Many parents have dreams of their child becoming a musical genius, while others simply want their child to enjoy singing and develop an appreciation of the arts. Both of these ideas are perfectly valid, but until the children reach a certain age, it’s not necessarily helpful to register your child for professional singing lessons.
When your children are very young, they don’t yet have the physical or mental maturity to start going through professional singing lessons. In fact, it could be counter-productive to put them in a music course too early. So in this article, you’ll learn the best time to sign your child up for singing lessons and you’ll also get some tips and tricks to make the most of the experience.
What is the best age to start singing lessons?
At a very young age, your children might enjoy music and like singing to themselves, but that doesn’t mean they are mentally prepared to take on rigorous classes.
It’s important to remember that there is a difference between your child enjoying singing with their mom and enjoying singing lessons at a technical level. Infants and young children certainly don’t have the self-dedication to be able to take on such a task.
So that’s why, if your child is is interested in learning more about music, it’s recommended to start them in academic music classes around 7 or 8 years old. At this age, they are just starting to develop a certain amount of self-motivation and they’ll be able to appreciate what they learn in class.
Why is this the best age to start singing lessons?
Starting at this age, they’ll be able to understand some basic musical theory and learn techniques that will improve their singing skills. However, it’s some experts don’t want children to take singing lessons until the are around 12, once the first stages of puberty kick in.
Although it is true that physical changes will start developing in your child at this age, your children will be able to learn the theoretical techniques to music a few years before. So as long as you are aware that your child’s voice is going to change after starting, starting a few years before puberty will pose no problem to them. Just make sure you talk through the changes that they will go through, this way they don’t get too frustrated when they start to find it difficult to produce the same notes as they grow older.
Tips When Starting Singing Lessons
Once you sign your young child up for music lessons, there are a couple things you can do as a parent to guarantee that they make the most of their classes. Here’s a short list some of the best tips:
Make sure they’re motivated
When it comes to the arts, the most important element to consider is your child’s motivation. You need to make sure your kid enjoys learning in their singing class, otherwise you’ll be wasting your money and your child may lose their passion.
Likewise, it’s a good idea to help teach them to self-motivate. Your kiddo won’t always want to go to class, so this is a great time to teach them how to become self-motivating and dedicated. This way, not only are you improving their musical skills, you’ll also be helping them become more responsible adults.
Take proper care of their voice
Their health should always come first. Make sure you teach them the importance of staying hydrated and taking all the necessary steps to maintain a healthy voice box.
Warm ups
This goes along with the last tip. If your child doesn’t warm up before a performance, they’re more likely to damage their voice. Just as it’s important for your child to warm up before an athletic event, they’ll need to do the same thing with their voice.
Train their ear
This is one of the biggest advantages of starting your child in singing lessons early. They can train their ears using interval training. This is an absolutely crucial skill for musicians and will ultimately help your child become an excellent singer.
Even if your child’s voice changes later on, the skills they learn from training their ears will service them for a lifetime.
Practice every day
Dedication and constant practice is fundamental when it comes to the musical arts. You’ll need to teach your child how important it is to practice every single day if they want to become better.
Again, not only will this skill help them improve their musical talent, they’ll also learn the importance of dedication in other aspects of life. It just goes to show how underrated music is in terms of a child’s education.
Sing with friends
A great way to help your child stay motivated is to encourage them to sing with friends. This way, they’ll find it more enjoyable and they’re less likely to drop their hobby if they see their friends enjoy it, too.
Not only will singing with friends help them at a technical level by training their ear, but students who practice with friends have a tendency to progress faster since they find it to be a rewarding experience (and this way you don’t have to convince them to practice).
Learn the song first
The final tip is simple: have them learn the song before practicing it. This guarantees that your child isn’t struggling to remember the words, but they can instead simply focus on the quality of their voice. This facilitates the learning process, as they can focus on one skill at a time.
Final Thoughts
Even if your child doesn’t grow up to be the next Celine Dion, singing lessons will do them a great deal of good for the rest of their life. By registering them for music lessons by the age of 7 or 8, they’ll be at the perfect age to start training their ear and learn music theory.
So if you’ve been thinking about singing your child up for those singing lessons, feel free to try Classover! Especially if your child is around this age, you’ll be doing them a great service by helping them improve their music skills. With a super affordable price, Classover have over 200 state-certified instructors. All our live online classes are small sized (1-6 & 7-15 studetns ) so your child can get the best attention from our native instructors.