Teaching Your Child to Sing

by Kathy Morrison, Director of Kathy's Music, LLC

Singing is for fun and much more! Research indicates that focusing on singing can be beneficial in both cognitive development (abstract conceptual thinking, verbal abilities, originality) and motor development (particularly coordination). Singing, which may be present from the earliest stages of life, evolves through several development stages: babbling, repeating words and fragments, and finally adding rhythmic features and pitch components.

“Singing ability is related to the ability to control speech fluctuations, and speech activities appear to help develop tuneful singing skills.” (McDonald, Dorothy and Gene M. Simons.)

The ability to sing and the ability to converse with expressive speech are closely related. Early Childhood music classes will nurture your child’s speaking and singing voice by playing with rhythmic speech (poems and rhymes) as well as introducing and modeling simple tonal melodies with a limited range. While your child is happily singing, she is stimulating all developmental domains: physical, emotional, language, and cognitive. Particularly significant is the reinforcement singing provides in abilities relating to sequences, patterns, memory, and language.

However, timing is important. Evidence suggest that children ages 1.5 to 3 years are at a critical stage for learning to sing accurately (matching pitch). In “Teaching the Elementary School Chorus” by Linda Swears, we learn that many children are not singing accurately:

“Of primary importance in this developmental scheme [learning to sing] is the approximation of singing stage usually occurring between the ages of about eighteen months and three years. At this time a repertoire of tonal patterns is being developed and tonal memory is being shaped. Unfortunately, the heavy emphasis on language development at this time may result in inattention to the development of the child’s singing voice. For whatever reason, if singing is neglected at this stage, the result may be children and even adults who fail to achieve singing accuracy without remedial help.”

There are many things you can do at home (or in the car) to nurture your child’s developing singing voice.

- Encourage your child to sing by singing to and with her! You can be a marvelous example. Love and enjoyment of singing is contagious and contributes to the development of the child.

- Introduce songs from your childhood, such as folk songs and nursery rhymes. These childhood classics are comprised of rhyming words, repetitive phrases, and simple melodic patterns making them easy to learn and remember. Children want to sing them!

- Because children learn to sing best without accompaniment, try singing without a CD after you’ve learned the songs together.

- To encourage your child to sing in a light voice, which is easier for matching pitch, play with siren sounds, downward and upward “whoo” types of sounds, using a “sliding” voice. These glissando or sliding sounds will also help increase the child’s vocal range for both his speaking and singing voice.

- Sing in the ideal range for your child’s voice. For those parents with a musical background, we recommend from around “d” to “g” above middle C for children ages 3-5 years of age. Here’s the good news: One expert says that with many singing experiences, some children will be able to sing accurately from middle C to an octave above middle C by the age of four or five.

- Play with “humming” a favorite song from class, such as “Row, Row, Row your boat”. Humming will increase the strength of your voice.

The ability to sing is based on many factors, including environment, opportunities for vocal play, a child’s physical/emotional development, and natural ability. However, encouragement and guidance from adults who value singing can have an immense impact on a child’s ability to sing. So, sing, sing together, merrily, merrily sing!