Revisiting singing proficiency in three-year-olds

Abstract

The present study employed a protocol specially developed for testing toddlers’ singing competence. The protocol was designed to increase responsivity of toddlers during testing. The singing ranges and singing accuracy of three-year-old children were measured using the protocol ( N = 39). A large proportion of the three-year-olds participated in at least one item (89.7%), which is a high rate of participation for this age group, validating the appropriateness of the protocol applied. The most successful test item was the Self-selected song as it elicited the highest response rate of all items (87%). Furthermore, the Self-selected song resulted in more accurate renditions in terms of preservation of melodic contour (85%) and intervals (24%) than another item consisting of a familiar standard song phrase. In ascending pitch glides, 73% of the toddlers lifted their voice above C5 and the highest produced pitch was C6 (two octaves above middle C). Pitch matching accuracy was highly pitch dependent, with middle C as the most accurately matched pitch (53%) and C above middle C the least accurately matched pitch (11%). The findings support previous research that describes three-year-olds as capable singers while contradicting more widely accepted views of three-year-olds having poorly developed singing skills.