Development of a treble chorister

[james010101]

I just found this very interesting article online, which I thought fellow Libera fans might be interested to have a read. An excerpt from the article:

"Singing Sons: Stages of Male Voice Change

1. Male Treble Voice (spending little time on this due to familiarity by attendees) Light voice quality, commonly through age 10-11.
Greatest resonance often occurs prior to voice change.
Can sing upper or lower parts with clear tone and good intonation.
Flexible voice with ability to sing wide range of dynamics.

Repertoire Considerations:
Unison to 4-part music.
Ranges of A3-F5, with C#4-A#4 tessitura .
Able to sing SA parts with wide range.
Music with equal voicing possible.

2. Early Stage Changing Male Voice
Appears on average between ages 10-12, some in HS.
Light quality, more breathy with less clarity and projection above C5. Best range Ab3-C5, with tessitura B3-G4.
Less flexibility, especially in upper range.

Repertoire Considerations
Choose music with some parts below C5.
Include music with narrow range melodies (5-7 notes)
Simple or repetitive lower harmonies help boys develop confidence in new range. Find music which features the lower part singing the melody.
Look for music with melodies or parts that can be sung in octaves.

3. Middle Stage Changing Male Voice
Average age 13-14. Late 7th-early 8th. Gr.
Voice quality can be breathy or husky, with decreased projection and agility. Falsetto emerges usually above G4, with decreased pitch accuracy in upper range. Alto is often too high, tenor is too low. Pitch range F3-A4, but G#3-F4 realistic. Vocalizing should include helping boys bring falsetto downward.

Repertoire Considerations
Find music with strong melodies/parts between F4-F5 that can be doubled by changing voices an octave lower F3-F4.
Seek SATB music with strong upper range tenor parts and bass lines that can be doubled. Avoid baritone notes much below C3-D3.
Carefully assess SAB & 3 part mixed voicing. 4-part music usually works better. Avoid part writing that requires boys to sing awkward leaps. Stepwise is best. Closed position harmonies can be quite effective and give the choir a fuller sound."

I uploaded the full article here:

http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=135 ... 4676263870

[katyafan]

Wonderful! That was fun and informative, thank you very much!

[james010101]

Wonderful! That was fun and informative, thank you very much!

Glad you liked the article. It's quite interesting when you compare the descriptions of the different voices in the article with Libera members.

Take Alex Gula as an example. He was a treble from 2014 to early 2016 (around age 9-11) - even though his voice could be classified as falling into the Treble 2 (T2) range rather than the Treble 1 (T1) range (T1's are like TDL, Gabe Collins or Leo) - and had a light, resonant tone which was fairly flexible, as he could sing high and low notes with relative ease. Between late 2016 to 2017 (around age 11/12), his voice started to change. His range dropped from T2 to Alto. His voice started to take on that distinctive husky, breathy tone, but was still fairly resonant. There were occasional breaks in his voice. This was the time when his Wayfaring Stranger was recorded, and it is quite easy for any listener to hear those qualities in his voice. Coming into 2018 (age 13), his voice dropped further from Alto to slightly above a light tenor. His voice starts becoming relatively unstable when performing difficult melodies - such as having to transition frequently between chest voice to head voice, or to make big octave leaps. Lacrymosa was probably recorded late 2017/early 2018, and you could tell that he's more comfortable with a lower register. He stopped doing solos in concerts, and was put in the back row doing low harmonies with Camden and Alex Montoro.

I predict he'll probably transition into a tenor in 2019, and perhaps even drop further into a baritone type of voice in late 2019/early 2020. Exciting times ahead!

[katyafan]

I agree, exciting times!

That was a wonderful breakdown of Alex as an example of the transition. I have been following his voice as it changed and dropped as well, as it has been an unusually clear example of a gradual change. Most boys are not as lucky, and their change happens over a shorter period of time. We are also fortunate that Alex was a soloist, so his voice was more visible to us. Josh Madine was a good example of a long, slow descent as well, although his voice did not change in quality or timbre, and he seemed very comfortable in both the head and chest alto iterations of his voice.

It's fascinating to me how very different each voice is. I am classically trained on the piano, and among professionals it is the interpretation and expression of the music that varies, much less so the role the instrument plays. A piano will never be as expressive by itself as a wood instrument, say.

The voice, harnessed and controlled by a dedicated chorister under the direction of someone who really knows what he is doing (Prizeman and Coates) is a marvelous thing, and we are so fortunate to have had Libera for so long to note the changes and evolution.

[james010101]

I agree, exciting times!

That was a wonderful breakdown of Alex as an example of the transition. I have been following his voice as it changed and dropped as well, as it has been an unusually clear example of a gradual change. Most boys are not as lucky, and their change happens over a shorter period of time. We are also fortunate that Alex was a soloist, so his voice was more visible to us. Josh Madine was a good example of a long, slow descent as well, although his voice did not change in quality or timbre, and he seemed very comfortable in both the head and chest alto iterations of his voice.

It's fascinating to me how very different each voice is. I am classically trained on the piano, and among professionals it is the interpretation and expression of the music that varies, much less so the role the instrument plays. A piano will never be as expressive by itself as a wood instrument, say.

