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On Saturday, February 15, 2003, at the Uniting Church Hall in Northcote, Community Music Victoria hosted a gathering to examine why singing isn't an everyday part of the male experience. 20 men and Fay White sang and talked the day away.
Of course, the singing part was fabulous. The discussion was illuminating; ranging across identifying why fellas weren't turning up in droves, what it was that attracted those who did become involved and, most important, what could be done to shift the balance.
The first step towards change is to understand why things are like they are. Participants spent a lot of time examining the factors contributing to the unmusical male.
Not surprisingly, it became clear that many of the reasons are attitudinal, acquired in childhood.
Dominant negative expectations: in our culture, it appears to be a generally held truth that it is only exceptional men that can sing (a self-fulfilling 'truth', if ever there was one). Boys grow up in a climate in which it is not expected that they will be able to sing, in which singing is not highly valued, in which singing is not encouraged. It is no surprise therefore that they don't or that they do badly.
Voices of authority: we become what we are told we are. It is only exceptional children that rebel against the categories their teachers and parents put them in; most of us end up accepting the labels put on us. If we are told often enough that we can't sing, that we're tone deaf, that we don't have a musical bone in our bodies, we'll end up believing it. And worse, we'll do the same to our own children.
Mystification: the idea that singing is something that comes naturally to all of us has long disappeared from our culture (see the first point). It is now something requiring learning and practice, without much prospect of material reward. This is not a climate that many young boys are prepared, of their own volition, to enjoy.
Peer pressure: it's a boy thing to deride activities perceived to be sissy, woosy, dorky, and uncool. Even though most male teenagers may aspire to becoming pop music stars, it would appear that no connection is made between this dream and, for example, being in the local church choir, or heaven forbid, standing around with a bunch of girls singing songs about peace and love.
Fear of appearing foolish: it is only the exceptional child that wishes to stand out from the group. Most of us want to blend in, to be part of the furniture. And, especially, we don't want to be noticed for getting it wrong. Singing 'badly' is a surefire way of attracting scorn and derision.
Selection processes: the ways that adults go about choosing members of children's singing groups is often, in itself, intimidating (for example, the competitive audition). These processes are even more insidiously damaging when overt democratic rhetoric goes hand in hand with covert weeding out processes. Children perceive this hypocrisy and withdraw.
Male/female differentiations: obviously many of the pressures expressed above apply to girls as well. Quite why girls appear to be able to transcend them more effectively was discussed, but no conclusions reached.
Some of the factors that inhibit a mass break out of men's singing are rooted in physiology - in the direct body experience of men.
The breaking voice: this unique male experience can be, and often is, traumatic. In some cultures (eg, the Welsh) boy singers are encouraged to take a break from singing while their new voice settles in; in others they are permanently banished from the group (eg, the boy's church choirs). In others, they are encouraged to force their voices to continue to sing in high registers (this may be what is happening in contemporary pop music - see below). It appears that many men just never recover from this experience.
(Apparently females do experience a similar phenomenon, but either it is not as transformational, or doesn't take as long, or females are less precious about it).
Unrealistic expectations: men often attempt to sing in registers that are not suited to their natural capacities. The reasons for this are complex: it may be because of general unfamiliarity with their natural singing voices; it may be because of the registers of the dominant male voices of popular music; it may be because singing in groups is dominated by women (and therefore tends towards registers that women, but not men, are comfortable singing in); or it may be combinations of these and other factors. Whatever the reason(s), it means that many men are trying to do things with their voices that their bodies are uncomfortable with, indeed, may cause them harm, and often results in men giving up, believing (incorrectly) that they simply can't do it.
This is closely related to the point above. It's to do with the traditional pitches and arrangements utilised in most of the mixed group choral music that is currently in circulation. It was suggested that a considerable amount of the standard forms of group singing reinforce male perceptions of incapacity.
Unsuitable pitch: often men find themselves jumping octaves in mid-song. Some notes being too high for comfort in one octave and others too low for comfort in the other.
Unsuitable arrangements: an extension of the above, but it was also pointed out that quite often, the bass parts (where many men get put) are 'boring'. In many arrangements, the only parts available for men are bass or tenor and their natural voice is neither one nor the other.
Inappropriate leadership: questions were raised as to the level of awareness amongst singing leaders concerning the impact of these issues on male singers. It was suggested that perhaps the fact that so many singing leaders are women has led to a music that is technically difficult for men to engage with.
Male/female ensemble balance: because there is usually a preponderance of females in mixed group ensembles, this often means that the individual male voices tend to stand out and/or have an undue focus placed upon them. Believe it or not, this is a pressure that many men do not want.
Harmony: apparently men, in general, find it more difficult to sing harmony than women do. It may also be that men (again, in general) are more attracted to rhythmic non-verbal sound patterns than lyrical harmonics.
Reinforcement of childhood experience: all of the childhood pressures continue to be reinforced in the adult male experience.
Fashion victims: much of the male singing that dominates the airwaves is in the 'high alto' register (see Appendix 1: Scurfield). For most men this register is really difficult - no wonder they think they can't sing.
Excellence victims: it seems that men are particularly susceptible to prevailing ideologies of excellence. That is, that unless one is really, really good at something it's better not to do it at all.
Gender victims: most mixed group singing ensembles are predominantly women (and most singing leaders are women). There is a tendency for men to end up feeling like shags on rocks, just tolerated observers of women's business.
Fear of joining/rejection: most men come to singing (and to groups generally) on tippy-toes, ready to rush for the door at the slightest provocation.
Unattractive repertoire: there is a suspicion that the current repertoire of the group singing community is not hugely attractive to the average bloke.
