How To Teach A Child To Sing

Knowing how to teach a child to sing is very invaluable especially if they are musically-inclined. The actual process, however, is also very crucial and sensitive that it has to be done the right way. 

Some mistakes can be as grave as damaging your child’s vocal chords and cause discouragement or trauma.

The safe and proper way is what we are trying to advocate for in this article. We do hope that after reading this, you’ll be able to create your own set of fun and easy routines to improve your kid’s singing.

Best Age To Start Singing Lessons

The right age to begin training your child’s voice is the time when he or she is very eager to sing. For some, this could be as early as 3 years old. 

Children as we know it has a very short attention span. Unless they are both excited and interested in what they’re doing, it’s just too hard to keep them focused.

You don’t need to immediately enroll your child to attend singing lessons. In fact, it can be intimidating for your kid if you decide to do this at the first sign of her interest in singing.

The techniques you will learn in the next sections ate both easy and fun. They will serve as both foundation and encouragement for your little one.

Whatever type of practice routine you end up developing from this, remember that your child’s health and safety should be your utmost priority. This means no drawn-out practice sessions and no voice straining. 

How To Teach A Child To Sing: Fun & Easy Techniques

Inspire with musicals

Even when your child is still a baby, you can have her listen to animated musicals like Disney’s Frozen or Moana. You’d be surprised how even someone who is as young as one year old will react happily watching these.

The colors and sounds have a seemingly magical effect that can get them swaying and clapping, sometimes even try to mimic singing. This can help make them start to appreciate and become very much interested in music at such a young age.

In fact, these same movies continue to inspire kids past their kindergarten years. However, you need to keep in check that your little one doesn’t strain his or her vocal chords too much when reaching for the songs’ high notes.

Sing along

Kids naturally look up to us especially when they’re still young. You’d be surprised in their later years how singing along with them actually helped in developing the momentum.

You don’t need to be able to sing like Celine Dione or Adele. Just having your children here you sing even simple nursery rhymes can get them inspired. What better way to even improve the experience but have your child sing along with you.

Nursery rhymes like Mary Had A Little Lamb and Old MacDonald can help them develop both rhythm and pitch without having to reach the high notes. It will build confidence and will make singing such an enjoyable experience right from the beginning.

Play along

Singing is such a joyful activity and it couldn’t be more obvious when kids do it. There are a lot of ways to improve a child’s singing in harmony or on key, and some of them doesn’t necessarily have to involve actual singing.

With a game of Echo, children can repeat the last phrase of a song you’re singing. This can teach them to sing in tune based on what they heard. On the other hand, a Call and Response song makes the child respond to the line you just sang, developing their skill to sing independently and on key.

You can also do some pitch-matching game where your child will match the pitch of a single note that you just sang. To make it more interesting, you can have your little one mimic the pitch of some household sounds like a doorbell or microwave’s beep.

Tongue-twister games are perhaps the most overlooked when it comes to making a better singer. This helps your child to learn to articulate the lyrics well and be able to develop proper tempo and breath control.

Create a musical ambiance

Surround your child with music, one can never get enough of it even if we’re already older. Play songs in the background to keep your child interested and make him or her more comfortable listening to music.

You don’t actually have to play the same kiddie songs over and over again. Play classical or jazz. You can even play your favorite love songs and sing along with it. Your child will definitely be inspired by the way you sing with your songs.

Bond with open mic nights

I have yet to meet a child who doesn’t love hearing his or her voice through a speaker. Training them to be comfortable in hearing their voice that way can help build confidence at an early age. I know I wasn’t given this training when I was a child so it took a while for me to get comfy singing with a microphone in my teenage years.

Luckily, kids nowadays can get to enjoy doing it at their own pace and a more playful manner. There are a lot of choices for the best karaoke machines for kids that you can give as a gift to your child. In fact, some of these musical toys even allow you to sing a duet.

Wrapping It Up

The techniques that you have learned here is not intended to replace a vocal coach. If what you’re striving for your child is to make him or her a famous singer, having a good voice teacher has many benefits as well. These include a more thorough experience, more focus, and if you’re lucky, even connections.

However, now that you’ve learned how to teach a child to sing better and easier, you know that you can help in establishing a solid foundation for your child.