While social capacities of engagement and communication are known to be of primary developmental importance to all children, they often can be particularly difficult for children with neurodevelopmental disorders (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Singing, whether self-produced or heard from others, is known as a pleasurable and fruitful experience that garners attention and engagement from all young children. Important qualities of music in childhood development are its flexibility and appeal in a medium that also supports emotional growth, communication and social relating.

Within the medium of singing, vowels—functioning as sonic gems of emotion—may help non-musician teachers facilitate rich relational strategies that are particularly effective with mixed groups of developmentally diverse children. Whether a particular child responds, in turn, with singing or other explicit musical behavior is not the goal of the interaction. Rather, the aim of this strategy is to enable the teacher’s singing or other vocalizations, enhanced through attention to vowels, to spark a child’s attention, engagement, communication, and social reciprocity.

A View of Teachers’ Singing in Classrooms

From the myriad musical activities preschool teachers choose, a review of surveys and observations points to singing as one of the most frequent and valued (Gillespie and Glider 2010; Tobin et al. 2011). Moreover, in suggested uses of music for early childhood teachers, drawn from professional literature spanning 15 years (1985–2010), singing has been most frequently suggested for musical expression of classroom management and non-musical learning (Lee 2012). For classroom teachers, singing assumes many forms and has a variety of goals, such as large group recreational singing, finger plays, individual emotional regulation, support of cognitive skills, literacy, social skills, and overall well-being. Singing during transitions soothes children during change (Mathews 2012). At larger schools music activities often fall upon classroom teachers who, unlike music specialists, are more likely to use it for “non-musical” goals (Nardo et al. 2006).

Worth singling out are activities related to early language development. Long paired with singing (Chen-Hafteck 1997), more inventive ways emerge as research clarifies music’s potential role for young learners. Teachers make use of words, sounds, rhymes, and rhythmic patterns with aural and oral integration of songs and literacy skills (Wiggins 2007; Green et al. 2006). Creating original story songs is a teaching tool that involves adapting stories and elaborating songs (Ringgenberg 2003). Jalongo and Ribblett (1997) highlight the whole genre of song picture books such as “Old MacDonald.” Their use fosters connections between singing, pictures, reading and writing—all simultaneously contributing to emerging literacies in music and in print.

A literature review confirms that various factors influence the nature of teachers’ singing interactions with their students. Examples include the prevalence of active singing in the culture from which teachers are drawn; curriculum preparedness; and socio-cultural norms. For instance, while American teachers choose singing over other possible musical activities and value its effect on children’s affect and learning, they often state their own need for more training and self-report low confidence in their singing abilities (Moore 2002). Musical preparedness of American teachers is comparatively weak, and the teachers come from a culture in which being involved with music personally is often a receptive (i.e., listening) rather than active music-making process. This is in stark contrast to, for example, the Venda culture (Blacking 1973) of present day, post-apartheid South Africa, which has managed to keep alive its vibrant music traditions as a society even as it merges and is challenged with its new “rainbow” identity. Venda children sing vociferously with their teachers as well as with each other and there is an over-arching musical fabric of life (Emberly 2013).

Japanese preschool teachers place top value on singing. Like American teachers, they lead children in singing frequently and with a variety of songs throughout the calendar year. Both piano and voice are a solid part of Japanese preschool teachers’ training. In contrast to North American emphasis on individuality, Japanese teachers consistently engage the class group as a whole during singing. They do not encourage modification of song lyrics by specific children since singing, as a reflection of Japanese culture, is considered to be an act of social unity (Adachi 2013; Tobin et al. 2009).

Descriptions from the literature highlight the affective, ritualistic, and pedagogical uses of teachers’ singing. Variables also explain certain of its strengths and weaknesses, giving the present approach a context.

Singing Techniques can Support Agendas

As many preschool teachers often use singing for musical activities in their classrooms, the singing practices recommended here may dovetail with agendas while naturally facilitating communicative and social issues. However, teachers without musical training or without a relational-musical perspective, may miss much of music’s unique potential benefits. They are not familiar with the nuanced expressions that arise from study and play with musical elements (e.g., rhythm, melody, volume, tempo, tone color, etc.) Nevertheless, as detailed here, there are simple techniques that classroom teachers (with or without music training) could accomplish and apply to their interactions with typically-developing children and with young children having special needs who may all be grouped together for instruction or play. The suggested purposeful use of sung vowels is particularly valuable in diverse constellations to support teachers’ emotional statements, co-regulate through signals, show attunement and, in turn, elicit responses from children because they have internalized communications with more ease.

