Hey Shannon,
Really quickly.........I work with younger voices all the time and feel
comfortable doing it..... a couple quick tips.
1) Use this analogy when judging whether or not repertoire etc., is
appropriate for a child at any age level.
a) lyrics, style.....ie., would you let your daughter/son listen to
this stuff on their own? if not, they shouldn't be singing it. In fact, in my
studio, if I don't think a song is appropriate for a student, but the parents
are okay with it, I still try to adjust the words or encourage them to
substitute something more appropriate just for my own comfort level........
2) Training a voice at any age is not dangerous.......given you treat the
voice in an age appropriate manner. The gym analogy is the best one I can
come up with......it's okay for anyone to learn how to use their body, and to
pursue fitness, gain flexibility and build co-ordination and strength at
any age. However, in the same way you wouldn't ask an 11 year-old to bench
100 lbs., vocally, they shouldn't be encouraged to produce a sound that
requires them to "bench" more weight with their voice than is
appropriate.......
3) training a childs voice, or an unchanged male voice, is not technically
different than training a soprano female voice........the passagios, range
etc., are generally very similar........of course, keeping in context the
amount of strength that is appropriate for a child to build vs. the strength
appropriate for a mature female to build.
4) Beware of teachers that would either encourage your child to pull chest
too high, ( what many refer to as belt), or to pull head voice too low
......both of which are equally damaging and encourage a rigid use of one
muscle co-ordination to the exclusion of all others. Find a teacher who
understands how to build the transitions in the voice from chest to head to
superhead, without substituting one for the other. If your daughter can learn
these co-ordinations at an early age, she will be thrilled with the vocal
options available to her as her voice continues to grow and gain strength.
5) Learning to sing is a much simpler process than many make out for the
untrained beginner.........becoming a fine musician and artist is what takes
years and years to develop. Young, untrained voices are typically at an
advantage when beginning studies because they usually use their voices in a
healthy, natural manner and are not hindered by faulty training, or
misconceptions of what "singing" really is. "Singing lessons" then consist of
helping them smooth out registration issues, access their full vocal range,
build strength as appropriate, and apply these skills to repertoire.
Hope this helps........and the reply is equally as longwinded as the question
:)
Mary Beth Felker
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