Lyric and Concert Choir boys perform at the 39th Annual Spring Concert in 2015
By Angela Pope
This article is part of the Awakening the Natural Musician in Your Child series. 1
During my first year as a middle school choir director, there was a constant question running through my head: Where were all of the boys? I would see them dominating on sports fields , mastering robotics club and slumped in my general music classroom, but why weren’t they in my choirs? Most perplexing would be when I heard a young boy singing innocently (of course while they were supposed to be working on another task), and I would say “Hey that’s a nice voice you’ve got there. Why aren’t you in choir?” The response would always be “No way! I’m not joining chorus” or “I can’t sing. Please don’t make me.”
Does this sound familiar to you? Can you think of an adolescent boy who sings, but refuses to join chorus, or a young elementary aged boy who already refuses to sing? How do we as teachers and parents foster singing in our boys, and encourage them to make it past the voice change and into adulthood singing? As a female singer, I couldn’t speak personally on this issue, so I went to a direct source: my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade male choir members. In my second year as a middle school choir director, I can proudly say my male participation has increased from only 20 male singers, to 40 male singers. This year we took the time to discuss why they sing, why their peers might not sing, and how to encourage their male peers to sing.
After discussing with my male singers, we came up with four main deterrents for boys to sing: teasing/bullying, apprehension about puberty, lack of exposure, and lack of encouragement to play artistically at a young age.
Teasing/Bullying — Before the voice change, young boys who show apprehension about singing are often concerned that their voices sound too “girly,” in comparison to the adult male voices around them. Despite how many professional male singer celebrities are present in the media, boys often face teasing, being called effeminate, and being compared to girls for doing activities such as singing and dancing. This teasing can come from male and female peers, siblings, adult role models and even parents.
Puberty — The voice change can begin for some boys as early as fourth grade, and the unpredictability of what sound will come out of their mouths, combined with the aforementioned teasing, can make singing seem akin to torture.
Lack of Exposure — if students aren’t taught from a young age about how to use their voice (that they have a high voice and a low voice, and both voices are normal), they are less likely to consider singing in a group or independently. When male singers are exposed to male vocal models (including adult mature voices, the falsetto voice, head and chest voice, and unchanged male singing voices), singing becomes a less intimidating and more approachable concept.
Lack of Encouragement to Play Artistically — If you look at the black top during recess at an elementary school, you’ll find young girls playing hand clapping games, singing, and making up dances. Meanwhile, you’ll see young boys typically playing a sport or building with their hands. Even at a young age, most boys are encouraged to explore their scientific, logical, and athletic abilities, but how many are offered a chance to develop their artistic abilities, more specifically singing abilities?
As mentioned in Susan Bialek’s previous two articles, developing the singing voice begins at a very early age in life. Little boys should be encouraged to play pretend, to use their high voices. They absolutely should not be ridiculed for how they sound. During my time as an elementary teacher, my heart would always sink when a boy in Kindergarten told me he didn’t sing because his parent told him he “sounded like a girl,” when in actuality he sounded like a normal 6 year old boy.
Both boys and girls need to be taught with enthusiasm, and excitement about their developing voices, by their parents and teachers. When I asked my middle school male singers if anyone ever made them feel proud of their singing voice, the number one answer was “my parents.” They also had a family member who sang with them or to them at home. Along with encouragement, and enthusiasm, the importance of normalizing a child’s singing voice, before, during and after the voice change cannot be stressed enough. When I say normalize, I mean to accept their voice no matter what stage of development your child is in, and help them accept their voice too. If a young boy’s voice is unchanged, encourage them to sing with ease, and celebrate light pure sound that only a boy soprano/ alto can have. If some of their peers’ voices begin to change before them, remind them, there isn’t an exact age when their voice must change. Some boys will not experience a change until high school, while some students see a change as early as 4th grade. Some boys will take several weeks or months to change into a fully changed male voice, while others may seem to change over night. There is no “normal”, and that is okay. Explain that girls also go through a voice change; it’s just not as drastic.
Remind them that, just as they are a bit clumsier during adolescence, because of their sudden growth spurts, their voices are a little bit clumsy too because their vocal folds have also experienced a growth spurt. The feeling of no control over their vocal instrument is only temporary, and singing through this change will make singing after the change much easier. Encourage them to keep singing, and most importantly resist the urge to chuckle after hearing one of those endearing voice cracks. For dads especially, try to remember how you felt when you first experienced that change, and share your own experience with your son.
Throughout boys’ musical development, they should be exposed to different types of singers. Along with listening to the radio, and hearing those vocal models, try to expose your child to live musicians. In the Baltimore area, we are lucky enough to have an abundance of live music performances. What better way for young singers, male and female, to see men singing in the different parts of their range?
Most likely, if you are reading this article, you’ve come to your own conclusion about why people should sing, especially in a choir. There is research which supports the physical and mental health benefits of singing in a group, and how participating in music can help with math/reading scores, but there is more value to getting your boys singing than a statistic.
I want our boys and girls singing because it gives them a safe place during the school year, to express themselves without anger or violence. It gives them a sense of belonging and brotherhood and trust. But don’t take my word for it.
Read what my 7th and 8th grade male singers had to say on the matter. The Harper’s Choice Male Singers on Why Boys Should Sing in Choir:
“You don’t have to worry about being singled out.”
“You have people who you can trust and have fun with.”
“Not worrying about stage fright. It doesn’t happen much anymore. It just makes me more confident.”
“It’s a lot of fun!”
“Because I have other people to count on if I make a mistake.”
“Helps you get used to your changing voice.”
“I believe that it is an amazing thing to sing so I would ask anyone to join chorus.”
“They could use the joy of singing to reduce/eliminate stress, because I always feel happy in chorus when we get to sing. Also, being praised for your singing ability and courage to sing a solo is very well worth it!”
“Because unless you really don’t like singing there is no reason a boy shouldn’t join just as much as a girl should.”
FEATURE IMAGE: Lyric and Concert Choir boys performing at the 39th Annual Spring Concert in 2015.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Angela Pope, Conservatory Instructor at the Children’s Chorus of MD, is in her 6th year of teaching vocal music in Howard County, MD. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education – Vocal Concentration from the University of Delaware, and her Master’s Degree in Music Education—Kodály Certification, from Loyola University, Maryland.
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