Too much like hard work: there appears to be a perception that to get any value out of singing in groups, one must practice very hard at difficult things like sight reading, scales, holding a harmony and so on. For many, this may seem just all too difficult.
Poor marketing: community singing has not been generally promoted in ways likely to attract blokes.
The group then discussed what the attractions are; what it is about singing in groups that men find appealing; the positives that can be built on.
Facing the challenge: men do respond to a challenge. The very fact that they've been told all their lives that they can't sing hasn't totally destroyed that (possibly innate) love of singing or rarely voiced belief that, given the chance, they really could do it (after all, what they do in the shower sounds fabulous, whatever anyone else says). If offered a context in which they could flex their vocal cords without being laughed at, most men would leap at the opportunity.
Camaraderie: the male propensity for splendid isolation is a bit of a myth. Most of them love to be part of group, especially one that is actually doing something. And especially a group that supports and cherishes its members.
Fun: making music together is, first and foremost, enjoyable. It's an opportunity for good times, laughter, high spirits. This aspect sometimes gets lost in the fears of how much practice might be necessary.
Inspiration: men are no less susceptible to the uplifting experience of being a part of making co-operative sounds than women. The inspirational feelings arising from group song affect all humans regardless of gender.
Beauty: and the same goes for the satisfaction and joy that comes from being part of creating something of great beauty.
The meeting recognised that expressing the reasons why men weren't becoming involved in group singing was a good place to begin, but mainly as providing the foundation for being able to do something about it.
Based on the understanding that so much of male inhibition/lack of interest arose out of factors experienced in childhood, it was recognised that significant changes to the ways that music was experienced in early years was necessary for there to be any likelihood of profound changes to general musicality of men.
But, apart from recognising the need for enhancements to the delivery of music in schools, a series of more particular issues were raised that are of significance to the operations of group singing in the here and now.
The 'natural' male pitch/register: devise a program to assist choral leaders to understand and positively respond to the fact that many men's natural registers don't fit comfortably into the parts that are traditionally available for harmony singing. For starters, this might involve assisting female leaders to pitch appropriately for men.
Male-friendly arrangements: develop choral arrangements that are 'male friendly' (eg, circulate 4-part male arrangements; ie, lead, tenor, baritone, bass). Other options suggested were to promote the use of ostinato patterns and rhythmic exercises. It may also be productive to focus a bit more on starting with unison singing and then gradually introducing simple harmonies (see Appendix 2: McClusky, for some specific proposals).
Male-friendly repertoire: develop repertoire that attracts men. There appeared to be general agreement that the current variety of repertoire could be extended particularly into areas that men may be more comfortable with; eg, work songs, non-verbal rhythmic soundscapes, satirical material, and perhaps (for young men) a range of lyrics from popular music.
Promotion and recruitment strategies: a lot of the problems of attracting men are as much, if not more, to do with how group singing is perceived from the outside, rather than from any negative factors experienced by participants. Direct and personal approaches may be an effective way to overcome this. If current groups were to activate their own networks with the specific intention of attracting more men - not in terms of a general publicity campaign - but more in terms of direct invitations to particular people, it could be reasonably expected that men would be receptive.
Cross-generational initiatives: one of the respondents to the original version of this paper (Belinda Gillam) has observed that parents witnessing the efforts of their offspring in youth/children's singing groups are often overcome with overwhelming feelings of longing, if not jealousy. In her experience, this is a fruitful context in which to recruit young and old (of both sexes) to become part of wider based singing groups.
Welcoming strategies: so much depends on the initial experience. It was suggested that the development of a 'buddy system' might be useful: ensuring that every new bloke has a designated sympathetic supporter to look to. But mainly, it appears that the overall ambience is the critical issue: developing an environment in which it is clear, from the outset, that participants are not expected to be perfect, that there's no such thing as getting it wrong, that encouragement, rather than judgement, is the name of the game. And finally, make sure that men, in what is still a predominantly a female environment, don't feel isolated.
Organisational strategies: the way that sessions are run is important (to everyone involved, not just men). Participants had a few suggestions that may help with male management:
Role models: identify men who sing with pleasure. Convince them to become active in promoting the benefits and joys of malesong.
Ensemble gender composition: unless there are specific reasons for your group to be made up of one gender only (and there are many fabulous examples of such groups), work towards achieving an equitable balance of men and women.
Introducing music into already existing male group formations: think through the correlations between sport and music (there are many) and use this as a basis for approaching male sporting bodies with the intention of developing a participatory music aspect to sports practice.
Supporting those looking for solutions: what can Community Music Victoria do to help?
And that's as far as we got on the day. CMV thanks the participants for giving their time to this discussion, apologises for the inevitable omissions and misinterpretations that this paper must contain and pleads that readers with ideas that impact on this issue respond.
The key is understanding the natural vocal registers of the Bass, Baritone, Tenor, and Counter Tenor and the octave differentiation of the female voice and encourage contemporary arrangements that compliment the full vocal harmony and rhythm in both sexes.
Key problem with mixed voice community groups/choirs is often that male voices are placed in two categories - a high voice or a low voice that underpins the rhythm in contemporary arrangements.
Arrangers, when arranging for groups, can be more mindful of who they are arranging for. For example, a mixed group (SATB) should have each part well within the vocal reach of the individual singers. There's no use arranging in (SATB) format if the sopranos are really 1st altos, and the basses really 2nd tenors.
Local arrangers can be more understanding when arranging for a group, rather than the group taking an existing arrangement that falls outside their vocal range. Our arrangers are definitely an under utilised resource - we have many talented arrangers and directors just sitting idle!
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