A study on the identification of the change-voice period for song guidance : Use of the wave form analysis

2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 14580299
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 教科教育
• Research Institution: Ehime University
• Principal Investigator: KIMURA Setsu Ehime university, Faculty of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (90161562)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TANABE Takashi Ehime university, Faculty of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (80155192)
• Project Period (FY): 2002 – 2004
• Keywords: change-of-voice / post-puberty voices / analyasis of the song voice / formant / expert / voice range / song guidance / empirical validation of expert' judgment

Research Abstract

Traditionally, the judgment of exactly when puberty in voice change starts and when it ends has largely relied on the experience of experts.
However, many music teachers who lack such expertise, have had trouble teaching students in puberty.
As a way to improve the situation, we examined the potential usefulness of the formant analysis of frequency component, in which we compared voice resonances with actual audible sounds. The result indicated that as one's voice changed, the pitch of the forth Formant lowered and that of fifth Formant moved horizontally, or rose. Thus, we were able to clearly see the difference between pre-puberty and post-puberty voices.
The use of the wave form analysis is an original method for specifying the age at which puberty in voice change starts. This method is effective even when it is difficult to detect when voice change in puberty starts and when it finishes, because with this method we can clearly detect audible changes in student's voice.