Singing abilities of kindergarten and elementary school children: Assessment of the vocal pitch matching abilities

Singing abilities of kindergarten and elementary school children: Assessment of the vocal pitch matching abilities

The vocal pitch matching ability is one of the most important abilities in music education. This study focuses on children’s development of the vocal pitch matching ability. Children of 4- and 5-year-olds in two kindergartens, and one class of the first 3 grades of the elementary school listened to musical tones and were asked to reproduce by singing what they had heard. The types of musical inputs were (1) piano sounds; (2) female singing voice sounds; and (3) chants with female singing voice sounds. As for the results, (3) input led to the best answer and the second best was (2). It was easier for children to match the pitch with voice sounds inputs with meaning. Children’s pitch matching ability was higher in the kindergarten offering music activities intentionally. From the study, the importance of developing a system- atic music transition program for children to improve their music ability is suggested.