How not to damage children’s vocal chords when singing?

The song you are hearing is called Hu Guangsheng. It's named after the male leading role in the Chinese movie A Cool Fish, which hit box offices last November. The song is a monologue of the female leading character, Ma Jiaqi, expressing her reluctance, regret and incapability of breaking a promise with whom she is deeply in love. Ma has an incurable illness and could die at any moment – but she does not want her love to have to face up to her death.

Shi Jiaxi (L) and Han Tiantian (R) are two members of Stone and Children Band. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

This version is sung by two school girls Shi Jiaxi and Han Tiantian. Despite their young age, they manage to convey perfectly the feeling behind the music that so many people are sure to have experienced: the helplessness of separation and the unpredictability of life. The performance has gone viral on Chinese social media and video platforms.

The performance touches most people who watch it, and provokes questions as to who the girls are, and how they can sing so well. In fact, Shi Jiaxi and Han Tiantian are two members of a band called "Stone and Children". It has more than fifty members and is organized by music producer Shi Dongying. "Stone" refers to his surname "Shi" and "children" indicates that all of the students in the band are aged between seven and eighteen.

There are about fifty members of Stone and Children Band. Here are some members taking picture with Shi Dongying. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

Yet these apparently talented girls never thought they would make such an achievement in music before they met their music instructor, Shi Dongying.

"About three years ago, it was impossible for me to sing in public, because some people had laughed at me and said my voice was hoarse and a girl should not sound like that," according to Shi Jiaxi.

"I live in a village. Before I learned how to sing with Mr. Shi, I just sang by instinct. I never dreamt so many people would like listening to me one day. My teacher heard me humming a song in school and then videoed me singing and posted it on TikTok, a platform for sharing short videos. We never expected anyone to take any notice, but some web users sent the link to Mr. Shi and then he contacted my teacher," Han Tiantian says.

Learning singing with Shi opened up a brand-new world for them and they suddenly realized they could do something different. Shi said it was a coincidence that he became a musical instructor of children and adolescents. He remembers the first time he met Jiaxi, and the dilemma he encountered.

"I asked her to sing a bit, and it was a total disaster. She was definitely tone-deaf. But the features of her voice made me listen. I never imaged such a young girl would have such a deep, thick voice."

Shi Dongying was playing the piano and some members of Stone and Children Band were singing with him. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

Most other music teachers pick students with pure, clear, thin voices, the so-called child's voices, which are prevalent on the music scene. Because Jiaxi's voice was completely different from this criterion, Shi's accepting her to the band was once considered a bold decision.

"I did not have any confidence that she would make such an impressive improvement. I really liked her unique voice, and I was really curious what it would be like if she sang rock music. So I decided to give it a go and see what would come next. After about half a year, her intonation gradually became better, but it was still far from what it is now."

Shi isn't just a talent discoverer. Forming Stone and Children Band was actually aimed at changing the way children are taught to sing in China these days, a training system that he believes could damage children's young, delicate vocal cords.

After graduating from a music university, Shi became a record producer which gave him lots of opportunities to help children and youngsters record musical productions in a studio. He found that some of them had a very wide musical range and could easily reach a high pitch, but once their voices changed they lost this ability.

Shi Dongying and his band members [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

He recalls one of the young singers decided to learn singing with him to try and prepare for the entrance exam of a music university in two years' time. Shi was shocked at what the student sounded like when he sang a high note.

"He had just gone through the voice change period, and his parents asked me to help him improve his singing. I asked him to sing one octave, starting from Middle C, but when he was about to get to C5, he couldn't do it. His voice croaked. It was bizarre because I knew he could do much better than that, so I suggested that the boy should have a medical check. The test result was heartbreaking. It turned out that his vocal cord had been damaged irrevocably because of vocal abuse before his voice had changed. This meant the child would never be a professional singer."

Shi says the case is not unique. He knows lots of music teachers across the nation and they say it happens from time to time. Shi has also had feedback from parents whose children have temporarily lost their voices after half-a day rehearsing in choir.

Shi Dongying and his band members [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

Why is this happening? Shi believes some teachers often ask students to squeeze their throats or use more power to sing if they can't reach a certain pitch. It's effective in the short term, so it's done more often to please parents, who are eager to see improvement quickly and want their children to win singing competitions.

"In my job, I witnessed how children were taught to sing high notes in my studio. They were often asked to squeeze the muscles in their throat to reach high pitches, and I did not agree with this method at all. I have seen many international singing competitions. The way young singers from Malaysia, Singapore and other countries sing is entirely different from how our children do. I can tell they don't squeeze to try to hold the breath but keep everything relaxed. This is correct and is the skill our children need to learn."

Shi Dongying is a music producer of Stone and Children Band. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying]

Since 2012, Shi and several other professionals have been looking into a scientific training method for children. The core of his system is to use the diaphragm, a muscle situated horizontally between the thoracic and abdominal cavities, to force air from the lungs through the voice. It can effectively relax the vocal cords while singing.

"Based on this theory, we created approximately 100 singing practices, which can be categorized into five stages. When I was building the system, I designed it in a way that meant it could be easily passed on to a large number of musical professionals so that more and more children would benefit from it."

After seven years of continually improving his training system, Shi has achieved good results in his training school in Shandong Province, in eastern China. Many of his students come from different parts of the country, like Beijing, Anhui, Jiangsu and Hebei. They attend his class on weekends or school holidays. This year, he opened another training school outside his hometown, using his new training method. He hopes the more professionals see his results, the more will use it and disseminate it to others.

