Vocal Modeling: A Review of Literature

Music educators typically use a variety of strategies to teach their subject matter, one core practice of which is modeling. Vocal modeling is a type of aural demonstration, with uses ranging from pitch matching and song instruction to vocal tone building and musicianship development. In early studies, researchers primarily studied the effects of gender and octave-varied vocal models with younger children. Over the years, researchers extended these investigations with more diverse populations and also explored the effects of vibrato, timbre, and mistuned stimuli. The purpose of this review of literature was to provide a summary of vocal model research with a discussion of findings and pedagogical implications for music educators. Recommendations for future research are also included.