This study compared the effects of male timbre, falsetto, and sine-wave models on pitch-matching skills of inaccurate boy versus girl singers in Grades K—8. Subjects were 216 inaccurate singers in Grades K-8 ( n = 12 boys and 12 girls from each grade). They were presented descending minor thirds sung by a tenor and a bass in their regular octaves (G3—E3) and in falsetto (G4—E4), as well as two sine-wave stimuli in the same octaves. Subjects were recorded singing back the presented intervals. The recordings were digitized and analyzed for pitch and interval cent deviation. Responses to male stimuli were more accurate than were responses to sine waves. Girls responded more accurately to higher stimuli, and boys responded more accurately to lower stimuli. The octaves of the stimuli also affected the octaves of the responses, and the subjects had a tendency to sing intervals that were larger rather than smaller than the minor-third models.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a vertically-arranged keyboard instrument by the uncertain singer as a means of improving his or her vocal performance, and to compare this improvement with that of (1) students who received the same remedial instruction, but modified to include the use of a horizontal-keyboard instrument, and (2) students who were taught in the conventional manner recommended by music educators for improvement of singing skills. A test instrument developed for the study included aural and vocal tasks to be performed by the subject. The test was used in a pretest-posttest design. Results indicated that the vertical-keyboard procedure produced more effective performance results than did the horizontal-keyboard or the conventional procedure. Vocal problems related to concept of pitch direction, lack of attention, and low speaking voice were most efficiently handled in the vertical-keyboard group.

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