Help with Monotone Singing

[MT-PRO Music Therapy List]

In a message dated 9/8/99 11:03:36 PM, Cindy Robertson wrote:
 
<<She loves singing in 
the school choir, but, of course, her self-esteem, etc is greatly damaged 
when teased by other kids and told to just mouth the words during concerts. 
 >>
Dear Cindy:
Monotone singing may be caused by hearing deficits, listening deficits, or 
actual brain trauma to (in right handers/left cerebral hemisphere dominant 
individuals) the right cerebral hemisphere. On a fundamental level, it may be 
simply a lack of energy and inertia to produce a 'proper' pitch. 
 
Check first the client's handedness. Your report on her facility for rhythmic 
activity above vocal points strongly to a hemispheric source of the 
monotonicity.
 
I agree with the technique of matching her pitch range first, but using an 
instrument which has 'drone' possibility is the best, such as organ, 
accordion, or your own voice. Then, check for 'gapping' in a scalar passage, 
starting with three-tones at a time ascending and descending from the given 
tonal 'center.'
 
Another technique, well-used, is to have client extend the duration of any 
vowel sound, transforming the 'verbal' to 'vocal,' in effect. And a strong 
concentration on the breath, with a singer's attention to quick inhalation 
and extended exhalation is also a strengthening for diaphragmatic breathing 
and the energy involved in singing. Many 'monotones' simply lack the energy 
and motivation to 'sing' on pitch. Proper posture and breathing may motivate 
in the long-run.
 
Good music,
Mary Eileen Johnston, MT-BC
-- MT-PRO Music Therapy List, mtpro@multipro.com on 09/14/1999 at 12:33:57 AM


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