The voice, harnessed and controlled by a dedicated chorister under the direction of someone who really knows what he is doing (Prizeman and Coates) is a marvelous thing, and we are so fortunate to have had Libera for so long to note the changes and evolution.

The voice is a very unique instrument indeed - it is capable of transformative changes within a relatively short period of time, intentionally (by training) or unintentionally (voice changes). Very glad that Robert and Sam are still deeply committed to the art of developing treble voices, and keeping the treble choir traditions alive, which is getting increasingly rare these days.

Alex is indeed very blessed to be able to experience all the different stages of voice change. Taichi, on the other hand, had a drastic voice change over the first half of 2018, and you could spot that his voice dropped from treble/alto to tenor pretty quickly over the summer of 2018.

Upcoming voice changes - Leo, Rocco, Merlin. Going to be rather interesting seeing/hearing how their respective voices change.

[Padmachou]

Time to dig out the topic.

Upcoming voice changes - Leo, Rocco, Merlin. Going to be rather interesting seeing/hearing how their respective voices change.

Indeed, Leo seems to have had a drastic voice change, just like Taichi, between december in Moscow and February, if I understand correctly the reviews on the Philippines tour. It bemused me : his high notes were so perfect when I heared him in Brighton !
Rocco might have started to change too, but it is too soon to say, unless someone asked him ?
Merlin's voice has quite a longevity I understand he was ever better this week. Amazing !

Very interesting comments about how different that time of life can be for different boys. It is something I am quite fascinated with, having not really changed voice as I'm a girl. It sure is different from my childhood's voice, but nothing near what trebles must experience. I understand there is no way to predict if the change will be long of drastic, from high range to low or just to the middle ?

[filiarheni]

@james010101, with great interest I read that description of the voice changing phases already months ago, the characteristics and problems of each of them and the recommendations for the singing practice during that time, and I always wanted to say thank you for posting it! Many thanks as well for illustrating it on the basis of Alex G.'s voice.

Yes, it's completely individual from boy to boy how the voice change goes, and it certainly is one of the most challenging tasks for a boys choir's conductor to handle that in the choir - from a physical as well as from a psychological point of view.

Me too, I am almost shocked that Leo moved from his high notes to the back row at lightning speed, after he - for instance - brilliantly delivered the Voca Me vocalises in Moscow. This concert was only 53 days away from Manila!

In the boys choir magazine "Vox Pueri", there was a scientific article published last year about the male voice change, describing it from an anatomical point of view. Sadly, it's only in German, so I will translate some short excerpts. About the point in time the voice change starts it says:

"Due to the general acceleration in the past 50 years, which can be explained by the improvement of the living conditions, for boys the mutation starts between the 13th and 15th year of life or earlier. First indications can quite often be found at 10- to 11-year-old boys. When for instance the fast stretching (?) growth of the body begins, then the mutation lies directly (ca. half or three-forths year) ahead. Starting into mutation in the 17th year of life is rather unusual."

They name three phases with the following average lengthes:

Pre-mutation: beginning at about age 12 - 13, duration 1/2 to 1 year
Mutation: beginning at age 13 - 14, duration 2 - 3 months
Post-mutation: beginning 14 - 15, duration 1/2 to 3 years

I predict he'll probably transition into a tenor in 2019, and perhaps even drop further into a baritone type of voice in late 2019/early 2020. Exciting times ahead!

I understand there is no way to predict if the change will be long of drastic, from high range to low or just to the middle ?

Regarding the later voice register, the article states:

"For many boys and also choir conductors there arises, during the process of the mutation, the exciting question in which voice type (voice register) the 'new' man will 'arrive'. There are all kinds of myths entwining around this topic. Quite simply Prof. Dr. med. Michael Fuchs explains: 'Listen to the father, then you know the voice register of the son.' So it is certain that the voice register is genetically conditioned, in other words independent on how "trained" the voice was until puberty. On completion of the mutation, until about mid- or end of the twenties, you can also foresee to which voice category (lyric tenor, heroic tenor e. g.), the young man is tending, while a later change of the category is not rare at all."


Interesting enough, this weekend a symposium about the child and adolescent voice has taken place in Leipzig and it focused on music.

It's fascinating to me how very different each voice is. I am classically trained on the piano, and among professionals it is the interpretation and expression of the music that varies, much less so the role the instrument plays. A piano will never be as expressive by itself as a wood instrument, say.

Did you mean a woodwind instrument? Yes, agreed. A piano is much more distant to its player, while a woodwind (or brass) is closer, not only based on the handling of the instruments (hands <--> mouth), but also on creating the sound by the player's own breath. The voice, however, is the most intimate of all instruments. Practically, it expresses its owner's personality itself, already through the speaking voice. It's not without a reason that exactly singers are particularly sensitive, when it comes to judging their instrument: their voice.

And this is a very essential reason why I love Libera so much: Because the boys are allowed to sing in their natural way. We can hear them "unspoiled" ("unadulterated" ... not sure about the words) and so they always bring in their personality to the song simply by the individual sound. It's absolutely direct and therefore has the highest possible grade of authenticity and I love that! Plus it also means a great variety in sound from boy to boy, which I appreciate no less!