Annotated Bibliography

The Changing Voice

Duffy. (1970). Description and Perception of Frequency Breaks (Voice Breaks) in

Adolescent Female Speakers. Language and Speech, 13(3), 151–161.

https://doi.org/10.1177/002383097001300302

This study sought to understand the frequency of voice breaks in adolescent females.

The study involved 24 girls ages 11, 13, and 15, and among the girls, the most voice

breaks occurred at age 13. These breaks were slight, not as perceptible as an

adolescent male voice break. The breaks also corresponded with harsh registers in the

girls’ voices.

Gackle, L. (1991). The Adolescent Female Voice: Characteristics of Change and Stages of

Development. The Choral Journal, 31(8), 17–25.

This article describes the process of the female voice change, breaking it down into

three stages. The change centers around the onset of menstruation, with the most

apparent changes happening at that time. During the time of change, female students

may experience a loss of range and some discomfort while singing. The article gives

ranges that the teacher may expect to see and ways for the teacher to diagnose what

may be happening with the child’s voice.

Pritchard, T. (2017). Changing Voice, Changing Landscape. The Choral Journal, 58(5), 51–

59. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26412918

Though it is generally accepted that male students should sing through their vocal

change, this article examines the needs of students who do not sing through the

change, but begin to sing again after the first stages of the change are complete.

Generally, these students struggle to match pitch more than their peers who did sing

through the change, and so the author has developed a technique for helping these
 students to learn to control their voices and match pitch. She begins by using sirens,

then guides them to find A4. After students can sing A4, they learn to sing A3, then

work on vocal exercises between these two notes. This learning takes time, but pays

dividends, as the students’ range will expand throughout the year.

Thompson, B. (1995). It is only a phase: teaching adolescents. The American Music Teacher,

45(1), 22–25, 72. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43542862

This article talks through the experiences and capabilities of the adolescent student,

and offers encouragement for the teacher who wants to work with them. The author

emphasized that the students are pushing boundaries, trying to understand themselves

and others around them. A successful teacher of adolescents maintains structure and

high expectations, and works with the students to set and obtain their goals.

Thurman, L. (2012). Boys’ changing voices: What do we know now? The Choral Journal,

52(9), 8–21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23560699

This article explains the research findings of several people who studied the male

changing voice. The findings generally agreed, but with some differences. Covered in

the article were Cooper, Cooksey, and other researchers. They found five or six stages

of development, and noted that some males will go through a period of time when

they will not be able to make any sound in some parts of their register. The studies

also sought to connect the change in voice with other changes that occur in the male

body during puberty.

Multicultural Teaching

Blair, D., & Kondo, S. (2008). Bridging Musical Understanding through Multicultural

Musics. Music Educators Journal, 94(5), 50–55.

https://doi.org/10.1177/00274321080940050111
 This article cautions the reader to teach music of other cultures in ways that are

respectful to the foreign culture and the home culture. The biggest way to do this is to

help the students connect with the music through avenues that they understand, such

as finding the beat, phrases, or melodic contour. The article finished by explaining

that every culture has an “accent”, or things that are unique to that culture but are

unrecognized by its members. Teaching music from other cultures requires that the

teacher be aware of the other culture and of the perspective of her students’ culture

that will influence the way they understand the new music.

Goodkin, D. (1994). Diverse Approaches to Multicultural Music: Doug Goodkin provides

methods for highlighting both the diversity and the similarities of the world’s musics.

Music Educators Journal, 81(1), 39–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/3398797

In this article, the author explained ways that he provides music of other cultures for

his students to learn. He often will pick a theme, and introduce pieces from many

cultures based around that theme. Approaching multicultural music this way allows

his students to see the links between cultures that unite humankind.

Greschner, D. (2021). Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction and Vocal

Repertoire [Review of Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction and

Vocal Repertoire]. Journal of Singing, 78(1), 135–136. National Association of

Teachers of Singing. https://doi.org/10.53830/VOIA9550

This is a book review of Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction and

Vocal Repertoire, written by Katherine Chu and Juliet Petrus. The first half of the

book is dedicated to explaining the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese, including

both IPA and Pinyin pronunciations. The book focuses particularly on sounds that are

not present in the English language. The second half of the book gives an overview of

vocal music in China’s history, and includes a list of over 100 Chinese songs.
Lee, D. K. (2020). A Study of “Jeongseon Arirang” by Min-Hyeong Lee: Elements of

Korean Traditional Folk Music. The Choral Journal, 61(4), 63–74.

