The Tupelo journal., 1915-10-22
The Child Voice
BY FRANCES E. A


The time to begin singing is obviously
at the time in the child's growth when
singing begins, which is in late infancy.
The vocal cords of a child at birth are
very weak, the walls of the larynx very
soft and lacking in rigidity, and the
throat is very tender.
From birth up to the age of six years
the vocal cords grow very rapidly, at
which time a length is reached which
remains with little change until the age
of puberty. The cords slowly increase
in strength, thickness and breadth until
about the age of Is, but the walls OF
the larynx remain very weak, the bands
small in size and the entire vocal appa-
ratus very tender.
These facts should guide the director
of the kindergarten, and the primary
and intermediate teacher in her effort
to safeguard the voices of her little
flock. The old way of permitting the
children to force their voices out of the
safe, natural tone, and to shout and
scream in their singing, or while play
ing a noisy game is most dangerous and
sure to do great harm to the little,
tender, immature vocal organs
A child develops the power of language
at Is months or two years, some preco-
cious ones a little earlier and the slow
ones a little later. The singing voice or
the music sense develops about two
years later. Many children do not de-
velop this power to produce the singing
voice until the age of five.
At five years, then, the age when
most children enter the kindergarten,
the vocal cords are just getting strong
enough to produce the singing tone, but
the aurai sense, or sense, or faculty OF
recognizing musical tone, is generally
not yet developed.
The ear, then, is the vital point OF
attack, as it were. Until the little ear
can distinguish pitch of tone, can tell
whether the voice or piano, in giving
intervals, is going "up" or down. 1T
is manifest that there can be no intelll-
gent singing.
Every child of normal physical growth
can learn to sing unless hindered by
some physical defect, malformation, or
affection of the ear or throat. Just as
one teaches a child to speak words by
repeating a dozen times mamma
papa" "baby, "kitty," etc, coaxing
the little one to try and repeat, so,
when we begin to train the ear to rec
ognize a tone or interval, and the voice
to initiate it, the interval must be sung
again and again, clearly and distinctly,
and the little learner must listen in
tently and ''give back" exactly the
tonal concept, single tone or interval,
in just the same way as he did in learn
ing to talk.
e are somechfiFdTer Who hear mn,
perfectly as there are some who see
imperfectly, but in the case of the ear
we may train IL TO keeher perception
by judicioUs, persistent, insistent tap
ping on the sensitive nerve and calling
upon it for response.
1t is the province of the kindergarten
to thus train and develop the sense OF
musical hearing, and to foster and cul-
tivate very tenderly the weak and deli
cate vocal cords that must reproduce
these tonal concepts.
1t is a great mistake to suppose that
all cultivation of the voice must be de-
ferred until maturity. While the vocal
organs of the little child are. as has
been said, extremely weak, the a is
at the point of its best development.
The old saying, Little pitchers have