"I have fifty kids in my band. About twenty of them are going through voice change, but none of them have stopped singing. Some have successfully gone through this period. It's really a huge loss that so many children once had such beautiful voices but have had to stop singing because of our immature training methods. I want to change it. When I explained my method to some teachers, they've been open-eyed with astonishment, because it's different from what they learnt in university."

Zhang Luxuan is a member of Stone and Children Band. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

The song you are listening to is called Waiting for Me at the Destination, sung by Zhang Luxuan, another member of Stone and Children Band. She also sings in the Beijing Philharmonic Choir, a top Chinese children's choir founded by Yang Hongnian, a famous conductor, in 1983.

Zhang's parents saw a performance by Stone and Children Band online and decided to send her for an audition, to try and join the band for a short-term training. Only the top ten students out of more than a hundred candidates were selected. Shi noticed that Luxuan's way of singing also needed to be adjusted.

At first, Luxuan's parents were highly skeptical at what Shi suggested. Then they noticed their daughter had some symptoms of vocal cord damage. Luxuan decided to keep learning with Shi after the short training session had finished.

"Before I met Mr. Shi, I didn't know how to sing high notes. My teacher specializes in folk singing and probably isn't that good at teaching. At the time, I didn't know how to smoothly convert my true voice or chest voice to falsetto. I was simply told to shout and use more strength. Latter, my mum found out my voice wasn't as good as before, so we decided to go to Mr. Shi. He teaches me how to sing high pitch without putting pressure on the throat. Sometimes when I have difficulty in doing it, he shows me how to do it."

Zhang Luxuan is a member of Stone and Children Band. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

Due to a tight schedule after class throughout the week, Luxuan cannot travel to Shangdong to have tutorials with Shi very often. However, she does not want to give up learning with him. Currently, they are doing online lessons. According to her, whereas the children's choir emphasizes creating a unified tapestry of musical expression, Shi instructs her to develop her own style.

"I am learning dancing, drumming, the piano, singing and English after class, and I also need to rehearse with the choir once a week. When I need to record a demo or a song, I will go there. The training I get from Mr. Shi focuses more on vocal training, like voice, rhythm and intonation. His teaching method is educational. I don't feel under any pressure studying with him even when I can't do what he asks. Every week, he gives me one singing practice with music sheet. I sing the song and tap out the rhythm and send him back the video."

Shi Jiaxi and Shi Dongying were in studio. [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

So what's Shi Dongying like during training? Nearly all students say he's very patient and humorous.

"Mr. Shi is very very very patient to us. We are not even afraid of him so sometimes we really misbehave. If we don't perform very well, he never gets mad. I guess if someone did the same thing to me, I wouldn't tolerate it at all," Han Tiantian says.

"He is very patient and kind to us. We feel free to say anything in front of him. I remember once I didn't do my homework and couldn't even remember the lyrics, but he didn't say anything harsh to me. He asked me to come back in the afternoon. And then, I felt sorry myself and returned to the studio better preparation," according to Shi Jiaxi.

Shi Dongying and Han Tiantian [Photo: courtesy of Shi Dongying, music producer of Stone and Children Band]

Shi says his training method specializes in teaching highly-educational music in a fun and creative way. He doesn't want to be a strict teacher who always disciplines students, and he hopes when his students remember their classes, they'll say they were enjoyable. That's why his classes are often full of laughter, and the students are usually allowed to sing the songs they like.

"The students are old enough to know which singers they like. Sometimes, they ask me if they can sing a particular song. If the lyrics aren't too much for children to handle, then I will let them sing it."

Once his students are capable of singing one kind of music that suits the features of their particular voice, Shi encourages them to challenge themselves by singing songs they think they are not good at. He says it's inevitable in the process of learning and it's a way of enhancing capability.

This song is called Knight, sung by Shi Jiaxi. It is one example of a student attempting something they thought they would never try.

"Because of Jiaxi's voice, I know she's already good at singing rock and country music. I asked her to try Blues and jazz music. She surprised me in a good way. The ideal voice for singing this song would be thin and the person is supposed to be good at voice conversion. Jiaxi is full of explosive strength and her performance is distinctive from the original singer. She added her own flavor to the performance and then it is her style. This is unpredictable. You never know the potential of students."

Shi says he cares about all his students both in musical learning and life outside class. He treats students just like his own children and they're willing to share secrets with him.

"Their parents even joke that I should run a kindergarten. When my students don't know how to do their homework, no matter if it is physics, English or geography, they message me and ask me how to do it. If they have unpleasant experiences at school, they often talk to me and I give them advice on how to deal with it. My secret is to put yourself in their shoes."

This song is called Don't Cry Jiaxuan, created by Shi Dongying for his student Li Jiaxuan, whose mother passed away at the start of this year. When he heard the sad news, Shi wrote the song to console his eight-year-old student. It's sung by the rest of the members of Stone and Children Band. "Don't be afraid, Jiaxuan, your mum is still protecting you from heaven. Smile and welcome tomorrow, we will be always there with you."

"I was very sad to hear the news. I canceled all my work then to concentrate on writing the song. I hope it comforts Jiaxuan and give her strength to recover."

Thanks to the internet era, anyone can see the beautiful performances of the children's band, Their passion gives them the courage to keep going with their unique training method. And with this on board, Shi and his fifty young band members intend to keep learning and enjoying the music they make.