Researchers have revealed that the sound of angelic boy choristers singing carols at Christmas could be a thing of the past.
Researchers have revealed that the sound of angelic boy choristers singing carols at Christmas could be a thing of the past. A study of 1,000 boys over two years found that where male voices were breaking around age 13 or 14 in the 1960s, they can now expect to deepen aged 11 or 12, the Daily Mail reported.
Professor Martin Ashley, Head of Research at Edge Hill University's Faculty of Education, in Ormskirk, Lancashire, claims that the change is because we enjoy a richer diet than in the past and called for choirboys to start training earlier.
According to Ashley the answer to it is to begin teaching boys to sing earlier, allowing them more time to mature as choristers.
He said that the unfortunate consequence is that older and musically experienced boys are being lost early, with a potential impact on the choir's ability to perform the more difficult music.
The voices were compared with other measurements such as the boys' heights, weights, neck sizes and lung volumes.
When completed, the database will be a resource for future researchers who will have access to recordings of early twenty-first century voices.
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