AIRS 3rd Annual Meeting: 2013

Title: Singing ranges of Icelandic 5-6-year-olds: Data collected using the AIRS battery of singing
skill
Authors: Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir (University of Iceland and BRAMS)

Abstract

According to research the size of a child’s or an occasional singer’s vocal range is highly
correlated with singing accuracy. The larger the singing range the more likely it is that the
individual can sing a song with good pitch accuracy. Existing research also suggests that young
children’s singing ranges may be very small, or about 4 semitones when they attempt to sing
standard songs with words. The present study applied pitch analysis using the Melodyne
software to determine the singing range of 5-6-year-old (N = 36) Icelandic children singing
standard songs. The data was collected using the AIRS test battery of singing skills and the item
chosen for analysis was the singing of favorite song. The average range of the songs chosen by
the children was 10.28 semitones and the average singing range used by the children was 8.44
semitones. The results indicate that the singing range of Icelandic children is larger than
previously reported for children of the same age, at least when singing a self chosen song.