Simple Objectives

The efficacy of these sound effects, which are embedded in the present approach, arise from the nature of acoustics, musical elements, and vocal production. Three practical, rudimentary objectives for communicating affect by early childhood teachers are suggested:

  1. 1.

    Use of affect through vocalized exclamations

  2. 2.

    Use of affect through simple songs

  3. 3.

    Use of affective singing for transitions.

The relational significance of these objectives is examined in the following sections. Specific illustrations related to classroom activities, practice tables and figures, based on the author’s experience and relevant published scientific research, are also included.

Appeal of Music, Especially Singing

Almost all young children love music (Dansereau 2011), and children with various special needs have been found to be responsive to it (Hallam and Price 1998; Levitin et al. 2003; Nordoff and Robbins 1983). One explanation for its heightened appeal may be that sound patterns found in music are comparatively simpler than those in speech. Musical patterns require slower brain processing speeds than speech patterns (Zatorre et al. 2002). This simplicity is especially true in traditional children’s music with its repetitive musical patterns. Moreover, recent neuroscience research validates music’s powerful role in eliciting emotions, including the initial stage of garnering attention in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Heaton 2009; Molnar-Szakacs and Overy 2006).

Evidence about the power of singing converges from diverse scientific angles. For example, when researchers exposed listeners to vocal and instrumental renditions of the same tunes, enhanced memory for vocal over instrumental music was demonstrated (Weiss et al. 2012). In another investigation, levels of the hormone cortisol measured in infants under differing conditions revealed that live maternal singing is more supportive of arousal than speech (Trehub and Nakata 2002; Shenfield et al. 2003).

Live singing, in particular, is a healthy relationship-builder due to the adaptability of musical elements and their effect in the present moment (Weeks 2009). Colwyn Trevarthen and Niki Powers state “… the voice, driven by the movements of breathing, gives the richest and the most intimate and immediate information on our inner state of mind and body.” (Powers and Trevarthen 2009, p. 214).

Vowel Sounds Convey Emotions

When adults sing live to children—whether to playfully sing out directions, as in “If you’re Happy and You Know It,” that drives hand clapping and foot stomping; to lead them in a game (“We all fall down,” found at the end of the timeless early circle game, “Ring Around the Rosy”); to soothe as in the French lullaby “Fait dodo, Colas, mon p’tit frère” with its lilting dance rhythm; to march; or to signal lost and found in a peek-a-boo, there is a simple technique to effectively alert, engage, and attune to the children. This is accomplished by adjusting vowels to emphatically convey the intended message. It is a fact, as long known by trained singers and actors and, more recently by scientists, vowels are the sound in singing (and speaking) that convey emotions (Powers and Trevarthen 2009). This can be used to teachers’ advantage when eliciting changes in their own sounds as they sing-song or fully sing—conveying cheer, sadness, calm, joy, assertion, amusement, mystery, and more.

The only way to sustain a truly flexible vocal sound is upon a vowel, which is cast upon unimpeded breath. One may try holding out the sound of a consonant—‘b’, for example. The only result is short puffs of “buh, buh, buh.” Using sibilants, you can play with rhythm and volume, but just try to sing a tune on “s”! Nasal consonants, such as ‘m’ and ‘n’ also sustain sound but do not serve a variety of effects, though they are important in selected languages. However, by speaking or singing the vowel sound of the letter ‘o’ one can sail away with that sound for as long as breath supports it!

No wonder so many songs begin with a “pick-up beat” on the sound of the exclamation “Oh”—e.g. “Oh, say can you see,” the opening of “The Star Spangled Banner.” In common language the term “up beat” (anacrusis) is an unaccented note(s) that foreshadows a strong “down beat.” It can occur anywhere in a composition, but we are most aware of it at the start of a song. The singer can set up a snappy tempo, or dawdle before settling into the anthem, for example. Immediately, a mood gets established—crisp or languid—with just the execution of that simple vowel sound.

A valuable characteristic of vowels is that since they can be sustained, they are open to all kinds of “color.” Color (timbre) is often thought of as the unique identity of different instruments, for example, how a flute sounds is distinctive from a trumpet. But the human voice is also a wizard of producing wide-ranging timbre. We have all experienced the power of timbre, either as a recipient of it, as a giver or both; it occurred when we were either babies or became parents. Not co-incidentally, many early sounds that express ideas and affects such as soothing, calming, surprise, or prohibition (See Fig. 1) occur on vowel sounds (Fernald 1992). While contour (e.g. rising vs. falling) of a sound and timing play important roles, the color of the vowel sound can greatly clarify one’s intent.

