I feel your pain, Dan.

 

For boys, it's the difference between those that sang through the voice change, and those that did not.  As the vocal musculature increases in mass, it takes time to master the fine motor skills that come with singing.  Obviously if the student sings while it is happening, it is easier to get a handle on.  If the voice changes, and, at some point later, the student tries to master it, it is a different creature indeed.

 

The number one thing for changing boys is getting them to hear what they can sing and what they can't.  

 

Even though it seems like they have no common notes between the changed and non-changed, that's where you have to start working from.

 

If you can work around G below middle C with small range exercises, it would be a good start to getting all your men on the same page.

 

Thomas Rickman

Greenbrier High School

Hi Dan - Welcome to the [wonderful] and [wacky] world of working with boys and their changing voices!  Only Mother Nature could make sense of all this!

 

Please reply back to me privately at wra(a)fbbctx.org and we can talk specifics.

 

Best,

 

Bill Adams

Fort Bend Boys Choir of Texas

www.fbbctx.org

wra(a)fbbctx.org

Mr. Adams is exactly right that, really, there is very little "explanation" to be had.  And, as Mr. Wickman says, often boys that sing before the voice change do have an easier time adjusting to their new voices because they already have some muscular coordination.  However, as the musculature increases in mass, all of their old skills will have to be relearned.

 

Another challenging thing with boys changing voices is the use of head voice.  Sometimes, I have students with limited bass ranges who continue to sing alto long after their "voice change" because it's easier for them.  Other guys lose their head voice entirely for a time and are stuck singing a very limited range, maybe only 6 or 7 pitches around or just under middle C.

 

There are some publishers who, in my opinion, do a pretty good job of writing pieces for boys changing voices in a mixed choir.  For example, my choir is currently working on "A Star Dances, An Angel Sings" by Greg Gilpin published by Heritage Music Press for SAB voices.  In this piece, the baritone pitches are very repetitive and the range is only from G3 to D4, well within the range of most changing voices.  There are others by Heritage, as well as Alfred and Hal Leonard, which use limited range baritones which my guys are singing very successfully.

 

William Southerland

Thompson Middle School

"Only God can make a tree", the same is true of the changing voice. I was fortunate to attend multiple lecture/demonstrations by Dr. Cooksey at an ACDA Convention held in Philadelphia, and Bob Zazzara from Ithaca College. Since then, I have had good success with shepharding changing voices. Keeping the singers informed about what they will experience is very important.

 When I first audition a boy, I ask him to count from 20 to 1. He may have to repeat this until you have found the "Chanting Tone": that pitch on which the monotonous

counting has settled.

 Once this Chanting Tone has been discovered, then you will have a good, general idea of where to start. You will also have some idea by the appearance of the boy.

If he has even notional facial hair, the brew is at least simmering.

  The following are the guidlines which I have used. These have proven to be fairly predictive.

 

If the boy Chants at G below middle C, the voice is not changed. Essentially, the voice will have the characteristics of a girls voice. The range may be quite high and encompass a range of up to two ocataves. There will be no falsetto.

 

When the Chanting Tone slides down to around E, the voice has begun to change. The range may have shortend from the top; perhaps even middle C and above do not work. Still no falsetto.

 

This is the most critical area of change.When the Chanting Tone settles around the lower C, things get really dicey. Most often,the notes from G below middle C and above are gone! and there may be a sort of low G. There is NOTHING one should do to force these lost notes. Essentialy the poor boy has a range of 6 notes.

It is critical, however, that the singer, HEAR these notes when the appear in the music. If the boy can hear the notes, they will appear as the voice develops. Getting the singer though this is extremely important. This is the time the "growlers" develop. If the BOY chants below low G, greater difficulties in developing a full range will certainly occur.

 

Often the voice will settle at the lower B-Bb. Youthful tenors may stay there for a long time while Young Baritones will Chant at low G. At this point, the voices are ready to develop but may not settle until the young man is sixteen or so. I have had so many gentlemen not settle until their Junior year but I have had great retention of these singers because they knew where their voices were going.

 

Eventually, the men will all settle at low G and the voice will settle and develop. Consistently, my singers would possess a consistent range from low G to F. Tenors may have B-a. I have had a few basses with pedal A-high g (scary).

 

Now, these predictive Chanting Tones are different than the adult  passaggio notes. These occur, in the male voice generally around middle C to the e above.  The e will most often be the top not for the baritones, the g above for the tenor top note. For all voices, the approach to the passaggio is extremely important in that if there is "pushing" or thickening of the tone, there will be a great deal of tension and the tone will "crack". Technique is the issue here, not stages of puberty. 

S

 

 

Hi, Dan.  As others have said, you can't predict and you have to take each changing voice individually.

 

I have not worked with these voices, just to keep this honest, but my late wife certainly did in her youth choir at church.  (Youth, in this case, defined as from 8 or 9, depending on social maturity, through the end of high school.)

 

Some boys sank gradually, losing a halfstep on top and gaining one on the bottom.  Some sank gradually but kept their upper voices and could continue to sing along with the trebles on unison anthems (and this included both of our own sons, one of whom is now a professional countertenor).  But a small percentage simply crashed and burned, and even with personal and loving help could not find any singing voice at all, sometimes for a matter of years!  (That was the case with two brothers, one of whom crashed and the other of whom sank gradually; they are now both basses like their father.)

 

Since ALL these boys were singing regularly before their change (as in one rehearsal and one full family church service every week during the school year), I can't agree that singing guarantees a successful transition.

 

I like Stephen's very detailed suggestions, and they sound both realistic and effective.

 

As to the available arrangements, I have to say that my wife never worried about them.  Whe the boys started sinking, she simply wrote a new part for them, and revised it whenever necessarly (sometimes on a weekly basis!).  So she created parts for HER boys and THEIR voices, not arbitrary "baritone" or "cambiata" parts that didn't fit any particular voices very well.  Of course it didn't hurt that she was a composition major and very creative!

 

It sounds as if you could use some specialized workshops with top-notch people.  I'm a bit out of touch, so can anyone recommend specific experts?

 

John