This article presents an overview of Korean vocal music and of Arirang specifically,

from the perspective of the choral work Jeongseon Arirang, by Min-Hyeong Lee. The

article explains how Lee used traditional aspects of Korean vocal music in his

arrangement, as well as explaining the history and meaning behind the song. This is a

helpful resource for anyone intending to perform Arirang, whether or not they use

Lee’s arrangement.

Parr, C. (2006). Eight Simple Rules for Singing Multicultural Music. Music Educators

Journal, 93(1), 34–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/002743210609300121

In this article, the author provides eight suggested rules to follow when seeking to

engage with music from other cultures. He suggested that directors focus on one

culture at a time, listen to a variety of music from that culture, give performers

context about the culture of the piece, look for authentic sources of information,

perform the song its original language and enlist the help of a native speaker, teach

the song as it would be taught in the culture, and do not be afraid to leave your

comfort zone.

Tiemstra, S. (2001). Far and Beyond: Resources for Unusual Multicultural Music. The

Choral Journal, 41(8), 59–67.

This article is a list of resources that contain information and ideas for performing

music of diverse cultures. The article is quite old, so some of the websites are no

longer available. The article also includes resources for pronunciation of various

languages through the IPA.

 Yeh, N., & Kuo-Huang, H. (1983). Vocal Music of Contemporary China [Review of Vocal

Music of Contemporary China]. Ethnomusicology, 27(3), 568–569. Society for

Ethnomusicology, Inc. https://doi.org/10.2307/850674

This article is a review of an old set of recordings, compiled, edited, and notated by

Han Kuo-Huang. The first volume contains music of the Han Chinese, and the second

volume contains music of four ethnic minority groups in China: Uighur, Kazakh,

Mongol, and Dong. The recordings were made in China before the Cultural revolution

and accompanying information is given about each song.

The African-American Spiritual

Armstrong, A, & Willoughby, J. (2007). Other Perspectives: Interview with Dr. Anton

Armstrong and Prof. Judith Willoughby. In Thomas, A. (Ed.) Way Over in Beulah

Lan’: Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual. (pp. 177-197). Heritage

Music Press.

In this interview, the two authors each provide their perspective on common questions

the conductor might have on performing a slave song or spiritual. The chapter covers

topics such as the history and categories of the slave song, choosing appropriate

arrangements of the song, issues to consider in interpretation of the arrangement, how

to approach diction and dialect, finding the correct tone, performing the spiritual

outside the USA, and more.

Barber, F. (2018). Gaining perspective. The Choral Journal, 58(7), 24-33.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26412946

This article summarizes the author’s research into the issue of dialect in performance

of the slave song. The author found three dialects that were common in the early

nineteenth century: Louisiana Creole, Gullah languages, and African American

 English (AAE). Most of her research focused on AAE. She began by examining the

earliest sources of the dialect, then worked forward to produce guidance for

performing this dialect using the IPA.

Buchanan, Mehaffey, M., Abrahams, F., Armstrong, A., Flummerfelt, J., Morton, G., Noble,

W., Jordan, J. M., McCoy, J., & Scheibe, J.-M. (2005). Teaching music through

performance in choir. GIA Publications.

This chapter, written by well-known choral conductor Dr. Anton Armstrong, gives

Armstrong’s thoughts on the performance of the slave song or spiritual. Armstrong

gives his thoughts on the history of this music, the development of the spiritual, the

categories of slave song, and issues of performance practice. He shares how he

navigates the issues of authenticity and integrity in performance, and his perspective

on this is valuable for anyone performing the spiritual.

Gillis, D. A. (2021). African American Spirituals in the Public-School Choral Ensemble: Our

Most Powerful Weapon Against Racism. The Choral Journal, 62(3), 50–57.

https://ezproxy.northern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct

=true&db=a9h&AN=152410149&site=ehost-live

In this article, the author argues that performance of the spiritual by singers of any

ethnicity will bring human beings closer together and offer healing. In the article, she

states that telling a Caucasian person not to sing spirituals is like telling a person of

color not to sing Italian madrigals. The author gives some considerations for

performance practice, and says that an uninformed performance of a spiritual does as

much damage as not singing them at all.

Lloyd, T. (2004). “Shout all over God’s heaven!” How the African-American spiritual has

maintained its integrity in the face of social and musical changes. The Choral Journal,

45(1), 9-25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23555217

 This article documents the history of the performance of the spiritual, partially by

following the history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The article examines ways that

African-American music was both celebrated and mocked, and explains how the

music began to be accepted over a long period of time. The author closes by making a

case for why the music should be performed today by all people, not only those who

have this music as part of their ancestry.