Fig. 1
figure 1

The shape of a vocalized sound conveys a message. Note Based on the research of (Fernald 1992)

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Human companionship is first played out in such highly affective mother-infant vocalizations (Stern 1985). We are able to inform our approaches with older children and special needs children in particular by the clarity of form and effect of what has aptly been coined “communicative musicality.” This refers to highly expressive musical qualities and prosody as Malloch and Trevarthen (2009a, b) found to be in place before formal language developed.

Enhancing Color in Exclamations or Interjections

Timbre is one element of prosody embedded in speech, sound effects, or singing. Different colors of sound associate to non-verbally expressed meanings which can then be layered upon the words themselves. Choices of vocal qualities abound, such as brassy, squeaky, whispered, nasal, breathy. Remarkably, the affective sentiment and meaning expressed through timbre can be perceived in as little as a single musical sound (Koelsch 2013). Moreover, empirical research supports the notion that children with ASD are responsive to changes of musical timbre (Heaton 2009).

The following are two illustrations of simple, effective prosody in speech-like vocalizing. In the first scenario a 5 year-old girl has finished a difficult puzzle that took top-notch spatial figuring and persistence. The teacher produces a long “ah”—a non-verbal commentary—that starts on a high pitch, rises higher and descends slowly, and is bright and clear in tonal quality, reflecting joy to the child about what she has accomplished. The prosodic sound, together with an accompanying smile, has thus been paired with another non-verbal signal to produce a powerful effect.

In the second situation a boy has reacted to the teacher’s second request to hang up his back-pack and hat by putting only his back-pack on the hook and then hurriedly aiming his hat so that it drops on the floor; he turns to run off. The teacher knows that even though he has genuine difficulty with motor planning and task organization, he is capable of doing this right. She responds with a burst of “uh” (the more closed than “ah” vowel sound), thus: two shorts and a long: “uh, uh, uh—.” “No way, buddy,” she is saying, but without words; her disapproval is expressed but couched in gentleness that invites (and expects) him to try again.

In these examples, whether the teacher subsequently adds words, she has already non-verbally communicated her emotional tone and stance very well to each child. Basic preverbal communications with children who have special challenges, such as the young boy, are more likely to be received by him (heard and listened to) than a string of words. Indeed, they may possibly be imitated and/or stored in both body and memory along with other aspects of the caregiver’s communication, such as words, gestures, and facial affect. Psychologist Serena Wieder, co-founder with Stanley Greenspan, MD, of the developmental intervention approach known as DIR® (Developmental, Individual, Relational) notes, “The voice is probably the most powerful tool you have to cue your child. Whether or not he understands the words, the message comes from the tone, and the rhythm, and the loudness, and the pacing of it.” (Greenspan 2004).

Using singing (versus speech) to communicate with colors is particularly rewarding because the pitch one is singing can be held steadily for a longer time before it changes to a different one. In contrast, pitch within speech shifts constantly and quickly, sometimes even within one syllable (Ladefoged 2005). Therefore, playing with and hearing the color of words can be accomplished more readily in singing than in speech.

Expressive Vowel Sounds in Simple Songs

Many classroom teachers sing hello to a group of children, but not all sing hello to each child. Such singing can be an individual affirmation and a chance to communicate exclusively, establishing a unique affective relationship even within a group. For example, a child named Dana appears a little sleepy one morning, yawning and rubbing her eyes. The teacher may want to pull her in while also acknowledging her sleepy state. She may accomplish this by letting her vowel sounds in the words be not only quieter but also longer. She can draw out the first vowel sounds (i.e. the sound ‘eh’ and ‘oh’ in “Hello”) and continue in the same way with the rest of the vowels (i.e. the ‘eh’ and “ah” in “Dana” and so forth.) At the end of the song’s last phrase (“We’re glad to see you here”) even more of a lengthening of the final vowel “eh” in “here” is an effective cadence for the mood. What the teacher is essentially accomplishing musically is a slowing of tempo, which, affectively, offers an attuned soothing sound linked to Dana’s sleepy self-state.

In another related scenario, a teacher wants to reach a child who is not showing much emotion by gently invigorating her. She makes her sound a little mysterious by using a playfully darker tonal color, communicating “What’s up with you?” Darker color comes with making more closed sounds on the vowels, for example, the ‘o’ in “Hello” sung with rounded, somewhat protruding lips and leaning closer to “ooh” than a plain “oh.” The less frequently heard darker timbre is more likely to get a child’s attention due to its novelty.

