerning the male falsetto. This report will attempt to present all sides of the controversy.,

This study concerns itself with the changing characteristics of singing within popular music. It does so by examining 100 of the most successful songs – “most successful” denoting the top selling songs, or the songs with the highest chart positions – of the last 100 years, selecting 10 songs from each decade. All 100 songs were analyzed with regards to the vocal range the singer sang in; the range between the bottommost note and the topmost note was measured (referred to as ”låtomfång”). Here it was found that the overall range shrunk and lowered during the first half of the 20th century, and then expanded and rose during the second half.  The use of physically produced vocal effects – such as distortion or breathy voice – of the 20 most popular songs (two from each decade) was also examined. Here it was found that the presence of vocal effects in the popular music analyzed in this study has developed along a similar curve to that of the vocal ranges. This means that an overall decrease of the use of vocal effects happened until the mid 20th century, whereas an overall densification of the presence vocal effects took place during the second half of the 20th century. It would also seem that the types of vocal effects more commonly used in current popular music is less associated with classical singing than the vocal effects that were in use in older popular music.

Syftet med min undersökning har varit att öka förståelsen och kunskapen kring barnrösten och dess begränsade röstomfång genom att kartlägga de läromedel, bestående av utgivna barnmusikmaterial, som används på ett urval förskolor. Utifrån barnröstens förutsättningar har jag både översiktligt och mer ingående studerat musikexempel från barnskivor och dess anpassning till barnens eget röstläge. Förskolor har via webbenkät medverkat och angivit de skivor som de själva använder sig av. Efter datainsamling och bearbetning har jag först gjort en översiktlig analys av 866 barnvisor och därefter har jag gjort en mer ingående granskning över ett urval, som visar på varierande aspekter, problematik och förutsättningar gentemot barnrösten. Detta illustreras av ett pianodiagram där jag visar sångernas omfång och röstläge. Min studie visar att färre än hälften av de tillfrågade förskolorna använder inspelade barnskivor under sångstunden. Den visar också att det finns många musikläromedel som inte är anpassade till barnrösten och att det är svårt att, utan träning eller speciell kunskap, själv avgöra om läromedlet är anpassat eller inte. Sånger med ett litet eller mellanstort omfång är att föredra eftersom det då är lättare att hitta ett gemensamt röstläge mellan barn och vuxen. / The purpose of my study was to increase knowledge and understanding about children’s voices and their limited vocal range by mapping the learning material, consisting of published children's music materials used in a variety of preschools. Based on the children's vocal potential, I have done both an overview and a detailed study of music examples from children's records and their adaptations to the children's own voices. Preschools have participated by entering the discs that they themselves use in a web form. After the data collection and processing, I have done a general analysis of 866 children's songs. After that I made a detailed review of samples, demonstrating various aspects, problems and opportunities in relation to the child’s voice. This is illustrated by a kind of piano chart where I show the melodic range of the songs. My study shows that fewer than half surveyed preschools are using recorded discs during music time. It also shows that there are many music teaching materials that are not adapted to children's voices and that it is difficult, without training or special knowledge, to know whether the teaching material is adapted or not. Songs with a small or medium size melodic range are the best alternatives, as it is easier to find a common key between the child and the adult.

The range and use of the tenor voice in classical music has long been established since the late 19th century. It is widely accepted among pedagogues that the range is C3-C5 (with obvious exceptions depending on the fach). However, with the advent and development of the American Musical as a genre since the early 20th century, the ‘tenor’ has taken on an entirely new direction and range altogether. Several well-known sources have stated that the ‘Broadway tenor’ has a range of A2-A4. This is (as it widely accepted in the classical profession) the range of a baritone. The catalyst of these changes include vaudeville, composers, social trends, and probably most important, the invention and proliferation of the microphone. This study will analyze a cross section of repertoire in order to demonstrate this downward shift of vocal range, and demonstrate some of the main reasons why this shift occurred.

The purpose of this study was to compare the speaking fundamental frequency, physiological vocal range, singing voice quality, and self-perceptions of the singing and speaking voice between two groups of girls ages 11 through 15 years, who were pre-menarcheal by 6 months and post-menarcheal by 10 months or more. Subjects were volunteers who attended a North Texas public school system. Each subject was examined by an otolaryngologist. Age, height, weight, a hearing screening, and information on music classes and/or private music lessons were obtained. The speaking fundamental frequency measure was obtained by having each subject speak for 30 seconds on a subject of choice and read a passage of approximately 100 syllables. The vocal range measure was obtained by having each subject begin at an arbitrary pitch and sing mah and moo up the scale as high as possible and mah and moo down the scale as low as possible. These four measures were repeated with the researcher giving visual gestures. For singing-voice quality, each subject sang "America" in the key of her choice and again in the key of F major. Each subjects singing voice was rated according to breathiness. Data regarding self-perceptions of the singing and speaking voice were obtained through a rating assessment of 10 questions and a conversation with each subject. There were no significant differences between the means of the pre-meanarcheal and post-menarcheal girls on speaking fundamental frequency, physiological vocal range, and singing-voice quality. But, more of the post-menarcheal girls exhibited lower speaking pitches, lower singing ranges, and increased breathiness in their singing voices than did the pre-menarcheal girls. Two questions of the perceptions rating assessment were significant, with the post-menarcheal girls citing higher incidences of vocal inconsistencies than the pre-menarcheal girls. The findings of the qualitative data analysis indicated that more post-menarcheal girls had an adequate vocabulary to describe various aspects of their singing and speaking voices than did the pre-menarcheal girls.

