Submitted by Norm Sands, La Joya, Texas

Idea posted March 21, 2014

Others may have differing thoughts, but this is my philosophy that has developed over the decades.

Young students are often quite capable of matching pitch at the octave. One of the early goals in music is being able to identify various voices, including the male singing voice. If a student is consistently hearing an adult male sing in falsetto, they will start to think (erroneously) that this is what a "male singing voice" sounds like. That being said, this is my process:

  1. Sing naturally when echo singing. If you notice problems, that is the time to address them. Talk about the difference and then demonstrate a short example by singing in the natural voice, then singing the same pattern in falsetto to illustrate the octave difference.
  2. If they're still not quite getting it, try to sing back to them what it sounds like when they are echoing. (We get a good laugh with this one.) While praise is important in teaching, it's also important to let students know when they're not singing correctly. Just telling them may not be good enough; they need to "hear what you mean." Sometimes an interim step is to try to match them: if you're singing so-mi on G-E but the students are singing back somewhere around D-B, move your pitch down to match them, then gradually raise it by half steps.
  3. If problems persist, echo sing while playing an instrument (I use piano) in their octave as they sing their part, eventually trying to remove the instrument.
  4. If it's still not happening, find a child who can echo back at the octave and use that child as the model. Another fun trick I use is the blessing of having the "vocal practice" tracks that come with the textbook series. I will use those to demonstrate me singing, then I use the play/pause on the iPod/iPad to show what it sounds like when children are echoing my voice at the octave. I'll also use this to support them if they're uncertain singers as a group when we are learning a new song.
  5. Then, if all else fails, use falsetto.

Note the location of falsetto in the hierarchy here - it's a LAST RESORT. I will take a moment to note that I have one fierce falsetto, but it needs to be used only at appropriate times. The reason I avoid using it is not because I can't - indeed I can - but I don't want my kiddos thinking that's what an adult male voice sounds like.

- Norm Sands, Tabasco Elementary School