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Forgive my ignorance as I know little about singing. In my own experience, I can hold a note in a group, but no one's asking me to do a solo on the karaoke machine. I'd appreciate anyone's help in this situation.

 

One of my children is struggling with singing. The eight-year old child essentially "talks" the notes, sounding very flat. We've practiced singing "Do-Re-Mi" to get the child to understand the feel of singing, but when we sing any other song, the child goes flat again. Our piano teacher has been encouraging voice lessons (with her, of course), but I'd really like to try to teach the child singing before going a more expensive route. 

 

I've taught another child to basic singing with no problems, but this particular child doesn't seem to hear what's off about the child's own singing. Are there any exercises or songs you'd recommend to help me teach singing?

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Yes, when I mimic the flat style, the child can hear something is off. I'm tempted to record the singing, but this child embarrasses easily so I'm concerned feelings would be hurt.

 

1) Try having her put her hands over her ears. For many this makes it easier to hear themselves sing.

 

2) I did not learn to sing on-pitch until I started playing the recorder. I still cannot sing a song on-pitch if I haven't played it on my recorder. I don't know why. I can't hear the intervals when someone sings them but I can hear them when I *play* them. Since she is learning to play the piano, is she (or you) playing the melody of the songs she's trying to learn? 

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There are two things I can think of that might help with her recognizing this.

 

One is either to cup one hand around her ear and another at her mouth so she can hear herself a bit more. Along the same lines you can make a pvc pipe "phone" which is what my former music teacher mil did for his class at one point.

 

You could also try getting some tuning app(I haven't looked but I'm sure there are some out there) so she can visibly see what is happening and try to raise her pitch to get it in the right area.

 

Hope you find something that helps!

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One is either to cup one hand around her ear and another at her mouth so she can hear herself a bit more. Along the same lines you can make a pvc pipe "phone" which is what my former music teacher mil did for his class at one point.

 

 

 

Would singing into a corner work the same way?  Especially if she cupped her ears?

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Phonics phones (a short straight piece of PVC with bends on each end, so it looks like an old phone handset) work well in helping to hear the voice better. They're a trick I "borrowed" from the Slingerland phonics k/1 classes when I started teaching because they looked like they'd help with music, too.

 

Get good recordings of unchanged treble voices, with little background music, and listen, a lot. Second best is good recordings of female singers without too much vibrato, but the ideal would be kids' voices. One reason kids have trouble matching pitch is that a lot of the music they hear is electronically distorted. My DD did early childhood music classes pretty much from birth on, and can match pitch well and sing on tune-until she tries to sing with Disney channel-type singers on her iPod, and then her pitch goes wonky.

 

Has your piano been tuned recently? If the piano is not in tune, it can really do a number on training the ear. That's one reason why piano isn't my favorite instrument to start kids on, because they don't have to learn that internal hearing to play. Learning to play a different instrument, like recorder (especially alto recorder, which is more in the vocal range) or violin can really help build pitch focus.

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Phonics phones (a short straight piece of PVC with bends on each end, so it looks like an old phone handset) work well in helping to hear the voice better. They're a trick I "borrowed" from the Slingerland phonics k/1 classes when I started teaching because they looked like they'd help with music, too.

 

Get good recordings of unchanged treble voices, with little background music, and listen, a lot. Second best is good recordings of female singers without too much vibrato, but the ideal would be kids' voices. One reason kids have trouble matching pitch is that a lot of the music they hear is electronically distorted. My DD did early childhood music classes pretty much from birth on, and can match pitch well and sing on tune-until she tries to sing with Disney channel-type singers on her iPod, and then her pitch goes wonky.

 

Has your piano been tuned recently? If the piano is not in tune, it can really do a number on training the ear. That's one reason why piano isn't my favorite instrument to start kids on, because they don't have to learn that internal hearing to play. Learning to play a different instrument, like recorder (especially alto recorder, which is more in the vocal range) or violin can really help build pitch focus.

Thanks for this. I'll need to check out the phone since multiple people suggested it.

 

Our piano is in tune. It sounded a bit wonky after our move so we had our tuner come out and fix it.

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Are you giving her something to mimic in her range?  Think high.

 

Most kids can sing in tune in their high, light, head voice. Most kids fall painfully flat when trying to mimic low adult chest voices.

 

 

Is she in tune when she makes fire engine sirens?  Or "chooo chooo" train sounds?  Some kids need extra help learning that they can sing with that light head voice.

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I would do a lot of "play" with the voice.   high oooo's.   "What would an owl sound like?"    "what would he sound like soaring down to the ground?"  "What would he sound like gliding higher?  higher? higher? "  First you need to get her out of her "talking" voice.   After playing along with her and modeling those high flute sounds - zero in on a pitch she gravitates to during play.  Then I would sustain that oooo using a pure, no vibrato, flute like tone and ask for her to join you.  It is much easier for those struggling with pitch to match the human voice rather than the piano or another instrument. I'd be happy to give more suggestions if you need them. 

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