Students rock out at The Audi in Broomfield, CO

I Have a Young Singer. Now What?

Hello reader! Let me introduce myself. My name is Monica Matlick, and I am so excited to be
guest blogging for ABC Music Academy! I have had the privilege of working with Ms. Lori through my
transition from elementary and middle school music teacher to full time Graduate music student. I have
seen first hand the amazing work that Ms. Lori does with piano and guitar students, both child and
adult! Every day I get to work, I am always amazed that the students of ABC are genuinely excited to be
there to learn more about music. I could talk for an entire other post about how beneficial music
learning is for a child’s brain development, and social and emotional learning. But today, I want to
address the question we music teachers get asked every year: “My (5-13 yo) child LOVES to sing! Do you
know someone who can teach them to sing?”

Getting Started With Voice Training

Before I get ahead of myself, I’d like to share my experience with the world of formal vocal
studies. I have been running a private voice studio for 7 years now (I’ll admit, it was a bit touch and go
through the COVID years, but music programs are bouncing back, baby!) and my undergraduate
emphasis is in Vocal Pedagogy (aka private voice lessons). Apart from a professional vocation as a vocal
coach, I have also been a formal vocal student since I was in 6 th grade! Making music through my voice is
my passion, and I absolutely LOVE to help others discover their own joy through singing.
So, as a former elementary music and middle school choir teacher, I have often been asked by
parents of young children where they can start voice training. And that answer can get a bit
complicated. To really understand, we have to address the elephant in the room: puberty. We all know
puberty as that awkward part of a child’s development where their body gets flooded with hormones. I
know I was defiantly a “moody to mom” child! Beyond just the moody moments, a child’s voice changes
through puberty. Inside our voice we have these tiny muscles and tissues called vocal folds. It might be
helpful to think of these as rubber bands. They can stretch longer, compress thicker, and need lots of
hydration to function optimally (no dry, crusty rubber bands here!) When a child goes through puberty,
these vocal folds grow. Yes, even in girls. While boys usually have a more obvious voice change, girls’
voices also go through a change during puberty. But unlike knocking out a baby tooth and waiting for a
larger adult tooth to just grow in its place, we all have one voice that grows and changes through
puberty. This growing process can make heavy, muscular vocal training more risky for a child’s voice.
(Muscular training is working with muscles used in singing such as the neck, the jaw, the tongue, the soft
palate, the vocal folds, etc…)

Does Piano Prepare a Student?

Ok, but what does puberty have to do with a kindergartner in voice lessons. Because of this
drastic change in a child’s voice, most private voice teachers will NOT take pre-puberty students and
instead have an age minimum around 13yo. Does this mean that parents are out of options? Absolutely
not! Let’s take another look at elementary Monica.
When I was about 5 years old, my mother began teaching me piano. Ok, it didn’t work at all.
After all, she was my mother and 5 yo me was not taking direction from her! So, she enrolled both me
and my older sister in piano lessons. I tolerated them. Then I discovered I could play piano music and
sing along! For years I would grow my piano skills motivated by the chance to sing along! Then, when I entered 6 th grade, I transferred from piano to voice lessons. And I’ll tell you, those years of piano lessons
gave me a huge boost to formal vocal training. I was able to read and play my vocal line on the piano. I
was able to play my vocal scales and arpeggios for warm ups. Now, as a practicing vocal coach, I get so
excited when a student walks in with piano skills. I can’t tell you how much lesson time I have spent just
playing the vocal exercises into the student’s phone recording so they can practice at home.

But My Student Likes to Sing!

So my biggest advice to parents of young children who want to take formal vocal lessons? Start
piano lessons. Start that foundation in understanding music. “Okay,” you might be thinking, “but my kid
has so much more joy when they sing and I’d really love to get them singing.” Hear me; I am not favoring
piano lessons to the exclusion of other musical opportunities. As a voice coach and elementary teacher,
when I work with pre-puberty voices I shift focus from muscular training to body awareness. We spend
time hearing pitches and reproducing those in our own voice. We focus on feeling how the breath
moves in and out of our lungs. We spend time learning about our natural voice and how it likes to
behave without beginning muscular training. And this might sound like formal vocal training, but it’s
really quite different. While all my vocal students start with this holistic awareness, most post-puberty
students can move on to muscular training in the first month. In contrast, pre-puberty students can
spend months or even years decoding this self-awareness.

For young children, instead of enrolling them in formal vocal lessons, foster their love of singing
by seeking out group singing opportunities. Children will learn the same pitch and vocal awareness in a
group environment, and honestly, for our little passionate music makers, they will enjoy it much more.
“So should I, a parent of a young singer, forgo piano lessons and only seek out group singing?” Again, I
am not favoring group singing to the exclusion of a musical understanding based in piano. I truly believe
BOTH piano lessons and group singing opportunities will foster the passion and growth in your young
singers.

Get Kids Involved in Music

So where do you start? Maybe you’ve started with a Google search and found this blog. Well,
you’re on the right track! ABC Music Academy offers beginner to advanced piano lessons for kids of all
ages! Ms. Lori’s piano lessons even push beyond the instrument. She takes a holistic music approach for
children. She often has students play games to understand musical concepts through their whole body,
and helps them begin to discover pitch matching in their own voice. Ms. Lori can also help point you
toward group singing opportunities that will partner well with piano lessons. Bottom line? Get your child
involved in music- piano and group singing- and watch your child blossom.