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Jenevora Williams, Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults. Oxford, UK: Compton Publishing Limited, 2013. Paper, xxvi, 223 pp., $40.00. ISBN 978-1-909082-00-7. Two DVD Set. DVD One: Vocal Technique for Young Singers. DVD Two: Adolescent Male Voice Change. $40.00. ISBN 978-1-909082-03-8 (Discount available to NATS members) www.comptonpublishing.co.uk
The United Kingdom has a long tradition of child choristers, so it is not surprising that a British author offers guidance in teaching youth to sing. Jenevora Williams has conducted extensive research in the vocal health and development of children who receive rigorous singing instruction. She has taught singing to children and young adults at the Royal College of Music, London, and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, as well as at St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. This book encompasses her wide-ranging study and experience.
Williams organizes the volume in a musical fashion; it consists of a prelude, eight chapters, seven interludes, and a postlude. The prelude contains common erroneous assumptions about children learning to sing. The first chapter consists of an overview of the general benefits of singing, and the specific advantages for children: voice study promotes correct, efficient use and prevents injuries. (Throughout the book, the author draws parallels with the world of sports, where children routinely begin training at a young age.) She devotes three chapters to the principal stages of childhood: birth to six years, seven to twelve years, and adolescence; for the adolescent voice, there is separate discussion of...