I’ve always been a teacher that tries to whittle big projects down into smaller more manageable chunks for my students.  This helps them to achieve things they never even imagined was possible. Often students find large tasks overwhelming.  So breaking the project down into mini assignments always helps. 

I did this when it came time for my Middle School Chorus kids to learn solos.  I required each student to learn a solo during the Contest season.  The student could decide if they wanted to perform it for a judge at contest or not but EVERYONE learned a solo to sing for a grade in front of me.  When I started this policy early in my career it was because I had group of chorus students who were unduly afraid of singing for a judge.  Even the students who had no problems with pitch-matching or shyness were not willing to take a song to contest. So I thought if I could encourage everyone to try, then maybe a few of them would change their mind at the end of the project and sing their piece for a judge. 

So we began…… Each student was assigned at piece to sing.  Yes, assigned!  Why?  You see, given the choice to choose their own song the students will most likely request songs they are listening to on the radio.  There are some problems inherent in this.

1. Many of the songs students listen to on the radio do not have appropriate lyrics to sing at contest. 
2. The manner their favorite artist sings is often completely inappropriate for a contest setting.  Judges at contest are looking for things like proper singers diction and focused tone.  Most popular singers do not worry about either of these. 
3. Singing only popular music at contest requires the school district to buy new music every year which gets expensive.  
4. Popular songs often sound completely different with an acoustic piano accompaniment .  There won’t be a bass guitar and drum set backing the student up at contest.
5. Often the student does not take into account the pitch range of the song which can mean that some of the notes are just not singable for some students.  
6. The student already knows the tune!  Where’s the challenge in that?

If the educator guides the whole process beginning with the choice of music there are more learning opportunities for the student.  When I look at pieces for each student I’m considering so many things that the average student doesn’t even perceive.

1. What’s the range of the song?  If it’s for a young man – is there voice changed or unchanged?  If his voice is changed does he need to further develop his low or high range?  Or maybe the student needs to work out a smooth transition between head and chest voice.
2. How long are the phrases?  The first year contest kids usually need something with 4 to 6 measure phrases so we can begin to really work out what it means to take a good deep breath for producing a consistently pleasing tone.  The older kids who’ve been to contest before might be ready to tackle some 8 or 10 measure phrases.
3. Does the piano accompaniment mirror the vocal line?  Stronger singers can deal with a song that has a completely independent vocal line.  Less experienced singers will find comfort in hearing their pitches in the piano part.
4. What’s the dynamic structure of the song?  Singing soft for extended periods is not the best idea for an inexperienced singer as they often don’t understand that soft singing requires more air support not less.
5. What’s the tempo of the piece?  If a student is new to contest and is having trouble sustaining pitch correctly perhaps a more up-tempo piece with some crisp consonants is called for so he or she can have a successful contest experience.
6. What’s the language?  That’s right, my middle school students sing in foreign languages!  Sometimes singing in an unfamiliar language is just the challenge an advanced student needs.  Sometimes having a student sing in another language is the method I use to correct their diction.  Since they don’t have any Italian words in their ear they sing them the way I tell them to so they don’t have  any bad habits to unlearn. 
7. What’s the story of the song?  Some kids really identify with the aesthetics of music.  Those students need a song that will help them express something that they never felt comfortable expressing before.  Or perhaps the student needs a song where they can step outside of themselves and pretend to be someone else for a few minutes.

Now I know what my first students thought at first.  “Geez!  Mrs. Muench is such a control freak and she won’t let me choose any good music!”   I often told them that I didn’t need to teach them the music on the radio because they already knew that.  My job is to teach them things they don’t know.  And after that first year of multiple students successes the students were more willing to work with me on what I thought would be best for their particular voice.  Each contest season I also tried to express to them why I choose a particular song for them.  This helped the student to assess their own progress.  And it gave them a window into what sorts of things they could look for in a solo piece.  After a couple of years of going through the process I did give the students the ability to choose their solos in tandem with me by 8th grade if they wanted to. 

It seems so unfair to me to throw a 11 year old student into the wide unfamiliar ocean of Contest Solo Singing!  Please, at least, give them the life raft of your knowledge as a teacher – Help them to choose an appropriate song!!!