What is a good age for a child to start singing lessons? My little girl is seven and I am thinking of finding a singing teacher for her - she loves singing and seems to have quite a powerful voice. Would I be in danger of putting her off/damaging her voice?

Seven is a little young for formal singing lessons but if she is a mature young lady of seven and you can find the right teacher she could begin lessons at her age. The thing to do with youngsters is to teach them songs and some theory and the beginnings of sight singing but in a fun way. It is easy to over-train voices and to make the lessons so dull that the child will hate them. A singing group or a young music makers group might be a better idea at the moment.

I agree with what's been said. I don't like to take them under 10/11, though I've helped a few 8/9 year-olds out with their song and dance items for dance festivals. Even then, it depends on the child. Unlike some musical instruments, it's not necessary or wise to start lessons at such a young age. Young voices are very delicate, and need handling with kid gloves. If you decide to take it further, do make sure the teacher knows what they are doing. Find someone to recommend a good one.

How about a local choir or singing group??? I am 16 now and started in a local choir for young people when I was about the age of your daughter and enjoyed it immensely and my involvement encouraged me to start singing lessons a bit later on at about 11/12. It was a good way of learning some new skills reading music, performing in public etc

I agree with Char, I joined my choir when i was 7 where they can introduce you to singing, teach you theory and discipline in singing. Maybe start lessons at a slightly older age, around 10, but at the age of 7 she may find a choir fun.
Keet

RAM professor, Diane Forlano said something like this - At least 14 as taking singing lessons before puberty has done its proper job to enlarge the body which is the singing frame, will endanger the voice but by all means join a choir early if you like but without any proper classical singing lessons. Our now 10-yr old girl has nagged us but we remain steadfast.

My teacher has always said she wouldn't normally consider taking on singing pupils below the age of 14. I know in exceptional cases she would (as she put it) "teach songs" to younger children if they were exceptionally keen and mature (as she also teaches piano and recorder, she gets a lot of requests from young pupils), but she wouldn't consider teaching technique in these cases.

ok you have all persuaded me lessons are not a good idea yet.. - will look into a choir but I actually don't know of any for children in my area - it is a shame that schools don't seem to have choirs anymore, well her school does hardly anything musical. I was thinking of trying to encourage the singing now though before she gets older and more self-conscious - by the time I was ten I had become very shy about singing infront of other people.

This is a very good idea. Joining a choir as a child changed my life. How abt the county's or borough's junior choir? Call the borough/county Music Service/Trust. Ask the head for the tel no. They usually have a choir for kids from age 9 and if you attend church, there must be choirs there and also plenty of lively fun singing in Sunday School. Many private schools have choirs for very young kids as early as seven. Check this out if she is in one. Try also searching for "Kodaly" sessions on Google.

Best wishes.

One of my good freinds is a singing teacher and he teaches all ages but doesn't start on technical work til they are at least 13/14, until then its really just very informal singing lessons with songs from Annie and Oliver mainly along with well known Classical lullabys...

I think it's wise to play safe. However, lessons before 14 will only harm the voice if the teacher doesn't know what they are doing. There are many things which can be done in a singing lesson without damaging the voice. That's why there are classes for children from 8 years in competition festivals, which are adjudicated by some of the finest singers and teachers in the country. And also songs on the ABRSM grade list suitable for children of that age (not to mention the prep test songs).
Also the voice is constantly changing until age 25, so it can be as harmful to start lessons at 16 as 8 if the teacher is not capable.

I know someone who passed Grade 8 singing with merit when she was only 12...

Yes but........that will have been with a very different voice to the one she will have say, 5 years later won't it?

Sure it's worth doing Gd 8 for its own sake but in terms of lifelong vocal learning it's fairly meaningless isn't it?

My singing teacher has said she'd be ok with taking a young child to teach them enjoyment of singing and good basic habits. I think this is different from teaching singing technique, and I don't see any harm in it. Choirs can sometimes be a good thing but sometimes not (I was taught some very bad habits in choirs as a kid). Depends on the choir I think!

What age for a boy? After voice break? Just Wondering.....

I believe the advice is to wait till the breaking has settled completely. That varies a lot for different kids, so I don't think there's really a rule of thumb?

What do you mean by the voice is constantly changing until age 25. How does it change? I am a female. I have noticed my speaking voice has gotten slightly deeper instead of a higher pitch when I was younger. I'm 19 and I have posted in another thread here, I have a treble-like voice. Does this mean my voice will not be treble-like when I'm in my 20s?

