AIRS 2nd Annual Meeting: 2010

Title: Development of singing: A critical review and directions for future research
Authors: Rayna H. Friendly (McMaster University), Laurel Trainor (McMaster University)

Abstract

Introduction: Singing, like speech, is a universal human behavior. Yet, we know little about its
development. In this paper, we review literature about singing development and begin to
define a direction for future research. A thorough literature review has revealed many
inconsistent findings and limitations to our current understanding of children’s abilities. First,
we are limited in what we know about the developmental trajectory of singing in terms of how
accuracy and precision improve with age. Second, we have limited knowledge about the factors
that influence the development of singing ability. Third, we have limited knowledge about the
type and timing of vocal training that would be most effective for teaching children how to sing.
Fourth, we have a limited knowledge about the best ways to go about measuring singing ability
in children.Fifth, we have limited knowledge about the relationship between vocal perception
and production in children’s ability to sing. This relationship is important to understand
because it can indicate whether poor singers have a deficit in perception, production, both, or
neither.
Aim: The aim of this study is to highlight some of the limitations and possible reasons for
opposing findings in the singing development literature. This can help us develop effective
methods to objectively assess the singing abilities of young children at varying ages. Factors
that will be considered include methodological limitations, conflicting ideas as to what should
be measured, how recorded singing samples should be analyzed, and whether or not there
might be sensitive periods during development when vocal training is critical to singing
development in children.
Main: Contributions to AIRS Findings from this review will be particularly useful for future
investigations and collaborations from the AIRS initiative. We will propose methodologies that
can be effectively used by members of AIRS, as well as other researchers interested in singing
development, to measure singing in children, investigate whether there are critical ages for
maximal effects of musical experience, and also investigate if there are differential effects of this
experience at different ages throughout development.

 Implications: Discovering whether there are periods during the development of singing when
children are particularly sensitive to vocal training and musical experience can have major
implications for music education. This review will pinpoint methods that will be the most
useful in assessing children’s singing abilities. Future studies and AIRS members can then use
these methods to investigate the type and timing of vocal instruction that will lead to optimal
singing development later in life, and inform the way we approach teaching children to sing.