Classical and Popular Repertoire

Abbott, B. (2005). Hallelujah! Recommended Sacred Choral Repertoire from Canadian

Composers. The Choral Journal, 46(4), 81-83. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23556047

This article is promoting a series of publications of sacred choral music by Canadian

composers. The article also includes specific recommendations of five works that are

included in the publication. Along with other details, the article describes the voicing

of each piece and the performance considerations that a director will want to know

before programing the piece.

Edwin, R. (2012). Repertoire for Child Singers. Journal of Singing, 68(4), 443-444.

The author, a vocal coach who has many young students, offers his thoughts on the

choice of popular music for young singers. Many of his students come to the studio

requesting music by popular artists, and the author explained that he vetoes much

popular music because it is not appropriate for a pre-teen girl to be singing, as the

sensual content does not connect with them. Instead, the author suggested many

popular songs and songs from Broadway that are appropriate for this age level.

Hock, M., & Lister, L. (2019). Choral Music Composed by Women. American Choral

Directors Association, 59(10), 8-19. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26662748

 This article is a list of many prominent female composers, beginning from the

Renaissance and spanning to modern choral composers. The authors give a brief

biography of each woman and explain how she has contributed to the choral

repertoire. Composers are organized by time period, then for modern composers, by

nationality or ethnicity.

Kallio, A.A. (2017). Popular “problems”: Deviantization and teachers’ curation of popular

music. International Journal of Music Education, 35(3) 319–332. DOI:

o0r.g1/107.171/0772/50527556716411471772255262.

This is a study conducted in Finland, to find out how music teachers make decisions

about which popular music should and should not be included in the music classroom.

The authors interviewed several dozen teachers and asked them questions about what

music they include or do not include, and how they reach those decisions. They found

that teachers based their decisions on the lyrics, imagery, mood, and emotions of the

music. The study concluded by questioning the authority that music teachers have as

gatekeepers of music education, saying that music educators need to understand the

reasons why they include some music and exclude other music.

Kim, Y. J., & Song, M. K. (2020). Exploring teachers’ approaches to popular music:

Attitudes, learning practice, and issues in South Korea. International Journal of

Music Education, 38(3) 456–469. DOI: 10.1177/0255761420919570

This article is a study conducted in South Korea, to understand the attitudes of music

teachers who have increasingly been including popular music in their classrooms. The

study found that teachers felt either positively, neutral, or negatively towards the

inclusion of popular music, but those who spend more time on popular music in the

classroom were more likely to feel positively about teaching popular music. Overall,

the authors of the study thought that the teachers viewed popular music as having less
 educational value, which they contribute to a lack of focus on popular music during

teacher training.

Torkelson, L. (1994). Accessible choral works for the developing high school choir. Melisma.

The author provides a list of repertoire that is appropriate for the intermediate high

school choir. Works are separated by time period, and list the title, composer,

publisher, voicing, and notes as necessary.

Viney, L., & Blom, D. (2014). Preparing stylistically challenging contemporary classical

repertoire for performance: Interpreting Kumari. International Journal of Music

Education, 33(1) 66–79. DOI: 10.1177/0255761414528435

This article is a description of the learning process that each author took when

learning the piece Kumari, by Ross Edwards. The authors documented their learning

process in the hope that other learners of contemporary classical repertoire would find

the article helpful for their own learning process. Though Kumari is a piano piece, the

authors stated that a similar process could be followed by those learning any

instrumental or choral work. The authors followed a similar five step process to learn

the piece: understand the composer, know the score, establish its parameters, make

connections based on other pieces of music, and seek the perspective of others in the

field.

Warm-ups

Brendell. (1997). Vocal Development in the Choral Rehearsal: An Interview with Nancy

Telfer. The Choral Journal, 38(2), 27–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23551564

This is an interview with Nancy Telfer, a choral conductor from Canada. When Telfer

warm-ups a choir, she focuses on the musicians’ voices, minds, and ears. She spoke

of the importance of engaging and developing the vocal musicals that are not used for
 speaking, but are used to sing correctly. She also wants her singers to be

independently able to adjust and sing well, but also aware of their membership in the

group and able to balance and follow the conductor. She said that it is the conductor’s

job to give feedback and communicate what he/she is hearing to the group. She also

uses movement and imagery in her warm-ups to reinforce the technique necessary to

get a good quality sound.

Demorest. (1993). Customizing Choral Warmups. The Choral Journal, 33(7), 25–28.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/23548581.

