Pedagogical Guidelines for Composers

L.I.E.D. Composition Competition 2023-2024 – New Art Songs for children and youth

Art Song for Children and Youth: Pedagogical Guidelines for Composers

Art Song for Children and Youth is a form of art intended for young performers. We hope that our competition inspires composers to freely express their artistic visions while considering the young performers’ capabilities.

As our young performers are still developing their musical skills, we have provided some pedagogical considerations to assist composers in their work. These considerations are based on years of experience in teaching music to young individuals, but do not need to be taken as rigid guidelines and can be deviated from if desired.

General and musical guidelines:

– Compose with the performer’s skill level in mind. While challenges are beneficial, incorporating too many difficult elements in one piece can discourage young musicians during practice.

– Center the composition around the text, making it the focal point.

– Ensure that the text depicts a world suitable for the child’s/youth’s age.

– Pay attention to the balance between the piano accompaniment and the voice: as the singer’s age decreases, so does the size of the voice as an instrument. A piano accompaniment that overpowers the young singer’s voice can hinder their performance.

– Treat the vocal and piano parts as equals. The composition should not be a mere ”song with piano accompaniment.”

– In Art Song, both piano and voice convey the emotions and nuances of the text.

– If the composition involves new notational techniques, explain them in a language that young musicians can understand. Keep in mind that depending on their age, children may not have the patience to read lengthy instructions.

Guidelines for the piano part:

– Tailor the piano part to suit the performer’s age-appropriate hand span. For example in adolescence the hand can already typically reach an octave or beyond.

– Make the musical notation accessible to young musicians studying music. Reading music might be slow for young pianists, and seemingly simple passages may pose greater challenges from their perspective. Introduce challenges thoughtfully, avoiding the inclusion of too many diverse technical or cognitive elements in one piece. Factors that can increase the difficulty level of the piano part include:

 – Polyphony

 – Rapid chord changes

 – Leaps

 – Frequent or extensive accidentals

 – Additional ledger lines, beyond one or two

 – Changes in clefs

 – Fast patterns involving more than five fingers

– You may compose for the grand piano, but please keep in mind that most performers will only have access to an acoustic upright piano for practice at home.

– The piano part may occasionally echo vocal lines to support the singer in maintaining pitch accuracy. However, please note that constant repetition of the vocal lines on the piano is seldom necessary and could limit the piano’s independent expressive possibilities.

Guidelines for the vocal part:

– Respect the diverse vocal ranges of children. The vocal line should take into consideration their capabilities, keeping the range mostly within one octave. Common ranges for children are approximately from C4 (Middle C) to C5 (in Finnish notation c1 to c2), but a range of a fifth is also typical.

– Leaps and extreme vocal ranges are challenging in singing.

– Provide opportunities for the singer to breathe and rest.

– Pay attention to word stresses in the text.

-Transposability is a good feature. Make sure to consider how transposing affects the piano-part as well.

– Pay attention to the choice of vowels at extreme pitches; for instance, the vowel sounds “a”, “o” and “u” are generally easier to sing at higher pitches.

Translated from the original Finnish text by: Ruusu-Maaria Brousseau