The Effects of Group Breath-Control Training on the Singing Ability of Elementary Students

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of group breath-control training in teaching children to sing. Forty-four subjects in grades 2,3, and 4 were randomly assigned within each grade to the two treatment groups, which met twice weekly in half-hour sessions for 18 weeks. The experimental group received training in breath control in addition to the singing of songs. The control group's instruction was that of the traditional song approach. Pre- and posttraining data for each subject on four dependent variables (vocal range, vocal intensity, tonal duration, and pitch accuracy) were analyzed for the effects of the training variable (reflected in measures of abdominal and thoracic movement and vital capacity) between groups and among grade levels. Data were subjected to a two-way multivariate analysis of covariance on each dependent variable considered separately but as a “set” with each covariate breathing measure. Results of the study showed that breath-control training significantly differentiated between groups, but not among grade levels. The subjects in the experimental group responded to training in such a way as to reflect a change in breathing from “chest” or clavicular to abdominal-diaphragmatic-costal breathing, with a corresponding improvement in vocal range, vocal intensity, and pitch accuracy.

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