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speaking. In changed male voices, the chest voice is gaging the belt voice and may help develop their head
the typical singing voice. One common habit among voices. If these singers resist singing soprano, be sure
unchanged adolescent singers is to extend the chest to include a lot of vocal exercises for the whole choir
voice into the range of the head voice. This is referred that extend the upper range. Choose at least one selec-
to as “belting” and may be a result of the vocal style tion per concert in which the altos and sopranos switch
heard in popular music. According to Kenneth Sipley, parts and/or have them switch parts frequently when
“Adopting popular singers as vocal models can have se- sight-reading. Make certain not to place belt voice sing-
rious consequences for the young singer. It will have ers next to each other in the rehearsal/performance
the immediate effect of limiting vocal range and the arrangement. These singers, who likely do not blend
types of music the student can sing.” Although some well, may be best placed toward the back of the choir.
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young adolescents can belt with a healthy technique, To help mask their tone quality, put singers who have a
the louder tones associated with chest/belt voice sing- more lyrical sound in front of them.
ing usually do not blend well in choral singing. Helping
students develop their head voice using straw phona-
tion (closing the lips around a straw while humming or Eight.
performing an /u/), lip trills, and the above-mentioned Provide Positive Choral Models
resonance-building exercises will aid young singers in
connecting the chest voice to the head voice and devel- For young singers to fully understand good choral
oping a more mixed vocal tone. tone, they need to hear it. It can also be beneficial to
Straw phonation and lip trills are semi-occluded have students listen to choirs whose tone is not optimal.
vocal tract exercises. According to Jeremy Manter- Playing only the audio of these examples will prevent
nach, Lynn Maxfield, and Matthew Schloneger, “All students from ridiculing other choirs and will ensure
of these exercises create a narrowing and/or length- they are listening to the singing and not evaluating
ening in the vocal tract—the space between the vocal what they see. Have students complete an evaluation as
folds (a.k.a. vocal cords) and the exit of the mouth or they are listening. An example rubric is included in Ta-
nose. That narrowing creates an increase in pressure ble 3 on the next page. The use of a three-level rating
in the vocal tract.” This increased pressure helps the will be easier for beginner singers and will help them
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vocal cords function more efficiently and can benefit stay focused. Extend the rubric to five levels for more
the entire range of the voice. Additionally, have sing- advanced singers. If you choose to show videos, adding
ers perform vocal slides or glissandos beginning in the “Posture” as one of the criteria might be helpful. Be-
upper range, encouraging them to ease into their chest fore asking singers to individually evaluate choirs, they
voice. Changed-voice singers or those working through should have experience listening followed by group dis-
the change will benefit from these exercises as well. En- cussions and evaluations. Recording your choirs and
courage them to begin the higher exercises in their fal- having singers evaluate their own singing is certainly
setto, easing into their chest voice. beneficial and will help them in their quest to develop a
Those singers who come from a heavy background beautiful tone quality.
in theater or pop singing may have trouble making the
transition to a lighter vocal sound or may resist making
any vocal technique changes. Educating students about Closing
the voice, the benefits of efficient, healthy singing, and Educating and training students to sing with a beau-
providing them with good choral models (discussed in tiful tone quality is challenging. It will take encourage-
number eight) should help. Proper voice placement ment from you and time! In my years as a middle school
of these singers in the choir may also help with cho- choral director, I found it important to constantly re-
ral blend and tone. Rather than having them sing alto, view and re-teach all music concepts including vocal
which is a typical placement for belt singers, experi- development and tone building. Bridget Sweet, in her
ment with soprano. This may prevent them from en- book Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School

CHORAL JOURNAL May 2025 Volume 65 Number 8 15