Children's Pitch Matching, Vocal Range, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice

In this article, literature and research were reviewed to obtain general descriptions of children's musical development, especially their pitch-matching accuracy and vocal range, and what is considered to be developmentally appropriate practice (DAP). The factors affecting children's pitch-matching accuracy and vocal range were investigated and categorized into internal and external influences. The findings were discussed in terms of children's development and teachers' practice in the early childhood education setting. Children's musical development should be considered in a dynamic way. What we call “developmental knowledge “can be biased by how we define development and what we measure, and it may limit teachers' practice and children's authentic development accordingly.