Some interesting reading here.....from the National Youth Choir website

http://www.nycgb.net/wp-content/nycgb_changing_voice.pdf

Ah, I didn't say I AGREED with what this child had done...

It can change in range and timbre. it would be impossible to tell about your particular voice without hearing it.




I think that if a boy has had singing lessons as a treble, they have more control over their voices during the change. The Association of Teachers of Singing has published an article in their journal about how to guide boys through this period of change, with suitable repertoire, written by a well respected teacher. (It is not necessarily the opinion of AOTOS.) Personally, I feel that if a boy is going to carry on singing anyway (despite advice to the contrary), say in a choir, it is best he is guided through the change by an experienced teacher, who can advice him on his safe range, and how to avoid doing anything likely to cause damage.
If a boy has never had lessons, then during the change is a bad time to start. Wait until the voice has settled.

No, you didn't!

It's good to see the whole exam thing as a tool for the learner isn't it, rather than a ladder to crawl up.

One of my sons took Grade 5 singing as a treble about 3 years ago, and now with his new lovely bass voice may take it again he says 'because there are SO many good songs'. At 14, there is no reason for him to rush at speed through Grades 6/7/8 is there?

I've just got back from a week away, and do have some younger pupils. (Youngest aged 6!) What I do with the younger ones is encourage them to love singing. Recognise when they should stop due to illness. Develop an awareness of how to sing without injury. Give them some goals to aim for.

I'm not going to turn some 12 year old into an operatic soprano! What I hope to do is help singers of all ages to find, use, and take care of their voice.

Incidentely the little 6 year old I teach is exceptional, and I would rather that she is singing under the supervision of a singing teacher than do what she was doing before which would have ruined a really beautiful voice.

That's very much what my singing teacher does jod. I think it sounds really lovely.

As I said earlier, I can see no harm and an awful lot of good in teaching good habits and a real love of singing.

Good luck with your very fortunate little pupils.

Thanks meerkat, and in light of the governments latest edict about singing, I feel totally vindicated.

The troubel is there are a lot of children who are all wannabee pop-stars and the way that they croon into their hairbrushes has the potential to do harm. I view my job as stopping bad habits before they start.

(Oh and before you think I'm a hypocrit you should have seen my sister and I aged 9 and 10 singing along to Abba songs!)

Well I have looked and asked around and there seems to be no children's choir in my area. I hope the extra funding has some impact soon - but it will probably too late for my children and I do feel frustrated about it all.

I do still feel torn about the singing teacher issue. My little girl has a powerful voice - but I know she has had other children in her class moaning about how loudly she sings - i am worried she will start to hold her voice back to blend in with the rest of them - and surely that can't be good for technique. I don't know whether anyone else has experienced this problem?

This is a common concern. If you cannot find a children's choir. Children like your daughter probably will benefit from singing lessons if only to encourage her to hold back but in the right way. Look for a teacher who understands childrens voices. The type of thing they should be doing is working on the rudiments of breathing and making sure that your child has a consistent voice throughout its natural range. Run a mile if the range is extended unnaturally, or that your daughter feels she is singing too high or too low.

I started when i was 10. That's quite a good age I gather. I think 7 is a little premature for lessons which would gear towards soloing - it may ruin her voice for later on in life which would be a shame. Maybe you could ask teachers if thye would be interested in setiing up a choir at her school because that would be a great way to keep her interested!

I started when I was 8. I was singing in festivals from 10. Because my teacher knew what she was doing I didn't damage my voice. I now teach youngsters in the same way I was taught at that age.

I looked for a singing teacher when I was 12 and countless people said they wouldn't take me on because I was too young. They said that I couldn't be taught until I was 16 so I joined a choir instead. I think that children should be able to have singing lessons younger than 16 but for the teacher to make sure that they don't damage their voice.

Oh dear....

I think you got so many discouraging replies but the truth is your daughter is singing and wants to sing

SO

find her a good singing teacher!

Keep asking on here and use the same common sense approach you have to the rest of your parenting and you will NOT have any big disasters voice wise!

Try contacting the RSCM. My girls are both members of a church choir that is affiliated with the RSCM http://www.rscm.com/education/vfl.php They are working for their Deans medal awards and the choir mistress is very good at encouraging those with more powerful confident voices by teaching them the descant parts and they also cover a (very small) amount of music theory. Provided you have no religious reason for not looking at church choirs they can be very effective and seem to operate country wide.