Effects of Age, Sex, and Melodic/Harmonic Patterns on Vocal Pitch-Matching Skills of Talented 8-11-Year-Olds

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of age, sex and melodic/harmonic patterns on pitch-matching skills of children. Subjects were 128 talented singers, ages 8-11, equally divided among boys and girls, who sang 16 pitch-matching patterns; 4 patterns were melodic and 12 were harmonic. In 4 harmonic patterns, the upper tone was matched; in another 4, the lower tone was matched, and in the last set, the middle tone was matched. Two judges recorded correct/incorrect responses across 1,536 trials with 85% agreements. Results of a three-factor analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated no differences between age or sex groups and significant differences among pitch-matching tasks. More errors were made on matching the middle pitch of a chord than on any other trials. Singing the lower pitch of two tones was more difficult than matching the higher pitch of two tones or singing back a short melody. A task hierarchy for children's part-singing is suggested.