Rainbow Ears Donald Brinegar
Students who demonstrate an inability to “match pitch” are exhibiting a behavior related to their perception of timbre. The pitches that are usually presented to a client with pitch matching challenges are usually rich in overtones (the quality of timbre) and therefore challenge a clients perception of what is the “fundamental pitch.” When a client has rainbow ears, they hear more than just the fundamental pitch, they hear a rainbow of overtones and sometimes resultant tones.
Giving the client an environment that is nearly all sine wave (fundamental) and devoid of the presence of overtones will help the client to find the pitch.
Unhelpful contexts
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Piano
A loud singer
A singer with a “big voice”
A room full of singers (choir)
A persistent teacher without the understanding of what the client is perceiving

Helpful contexts
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Procedures
Face the client. Create eye contact and smile. Sing, in a high breathy voice “Mary had a little lamb” and then lip sync the same first line of the folk song. Ask the client if they can hear a voice in their head when you lip sync (audiation). Do this three of four times. Ask them to sing the passage in their child’s voice or like Mickey and Minnie Mouse. If they match, move on to sirens (high to low first). If they don’t match keep performing the lip sync version and then the “out loud” version back and forth until they internalize the pitches. Ask them if they can tell whether they are above or below the pitch. If they say below, add more breath, if above, a more relaxed posture using a breath as if they are fogging up their classes. Demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate and keep eye contact. Visual
A male falsetto
A breathy tone
A recorder, flute, or ocarina
One on one, face to face demonstrations
Sirens (breathy)
An accurate singer with a slight timbre
Encouragement and acknowledgement of the clients condition

cues are essential. The client will attempt to avert their eye contact. Breathy and lite please, falsetto if you are able.
Once they have matched, siren down. You will often find a gap in their range- usually at the place in their range where matching pitch with others is necessary. The vocal cords at this point are frozen (pressed adduction) and need to learn to vibrate. A breathy tone (very breathy like a whisper) will unlock the vocal cords. Start with low pitches, below speech level, and progress upward with a breathy tone. As you ascend, get breathier. If they match pitch just above they speaking pitch level, start getting the tone more resonant until they feel the breath and the pitch coordinate.
More to come, but this should be a helpful start.
dlbrinegar@mac.com 909-565-2971