Do you struggle to get littles to sing in choir or worship?
Songs in the wrong vocal range is a huge problem in kids’ worship music. We talk about other issues HERE.
A vocal range is the lowest note you can sing up to the highest note you can sing, and it is directly related to the size of your vocal cords. Some people have a wide vocal range, either from training or genetics, but most adults can sing a little over an octave. Most children have smaller ranges.
The four basic voice parts for adults are lower male – bass, higher male – tenor, lower female – alto, and higher female – soprano. You can see that there is quite a bit of overlap between most voice parts, but that sopranos and basses only share one common note in their ranges.
Back when we used hymnals, everyone sang the part that was comfortable for them, but we can’t rely on this anymore outside of adult choirs.
When writing music for adult congregations, it is recommended to stay within a one octave range C to C with a one octave difference between the men and the women. So, if a male is leading and they sing between C and C, the women can follow an octave above and vice versa. As long as they remain between C and C, the vast majority of congregants will feel comfortable. Unfortunately, this information is often disregarded as most modern worship leaders have received no formal music theory or pedagogy training.
Children’s vocal ranges are smaller than adults. Their vocal cords are small and thin and still developing.
Kids, generally, can’t sing higher than your altos or lower than your sopranos. By fifth or sixth grade they can usually sing in the female congregation range.
Unfortunately, most kids’ worship music is written in ranges unsuitable for kids. Most is written in low alto/tenor range. This is true of modern congregation worship songs as well. Because kids ranges are small, jumping up an octave doesn’t work either.
Most worship music, including kids’ worship, is currently being written for tenors and altos. The singers on stage sound great. The congregation struggles. The kids give up and just dance around.
So, what can we do?
Look for songs you and your helpers can easily sing.
Look for female-led songs. Yes, it’s fantastic to have guys leading, but the vocal range doesn’t usually work. (There are exceptions, of course, and some men have very high voices.) Use men to introduce songs, pray, play instruments, do harmonies.
Look for songs that you don’t have to switch registers in (jumping from singing high to low).
You may need to have someone transpose songs into a better key for you. You may have to ditch the big company videos with dancing and lyrics and go to something simpler. You may have to go old school and sing a capella. You may need to do anything it takes to allow children the opportunity to life their voices in worship.
When searching for KidMin Choir music, make certain the range is appropriate for kids. Please note that all Little JAM Sessions choir songs are written specifically for the vocal needs of littles.
Have you dealt with this issue before? Do you have any suggestions?