Baby/Toddler (from birth to approximately age 4)
From the moment of birth, healthy babies use the larynx
and lungs in a vigorous reflex action which is entirely safe. Babies can cry loudly for extended periods of
time with no damage to the voice, because of the way they support the
breath. Just observe the work in the
abdomen when a baby is in full cry!
Re-discovering the link between breath support and the larynx, which is
so natural to a baby, is fundamental to vocal health in later life.
The larynx
in babies sits high in the throat. It is
very small with short vocal folds. The
cartilages are soft. The noises produced
are high in pitch, can be very loud, but lack wide variation of tone.
Babies then
go on to amuse themselves by exploring the range of sounds they hear in their
environment. Adults encourage this by
using a special language for babies, with cooing, exaggerated pitch changes and
simplified words. Babies respond by imitating
these sounds and begin to gurgle tunes.
They experiment with pitch, volume and length of phrase. A sense of enjoyment and play arises from the
sheer physical act of making these sounds.
This is so often lost when the teaching of singing becomes formalised.
At this
stage, gentle lullabies and nursery rhymes sung by their parents and older
children will help to develop a baby’s musical ear.
Childhood (age range 5 to 8 years)
As the baby moves into childhood,
the larynx begins to grow and to drop lower in the throat. The increase in the length of the pharynx
allows for a wider variation of tone, and the increasing length of the vocal
folds allows for a greater variety of pitch.
It is interesting to note that
the vocal folds in boys tend to grow at a faster rate than in girls. Despite the slightly larger vocal folds,
girls and boys speak at around the same pitch, but girls tend to develop a
wider singing range earlier.
Children in this age range will
develop naturally by singing in groups.
They need to explore their voices to discover pitch, and they learn to
sing in tune more readily by listening to others in their group. At this stage, you should not insist too much
upon accuracy of pitch or memory of words if this will interfere with the overall
enjoyment of the experience.
The type of songs which children
of this age enjoy, and respond well to, are nursery rhymes and songs with
accompanying actions and repetition.
Pre-Puberty (9 to 11 years)
An ideal age for a child to begin
individual singing lessons would be about 9 years. It is advisable that children should not sing
too high in their range nor too loudly for extended periods of time.
Your choice of repertoire is very
important and should be influenced by the child’s musical experience so far,
which can vary greatly from child to child.
The sense of enjoyment should not be lost in these early singing
lessons, so find out what type of music the child likes, and build up a
repertoire with this in mind. Children
of this age respond well to songs which tell a story, animal songs, character
songs, and comedy songs.
Generally, a child will learn the
words of a song more quickly than the tune.
They will also learn more easily through the process of imitation. To this end, you should sing the tune to the
child rather than just play it on an instrument, and continue to sing along
with the child as he or she learns the song.
You can then stop singing along when the child feels more confident.
A well-structured programme of
training can produce very gratifying standards of achievement in this age
group.
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