Effect of Ethnicity on the Age of Onset of the Male Voice Change

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to compare the age of onset of the voice change in African American, White, and Hispanic male students, as well as to describe characteristics of the changing male voice in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students, using Cooksey’s maturation stages. Participants included volunteers from two urban elementary schools, five suburban elementary schools, one suburban middle school, and one urban middle school (African American n = 62, White n = 58, and Hispanic n = 77). Participants were recorded individually performing three ascending and three descending glissandi on an “ah” syllable. Results indicated that approximately 46% of fourth-grade participants, 62% of fifth-grade participants, and 67% of sixth-grade participants were classified as having changing voices. Results of a one-way, between-subjects ANOVA revealed no significant main effect for ethnicity, although a larger percentage of African American participants’ voices were classified as changing voices as compared with those of Hispanic and White participants. The overall mean age of onset for participants in this study was approximately 11.20 years of age.

The Impacts of the Voice Change, Grade Level, and Experience on the Singing Self-Efficacy of Emerging Adolescent Males

“…Next, they were instructed to glide from their highest to lowest note on an ah vowel three times while attempting to get lower each time. This procedure for measuring vocal range without a stimulus pitch has shown to be effective in previous research (Fisher, 2010;Willis & Kenny, 2008).…”

“…Portions of the sound file often were isolated in order to determine more accurately the HTP or LTP. Interjudge reliability of this vocal range test was reported in Fisher (2008Fisher ( , 2010 with 93% agreement for HTP and 90% agreement for LTP. After vocal ranges were established, each participant was classified using Cooksey's stages of the male voice change (Figure 2).…”

Research-to-Resource: A Choral Director’s Abridged Guide to the Male Voice Change

“…His book, Working with the Adolescent Voice (Cooksey, 1999), remains a valuable resource for choral directors because it clearly outlines the unique vocal characteristics of each voice change stage and provides helpful vocal warm-ups and advice for teaching the adolescent male singer. Research has validated Cooksey's voice change stages (Cooksey, 1984(Cooksey, , 1985Cooksey & Welch, 1998;Fisher, 2010;Groom, 1984;Killian, 1999). Perhaps the most difficult (and frustrating) aspect of the male voice change is the irregular rate of change that varies from singer to singer.…”

Singing and Vocal Development

“…Nevertheless, there is also some evidence of a trend for voice change to happen earlier than previously (Ashley & Mecke, 2013;Killian & Wayman, 2010). The mean average onset of voice change is likely to be between 10 and 12 years (e.g., Fisher, 2010), with one study reporting 80% of 11-year-olds showing evidence of voice change (Killian & Wayman, 2010).…”