Voice lessons for the lil one

[NoHall]

My daughter is also 7, loves to sing and has a great voice.
She's got a guitar and a keyboard to mess around with, but it's mostly me that plays them. We haven't tried music lessons yet. She went to the week long music camp last summer at Village Baptist, had a great time, learned all the songs, but didn't sing at all during the performance. She wants to be part of the worship band at our church, but again is too shy to sing for anyone.

At home she sings (and talks) nonstop. So we just encourage the singing, and supply her with good music to learn. I set up the ghetto blaster in her room, hand her one of my old microphones and let her go to town. She does concerts for all her stuffed animals.

That's okay, you know. Not all great musicians are performers. Composers, theorists, teachers, and even educated audience members are valuable parts of the music community. This is what I'm having to pound into my students' heads right now--even if they put down their instruments at the end of the semester and never touch it again, what they learn as musicians will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They'll never even listen to the radio the same way again.

I had a batch of 7th graders this morning who had to figure out how many beats were in a measure and the values of rhythms. We had to figure out stuff like 1/4 = 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/8. They were able to convert the 4ths and 8ths to 16ths and do the math, but then they were looking at me funny. I said, "What? Have you not converted fractions before?" They all shook their heads. I laughed and said, "I told you this was useful..."

 

[barefootguy]

Yeah, I'm just excited to see her enjoying music. I'll make sure she has instruments to experiment with, and if she every gets serious about wanting to play something, we'll go from there. Her home performances are mostly just copying me. She sees me performing, watches old videos of my past bands, and talks about her and I doing shows. Maybe someday she'll ask me to play guitar for her in her first band.

 

[Will B]

Singin' Chicken--? Do you have anything to add to this?

I agree with NoHall about holding off until her voice develops. All of my vocal training has been since I've been singing in the A Capella choruses I have been a member of since '98. Barbershoppers are a strange breed, and the techniques we use are far different from what school and Church choir instructors will teach. I may not be the best resource in that respect.

Piano lessons are great. The only formal training I have had is music theory which I had when I was playing bass on a regular basis. Piano lessons will cover that.

 

[Sea Sothebys]

This was so helpful. I really had no idea about the vocal strain possibility, and that it would be a bad idea at this age. I think piano lessons are a great idea. And I will check into the posted suggestions. Thank you so much!

 

[Carol G]

I'm going to offer a different opinion... I started singing in school chorus and church choirs in 4th grade, also took piano and played flute and violin for a few years each. I started taking private voice lessons my sophomore year of high school, and continued throughout college. I wish I'd had the opportunity to take them earlier. I did have the advantage of growing up with a father who was a music teacher so I learned to read music and develop my ear at a young age, but his area of expertise was instrumental, not vocal, so he wasn't able to teach me technique. I absolutely agree with the others that getting her started now with piano lessons is the best thing you can do for her.

However, if she is serious about singing, if she is truly talented and has the desire to do it, I think the earlier she learns to use her voice correctly, the better. It's very easy and all too common for child singers to utilize poor technique for a big sound, and do permanent damage to their vocal cords. I had to spend years unlearning many bad habits I had taught myself before I was able to develop my voice properly.

Of course, it all depends on the teachers available in your area, if they have the background and training to truly understand the special requirements of a child's voice and development...

Just my $.02...