First Steps in Vocal Development
Lillie H. Feierabend
9:45 – 10:45, Saturday, July 26th Session II:
Tuneful singing is the marriage of tuneful thinking and physiological awareness. The child must be able to first “catch the tune” and then reproduce it in their head voice. Young children must be given opportunities to experience and develop both of these important skills.
The window of opportunity for the development of this lifelong gift is in early childhood, kindergarten and first grade. We must help the children explore the sensation of singing and then give them guided opportunities to reproduce the sound. To engage this age group we must use strategies and techniques that are developmentally appropriate while remaining wonderfully child like, playful, imaginary and fun. This session will share those activities that offer the opportunity to “catch the tune” and reproduce it in head voice. Once children are able to do this they will be on their way to a lifetime of tuneful singing.
Lillie Feierabend is known for her work with young children and for instilling a love of music within them. This is her thirteenth year at the University of Hartford Magnet School and her fourteenth as a director for the Connecticut Children’s Chorus. In 1998 she received the Teacher of the Year Award from Canton Schools (CT) for her innovative and inclusive music programs. In 2008, Lillie received both the Teacher of the Year Award from UHMS and the Outstanding Elementary Music Educator Award from the Connecticut Music Educators Association.
Lillie is a frequent clinician at local, state and national conferences. She also teaches at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Gordon College in Boston, and The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. She is Past President of KESNE, and a member of NAfME, OAKE, CMEA and ACDA, where she served as the National Children’s Honor Choir Chair for the 2010 Conference.