The performer's conceptualisation and perception of herself is projected through the acoustic voice and impacts upon vocal delivery in rehearsal and performance. However, in the context of performer voice training in Western theatre practice the performer's sense of self, or identity, is seldom the focus of development. Vocal development is inherently a transformational process that requires the performer to expand beyond what has become habitual selfexpression. Since vocal expression is embedded in identity, an attempt to change the voice necessitates a deeper understanding, questioning, and challenging of the performer's established sense of self. In this dissertation I posit that acoustic vocal development can be successfully achieved through an embodied and imaginative approach that investigates the performer's metaphorical voice through learning opportunities provided by a process that integrates the practices of Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) and maskwork. This dissertation presents art-based autoethnographic research into the potential value of such an integrated approach to performer vocal development. The VMT maskwork approach is fundamentally an embodied and envoiced process that provides a vastly different and heightened experience of the bodymind and invites the performer to play in the liminal realm of active imagination, which is triggered by the mask-image. The dissertation investigates the vocal development benefits of using self-made masks as a psychophysical training tool to expand the performer's understanding and experience of the bodymind. The area of archetypes and subpersonalities has been identified as a primary intersection between the two modalities and three ways of working are proposed, either taking impulses from the image (mask-image and/or imagination), the body and its movement, or the voice. These three ways of working trigger the bodymind into a process of active imagination that evokes a creative and integrated mask-voice-body exploration of archetypes and/or subpersonalities. The process gives permission to, and provides a safe container for, the amplified expression of the extremes of self and voice. This dissertation offers a tri-phase VMT maskwork process structure, and highlights key steps for the VMT practitioner-led facilitation of such a process. It positions the mask as a useful transitional object which encourages reengagement with imagination, body, voice and emotion, and thus encourages an on-going and multi-layered reflection and investigation of self and voice is possible. The research showed that the integrated approach of VMT maskwork resulted in vocal expansion in all 10 of the VMT 10 vocal components; pitch, pitch fluctuation, loudness, glottal engagement, free air, disruption, violin, register, timbre and articulation. Apart from acoustic vocal expansion, the approach fostered expansion in the performer's metaphorical voice and resulted in improved grounding and confidence in performance. These conclusions support the research statement that VMT maskwork may be a valuable approach to vocal development in the context of theatre performer voice training. As researcher practitioner I hold that the embodied learning process of VMT maskwork exposes the performer to a vastly different experience of self, which fosters a process of self-reflexivity leading to personal meaning making, self-knowledge, the challenging of vocal habits, and ultimately, vocal transformation. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Drama / MA / Unrestricted

Research on voice change in males has generally fallen into two categories: music education studies of changes in the singing voice and speech studies of changes in the speaking voice. These studies rarely consider differences in the dynamic ability of male singers at different stages of vocal development. The concept of tessitura, a portion of the vocal range in which the singer sounds best, is referred to in the literature on vocal music, but the means for identifying its size and location within the range have not been consistently specified. Tessitura appears to be a portion of the range which is most controllable in terms of dynamics and agility and is optimal in tonal quality. This study used the phonetograph to investigate differences in measures of intensity control between pre-pubertal, pubertal (changing) and post-pubertal voices in 48 males aged 9 to 18 years old. These intensity measures were compared to ratings of vocal effort from a panel of 4 music educators in order to determine if tessitura could be identified from acoustic and perceptual evidence of an optimum vocal area. Results of the study were: 1) post-pubertal voices demonstrated greater control of vocal intensity as revealed in lower mean minimum and comfortable intensity measures, higher overall maximum intensity measures and a larger minimum-to-maximum intensity range; 2) intensity measures for pubertal voices were similar to those observed in pre-pubertal voices, contrary to trends suggested in the literature on voice change; 3) the Greatest Dynamic Range (GDR) on the phonetograph, indicating the range in which singers had the most dynamic control, was smaller than the range in which the singers were judged to sound best; 4) tessitura originated in the lower portion of the vocal range, around the location of mean speaking fundamental frequency. Although registers were not specifically investigated, tessitura appeared to be primarily related to modal register in singers who had completed voice change.