Preschoolers are often led to sing about other daily events, such as the weather and days of the weeks. Many other themes can be put into simple songs (Nordoff and Robbins 1983) infused with affect, including: counting the number of children present; spelling children’s names; naming the children’s clothes; colors; feelings; seasons; and safety.

Affective Singing in Transitions

Whether lining up or cleaning up, it’s not uncommon for young children, especially those who are more rigid about change, to have difficulty as they move from one activity to the next. Directives that are made in a busy or noisy environment can be difficult for children to process, particularly so for children with ASD (Russo et al. 2009).

To ease transitions teachers often make use of visual aids, such as charts showing daily schedules. Such familiar aids can be well supported by affective singing. Combining the visual representation with singing or chanting is likely to be much more effective than spoken commentary, which can get swallowed up by the texture of background sounds. Singing, by its musical nature, will be more alerting and engaging. Singing in that situation will also deliver an additional mode (i.e., hearing) for communication, reinforcing support of individual differences in sensory processing (Baranek et al. 2006).

Details for using an everyday exclamation, “Oh,” to direct attention to a familiar song are shown in Table 1. There we consider an expressive vowel’s function before a customary transition song, namely, for clean up. The children may immediately recognize the song and, indeed, know its intended meaning, but without an attention-grabber, they may be likely to tune-out or ignore it. Table 1 gives details and also provides further understanding about some of the biological and behavioral stimuli in expressive singing that can move listeners from mindless habituation to a positive response in attitude.

Table 1 Example of a teacher’s affective singing to initiate a transition
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Multi-modality Strengthens Relational Singing

The rich multi-sensory communication that begins with mother-infant dyads is characterized by single communications that are conveyed by parallel signals from different sensory channels (Gogate et al. 2000). It is a clear template that helps us see what pathways can be used, and that is valuable not only when relating with special needs children, but also when establishing uniquely-tailored back and forth communication with any child.

Children continue to actively use multi-modal forms of communication into early childhood years with certain modes being unique, for example, gestures being used for meaning that children know but cannot express in words (Flewitt 2005). Besides gestures, other strong multimodal supports teachers can use with singing are body stance; personal space (nearness and distance); gait; eye contact; facial expressions; and sounds beyond basic speech, such as laughter, whines, moans, whoops, and humming. See Table 2 for practice suggestions in expressive sounds that are linked with other modalities in songs or chants.

Table 2 Enriching songs with vowel play and multi-sensory modalities
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Sing, Listen, Adjust, and Sing Again

Many anatomical descriptions could be given, such as those that teachers of singing or theatre coaches give for how to produce these different sounds. But the effects of the “oral-auditory-motor” feedback loop—meaning, “you sing it-you hear it-your vocal tract adjusts per your mind’s intent”—works surprisingly well and quickly (Jones and Munhall 2005) Practicing these variations of sung sounds (See Fig. 2) automatically exercises not only one’s own hearing, but also one’s breathing and the muscular mechanisms involved in the vocal tract that are needed to produce them (Erdemir 2010).

Fig. 2
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Sonic gems—practice possible shapes of vowels

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In class teachers will also set into motion live interactions and thereby, with the children’s actual reactions and responses (which may possibly, but not necessarily, be vocal—look also for body changes, facial expressions, etc.), their own feedback loop will grow stronger from the power of real-time experiences.

Conclusion

Non-musician classroom teachers who consciously keep these goals in mind, practice on their own, and enjoy them in live class circumstances will have an opportunity to elevate simple and natural singing to a more skillful, affective level. Such singing works alongside almost any classroom activity and can be applied to whole songs, to sound effects, to repetitive vocalized accompaniments in storytelling, and to short individually reinforcing phrases as commentary or paired with activities and transitions.

Relational strategies in this context are crucial because they help individual children feel known and experience learning in the most meaningful way—in social relationships, something that can be especially difficult when cognitive, emotional, physical, or neurodevelopmental challenges arise (Greenspan and Wieder 1998). Moreover, singing in this way allows for terraced teaching, whereby both the group and diverse individuals may be addressed in relatively effortless yet effective ways.

Based on the author’s experience as well as published surveys, observations and a wide range of relevant scientific research, the emphasis of this article has been on vowels because they offer a rich and accessible starting point for interjecting affective musicality into singing. Clearly, there are many other practical aspects of meaning, speech, and singing as well as individual language and cultural influences that are relevant to this topic and worthy of exploration, but a good starting point is with the musical gems that carry sound and emotion best—vowels.