Selecting songs for children is a never ending process. Considerations have to include vocal range, the age and musical development of the children, and song difficulty.
Vocal Range
Children new to the various tonalities will grasp tonal content and learn to sing most accurately in the vocal range from middle C to the B above, with the tessitura between D and A, whether or not the children seem to be tuneful in the higher range. A sense of tonality secured in the beginning singing range can then be propelled to the higher singing range.
Children seemingly tuneful without extended experience in various tonalities are likely approximating pitches through imitation rather than through a sense of tonality. Extensive experience with the various tonalities in the beginning singing range assures the development of a sense of tonality, regardless of age, experience, tunefulness, or vocal technique. A developed sense of tonality propelled into the higher singing range assures in-tune singing in all tonalities and in the full range of the child voice.
5-8 year old children with a strong foundation in the various tonalities in the beginning singing range are ready to move to songs that take them beyond the voice break to the intermediate singing range, with the highest note being the D a ninth above middle C, and then to the advanced singing range with the highest note a G above that. The Voice of Children’s Artistry.
Age and Music Development
Immersion in various meters and tonalities provides the foundation for music learning for all children, whatever the age, and prepares the language bound children to receive Art Songs and Gem Songs as musicians rather than as verbal beings. The older the children, the more they need immersion and interaction with meters and tonalities to give the fledgling musical mind a chance over the ever more dominant thinking mind. And, the more they need Art Songs and Gem songs in the beginning singing range to develop musically, even if they appear to sing tunefully in the higher range. Rhythm and tonal preps for each song, and/or immersion in the tonality and meter of the song prior to hearing the song, primes the pump for experienced and inexperienced children of all ages.
Five to eight year old beginners need just what their younger counterparts need musically. Those with a substantial background in meters, tonalities, Art Songs and Gem Songs in the beginning singing range, who are generally tuneful and rhythmic in those songs, are ready to move to Art Songs and Gem Songs in the intermediate and advanced singing ranges.
A developmental program for music learning for children from birth to five develops the musical mind rhythmically and tonally and unleashes children’s artistry. A developmental program for music learning for children from five to eight develops the musical mind rhythmically and tonally, unleashes children’s artistry, and develops an ensemble of unison singing. The selection of Art Songs and Gem Songs should be dependent upon where children are in the process.
The focus with children from birth to five is experience and exposure, without concern for performance. The focus with children five to eight is experience and exposure, with momentum toward unison singing with rhythm and tonal precision, first in the beginning singing range and then higher. When children reach the latter, a performance for parents is appropriate, as are piano accompaniments. Until children reach that point, a demonstration of process rather than product is far more appropriate.
Song Difficulty
Song difficulty is first dependent upon whether your intent with the song is for experience or performance. Just as the books we read to young children are far beyond those they are able to read independently, the songs we choose to engage children in can be far more complex musically than those we want them to be able to sing independently or in ensemble.
The process of choosing songs for your children is therefore dependent upon your intent with the song, the age of the children, the children’s rhythm and tonal background, the vocal range and musical complexity of the song, the length of the song and difficulty of the text, and if moving toward unison singing with precision, the vocal technique required to sing the song beautifully.
You may, therefore, have reason to choose the same song for infants that you do for eight year olds, or decide that a song text is too much for the six year olds but just right for three year olds. You will find songs in the SONG LIBRARY that serve children from birth through thirteen, whether beginners musically or very developed, and whether mature or immature for their age.
A rule of thumb for evaluating the musical difficulty of a song, whether for the experience of the song or the unison singing of the song, is to use the criteria applied to rhythm and tonal materials. Triple meter is more difficult than duple, with the unusual meters more difficult than duple or triple. Songs with intricate rhythm patterns are more difficult than songs with macro and micro beats. Songs with shifting meters are more difficult than songs within one meter. Rhythm Difficulty.
Tonal difficulty is as much dependent upon rhythm difficulty as it is anything tonal. Art Songs and Gem Songs for early childhood in the SONG LIBRARY meet the needs for vocal range, definition of tonality with characteristic tones, with an abundance of stepwise passages anchored by tonic and dominant pitches. Tonal Difficulty. The structure of Art Songs and Gem Songs in the higher singing ranges, in addition to these attributes, serves the development of the child voice and the natural development of vocal technique. Sound Choices.
Text length and difficulty are also factors in choosing Art Songs and Gem Songs for your children, however, not for the same reasons you might choose Play Songs. Immediacy and relevance of text might be reasons to select a particular Play Song. Neither is a prime reason to select an Art Song or Gem Song. Musicality has to be prime, with rhythm and tonal difficulty a factor as well as your intent to use the song for the children to experience or learn to sing in unison. Immediacy of text is more a factor for unison singing than it is for the experience of the song. Little musicians comfortably engage with the sound of the words intertwining with rhythm and melody more than their literal meaning, but if expected to sing the song with precision, song text and length have to be within the grasp of the age. Gem Songs have more playful texts than Art Songs, so should tickle the playfulness of the age of the children as well as their musicality. Some of the most playful Gem Songs are exciting to children because of their rhythm and melody, which are tied to text, rather than because of their text.
The SONG LIBRARY offers a difficulty rating for every song, based on a number of criteria, detailed in the SONG LIBRARY Reference Desk. Difficulty of a song is included in the little box that pops up when you pause your pointer over any song in a list. These difficulty ratings serve as a guide, but you will know best the developmental levels of your children both chronologically and musically, whether your intent with the song is for experience or for singing in unison, and how the song serves your curriculum and fits into your lesson plan.
