Date of Award

7-1-1992

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Music (MMUS)

Department

Music

First Advisor

Dr. Z. Randall Stroope

Abstract

"The technique of warming up the voice should be a major part of any systematic vocal pedagogy. Every singer needs to have an established warm-up procedure”. (Miller 22) "Often, the only place a young singer can receive frequent [vocal] instruction is in the school choral rehearsal, and without regular, supervised practice and guidance, the adolescent singer has little chance of developing a quality instrument". (Wilson 42) "Good vocal pedagogy is essential". (Allen 29) "A persistent problem in music education is that many never learn to use their singing voices confidently", states Dr. Kenneth Phillips. ("Training the Child Voice" 19) The purpose of this investigation was to study the effects of vocal exercises on the range, respiration, and pitch accuracy of seventh-grade students. These exercises were practiced for the first ten minutes of every forty minute class, five times a week, for a period of fourteen weeks. The experimental design provided for pretesting posttesting with an experimental and control group. A stratified random sample was drawn from seventh-grade chorus members of Kim Junior High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Each group contained 35 students. Students were pretested individually for their range, respiration, and pitch accuracy. Training consisted of a fourteen­ week experimental treatment with testing at the beginning and again at the end of the fourteen weeks. The researcher conducted the exercises for the experimental group for ten minutes of each forty minute rehearsal. The control group did not rehearse vocal exercises. A test was given to both groups at the end of the fourteen weeks for vocal range to record changes. There was also a test given in respiration for breath control, as measured by a stopwatch for the amount of time a student can sustain an "s" sound, (Appendix B, page 2 #6) and breath capacity as measured by a multi-spirometer for the peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and forced vital capacity (FVC). The third test was for pitch accuracy. Students were asked to sing "America" (Appendix D, page 2) and were judged for the accuracy of the forty-one pitches. A ordinal scale of "one" through "five" was used, with “five" being the ability to match all pitches accurately, and "one" as less than ten accurate pitches. This study was designed to answer the following research question: Will vocal exercises, practiced 50 minutes a week for fourteen weeks, have an effect on the range, respiration, and pitch accuracy of seventh grade students? To determine the. effect of vocal exercises on the increased range, respiration, and pitch accuracy of seventh-grade students, the following null and alternative hypotheses were tested: 1. There will be no significant difference in the range of the control group and experimental group after fourteen weeks of vocal exercises. 1a. There will be a significant difference in the increased range of the experimental group as opposed to the control group. 2. There will be no significant difference in ·the breath capacity of the experimental and control group after fourteen weeks of vocal exercises. 2a. There will be a significant difference in the increased breath capacity of the -experimental group as opposed to the control group. 3. There will be no significant difference in the breath control of the experimental and control group after fourteen weeks of vocal exercises. 3a. There will be a significant difference in the increased breath control of the experimental group as opposed to the control group. 4. There will be no significant difference in the pitch accuracy of the experimental and control group after fourteen weeks of vocal exercises. 4a. There will be a significant difference in the pitch accuracy of the experimental group as opposed to the control group. As a result of this study the following conclusions were drawn: In the area of pitch accuracy there was not a significant difference between the experimental and control groups as a result of fourteen weeks of vocal exercises. There was a significant difference in the increased range, breath capacity and breath control of the experimental as opposed to the control group as a result of fourteen weeks of exercises. These conclusions support the need for progressive, well-established vocal exercises to be used consistently at the seventh-grade level.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Music and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Music University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright 1992 Monica Jones Cox.

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