Voice lessons for the lil one

[Sea Sothebys]

I think my daughter is gifted... okay, I am sure we all think our 'chillens' are gifted. She has a really pretty voice and she is very expressive.
She is 7.
Does anyone know the best way to help her develop her voice? I have been thinking about piano lessons, guitar or simply voice lessons. Any advise from SoWallers?

 

[NoHall]

Most serious vocal instructors I know would discourage putting her in formal voice lessons until she is 17. Her voice is developing. You do not want her to push it beyond its limits--she can develop permanent serious problems, like vocal nodes. People do it, but often do as much harm as good.

Putting her in piano lessons would probably be the wisest thing you could do. She will learn to read music, which will help her to develop her voice her own way, naturally. She will also develop an ear, which will help her down the road with harmonization, intonation, etc. Guitar is good, but doesn't offer the same sort of opportunities--I recommend it as a second instrument. (Besides, if she decides to pursue music in college, she will be required to take piano. That's not a funn thing when you're a college freshman...) Encourage her to be involved in school choirs, community theatre, church choirs, etc.

If you want to find a vocal instructor down the road, put in a call to the nearest college with a music program and they should be able to direct you to someone nearby.

Singin' Chicken--? Do you have anything to add to this?

 

[Kase626]

I would also love to pursue vocal training... bring on the info!

 

[NoHall]

You have my permission--you're 18!

 

[barefootguy]

My daughter is also 7, loves to sing and has a great voice.
She's got a guitar and a keyboard to mess around with, but it's mostly me that plays them. We haven't tried music lessons yet. She went to the week long music camp last summer at Village Baptist, had a great time, learned all the songs, but didn't sing at all during the performance. She wants to be part of the worship band at our church, but again is too shy to sing for anyone.

At home she sings (and talks) nonstop. So we just encourage the singing, and supply her with good music to learn. I set up the ghetto blaster in her room, hand her one of my old microphones and let her go to town. She does concerts for all her stuffed animals.

I think my daughter is gifted... okay, I am sure we all think our 'chillens' are gifted. She has a really pretty voice and she is very expressive.
She is 7.
Does anyone know the best way to help her develop her voice? I have been thinking about piano lessons, guitar or simply voice lessons. Any advise from SoWallers?

 

[HYDROSTAN]

I think my daughter is gifted... okay, I am sure we all think our 'chillens' are gifted. She has a really pretty voice and she is very expressive.
She is 7.
Does anyone know the best way to help her develop her voice? I have been thinking about piano lessons, guitar or simply voice lessons. Any advise from SoWallers?

Talk to THE STEENOS, Bob and Lisa. They play gigs around. Bob is a great guitar teacher and Lisa maybe would be interested in teaching piano.
If you are interested pm me and I'll give you thier number.

 

[Kase626]

You have my permission--you're 18!

Yay!!! Thank you!

 

[seacrestkristi]

It's so fuNN being the singer on Xbox 360 rock band game too. I bet your gull would it. So would your entire family probably. Anyone tried it? Boy I've been makin' up some words for years. :roll: It shows the real words and you sing along and you get a score after each phrase. It even has some freestyle parts to sing for extra points. I know you were talkin' serious training but in the meantime this is family fuNN!

 

[Rudyjohn]

I agree with nohall about delaying the formal voice lessons because of the wear and tear.

As a parent of a musician, I would suggest piano lessons. It's a strong foundation for any music background. My son has not had any piano instruction in spite of all the musical instruction he's had but now that he's faced with college music programs he's looking into for music performance, he still needs piano lessons.

It will help your daughter tremendously.

Good luck and enjoy!!

 

[Perpetual Im.]

I' m not a musician or an expert, but I spent my freshman year in college as a music major (voice major with piano minor). I agree that piano lessons are the way to go. I started piano lessons at age 6 and never had formal voice lessons until college (at 17). The piano training was absolutely essential for all of my required courses, and the lack of formal voice lessons was not a problem. The music theory, sight reading, etc. you learn while taking piano lessons carries right over into singing and learning to play other instruments. FYI, music theory was the toughest "math" course I ever took in college, including those required for my science degrees. Even if she doesn't study music later, learning to play the piano will provide her with a great skill and hobby for her whole life. Good luck!