In this article Demorest explained how the choral warm-up is not only good for vocal

development, but also for isolating elements of the repertoire that are particularly

challenging. One of the easiest ways to do this is to take a traditional exercise and

vary it in style or form so that the singers are producing the same color of sound as

they are required to produce in the repertoire. Another way to isolate an element

during the warm-up period is create a new warm-up that uses the rhythms, harmonies,

or other difficult elements from the repertoire. Demorest provided examples of how

both approaches might be accomplished.

Gilbert, N. (1998). Musica Practica. The Choral Journal, 38(10), 65–71.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/23547528

This is a forum where Gilbert answers questions from the choral community. This

particular article focuses on the purpose of the warm-up and how it can have several

objectives. She especially focused on the warm-ups that train the musicians to sing

intervals and harmony, and she gave several examples of warm-ups that could be used

for this purpose.

 Montemayor, Silvey, B. A., Adams, A. L., & Witt, K. L. (2016). Effects of Internal and

External Focus of Attention During Novices’ Instructional Preparation on Subsequent

Rehearsal Behaviors. Journal of Research in Music Education, 63(4), 455–468.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429415612201

This was a study conducted to determine whether it is better to focus on score study

(internal) or to focus on ways to improve teaching (external). Undergraduate music

education students were divided into two groups, and both groups were observed

conducting rehearsals after either external or internal preparation. The study found

that each group performed well in different areas, and it was difficult to rank one

group above the other. Generally, the external study group outperformed the internal

group by the way that they led the rehearsal, for example, by talking less or playing

shorter passages. But the internal study group outperformed the external group in

areas of musicality, especially by addressing issues of blend and tone. The authors

concluded that both types of preparation are necessary for a teacher to do.

Sneed, B. B. (2000). On The Voice: Teaching Good Breath Technique: It Starts in the

Warmup. The Choral Journal, 40(9), 51–55.

In this article, Sneed explains that a strong vocal warm-up should begin by focusing

on the breath. Directors can use this time to teach breathing techniques, especially

deep breathing and breathing without tension. Many common vocal problems,

including breathiness and poor intonation, can be improved when breath support is

improved. Sneed provided several breathing exercises that can be used in the choral

warm-up sequence.

Stegman. (2003). Choral Warm-ups: Preparation to Sing, Listen, and Learn. Music

Educators Journal, 89(3), 37–58. https://doi.org/10.2307/3399856

 In this article Stegman communicates the importance of the vocal warm-up, and

wants teachers to feel like they can include a short warm-up at the beginning of

rehearsal that will be worth their time. Stegman uses warm-ups that prepare her

singers to sing, listen, and learn. She included multiple examples of warm-ups that

meet the stated objectives of breath management, vocal production, vowel formation,

tone development, range development, listening, singing intervals, and enunciation.

Score Study

Blue, T. (2018). Preparation, Practice, Performance, and Pondering: A Different Approach to

Score Preparation. The Choral Journal, 58(7), 69–80.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26412952

In this article Blue outlines the process of selecting and rehearsing choral music with

broad brush strokes. He emphasizes many considerations of repertoire selection, most

of which could be summarized by saying that one should chose a variety of repertoire

that gives an appropriate challenge to the musicians. He included brief thoughts on

the warm-up process, most notably that he uses mind and concentration games as part

of his routine. He goes on to offer a few suggestions of repertoire, and to encourage

performances that engage students with the community. He finishes by pondering the

purpose of choral education, which he believes is to explore new experiences through

community and the arts.

Hillis, M., & Shrock, D. (1991). An interview with Margaret Hillis: On score study. The

Choral Journal, os-31(7), 7-12. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23547858

This article is an interview of Margaret Hillis, a choral conductor recognized for her

achievements in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. Hillis

discussed the importance of score study and outlined the ways that she marks her
 score and the musicians’ parts, and how she then plans her rehearsals after she

understands the score. After observing the score, she marks harmonic functions,

phrases, dynamics and tempo, and melodic material, using a color-coded system.

Bolder colors represent strong textures, and softer colors represent softer textures.

Orman, Price, H. E., & Russell, C. R. (2017). Feasibility of Using an Augmented Immersive

Virtual Reality Learning Environment to Enhance Music Conducting Skills. Journal

of Music Teacher Education, 27(1), 24–35.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083717697962

This study sought to understand whether or not virtual reality technology could be

used to train undergraduate musicians to conduct. The study focused on physical

gestures, torso movements, and eye contact, determining whether or not the students’

conducting improved after having sessions of practice using a virtual reality headset.

The researchers found that the students who had the most immersive experience in the

headset improved their gestures, movement, and eye contact the most.