Once again I was underwhelmed by a Christmas Sing concert at my grandson's school. In fact, I was very disturbed hearing most of the Elementary School classes singing to pre-recorded music with vocals. Why would that be a good thing? Don't we, the parents, grandparents and interested others, come to hear our own children do the singing? This can be irritating to view the program where the little children cannot even match pitches with the pre-recorded vocals!!!!
The Kindergarteners were first. They looked cute, but couldn't match pitch. They sang a song that was very repetitive and used just the lowest five notes of the major scale. That is a good idea since little children have trouble matching pitches beyond an octave. However, those 5 notes were TOO LOW for them. A G below Middle C is 'way too low for 5 year olds!!! Any notes below Middle C are too low for that young of children.
First graders were next. They sang a rap song and did cute actions, but also could not match pitch. Their song used just six pitches, but also most were below Middle C. Obviously, the songs were in a comfortable range for the adult teachers, but not for the children. Like the Kindergarteners, they basically yelled in monotone. No wonder the teachers thought they should use the vocal track of the song.
There were just two grades that actually sang without a vocal track and they actually sang songs that fit their vocal ranges. The 6th graders were grown-up enough that they could sing in a broader range. Then, the 2nd graders sang a song that was pitched appropriately for them -- one octave between Middle C and Treble C.
I just wonder why songs labeled FOR CHILDREN would even be pitched out of their range in the first place. It doesn't do the children any favors to have them shout in monotone and not even try to learn to MATCH PITCHES.
The Kindergarteners were first. They looked cute, but couldn't match pitch. They sang a song that was very repetitive and used just the lowest five notes of the major scale. That is a good idea since little children have trouble matching pitches beyond an octave. However, those 5 notes were TOO LOW for them. A G below Middle C is 'way too low for 5 year olds!!! Any notes below Middle C are too low for that young of children.
First graders were next. They sang a rap song and did cute actions, but also could not match pitch. Their song used just six pitches, but also most were below Middle C. Obviously, the songs were in a comfortable range for the adult teachers, but not for the children. Like the Kindergarteners, they basically yelled in monotone. No wonder the teachers thought they should use the vocal track of the song.
There were just two grades that actually sang without a vocal track and they actually sang songs that fit their vocal ranges. The 6th graders were grown-up enough that they could sing in a broader range. Then, the 2nd graders sang a song that was pitched appropriately for them -- one octave between Middle C and Treble C.
I just wonder why songs labeled FOR CHILDREN would even be pitched out of their range in the first place. It doesn't do the children any favors to have them shout in monotone and not even try to learn to MATCH PITCHES.
The contrast of the lighter, higher voices of children against the lower, heavier voices of adults can be so charming. This recording of "The Christmas Alphabet" is from our family Christmas show. Our little kids and grandkids may not have come in right on time or sung the right words, but they could certainly MATCH PITCHES!
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