A comparison between singing pitching strategies of 8 to 11 year olds and trained adult singers

A microcomputer-based system known as SINGAD (SINGing Assessment and Development) is described which enables note pitching ability to be assessed and developed. Versions of the SINGAD system currently exist for the BBC and Atari range of computers and work is currently in progress on a version for PC compatible machines. This paper describes results from a SINGAD experiment in which the pitching abilities were assessed of 175 children aged between 8 and 11 years inclusive attending a York primary school. The assessment was made against computer generated musically meaningful three note patterns from the major tonic triad of Bb 3. Each child responded to 15 such three note stimuli. A marked contrast between the pitching abilities of boys and girls is observed and discussed in relation to SINGAD assessment data gathered from a group of trained adult singers.