My dd9 loves music. Unfortunately, she is unable to match pitch or even sing a tune -- not even "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". (Rythmically it's right, but she doesn't come close to matching the tune.) She did children's choir (led by a voice major) over the summer, but it didn't help. She can hear if a note goes up or down, she just can't make her voice match it. I know we all have different talents, so it is fine that she isn't musically-inclined, but since she enjoys singing, it would be nice if she could at least sing a recognizable tune. I sang to her constantly as a baby and toddler. We listen to all kind so music. She's been singing children's songs in Sunday School since she was two. I've tried playing a note on the piano and having her try to match it with her voice, but she's all over the place with her voice. I rented Sound of Music, but the problem is too great for Julie Andrews. Does anyone have any ideas for how I could help her? Oh, BTW, I've NEVER told her that she can not sing or does not sing well.
I had the same problem. After just a handful of voice lessons (read: one on one with a professional instructor) I did much better. I'm still not a pro or anything, but I can certainly fair better than I did before.
What may help is some ear trainer software. I haven't used this one but it looks like it may be good..Solfege . The user actually sings to the computer so it may require a microphone. What I did as a kid, and this seems a little silly but it worked, was hum when vacuuming. The vacuum is really loud and has a certain pitch and when you hum with it and manage to hit the same pitch you can feel it rather then simply hear it. Feeling it as opposed to just relying on the ears might give her another way to approach it.
One thing you can do is that when you play a note, and she sings her note - you, or someone else, should match HER pitch. Then, scoop your voice to match the correct pitch. So, if you play a middle C on the piano, and the note she sings is higher than that, match her note for a moment and then bring your voice down the scale until it matches the C. Same if she sings lower than the pitch, scoop your voice up from her pitch to the correct one. (The idea is for you to do it, and then for her to copy you once she understands what she should make her voice do to meet the target. Our own voices sound differently inside of our own heads, and so it's possible that she recognizes the off-tone as correct. If she hears you match her tone, she can do with her voice what you did with yours to reach the target.) And yes, private lessons with a voice teacher would probably be in order. Some people simply cannot do it. Have you tried some ear training exercises like playing two different pitches on the piano and letting her tell you if the second one is higher or lower than the first? (If she can do that, the next phase is to begin to learn intervals. Thirds, fifths, and octaves come first, followed by seconds and fourths.) If she has a hard time with "is this pitch higher or lower than this pitch," it may simply be a thing she physically isn't able to do. It happens. Hope you can find what works! I'll see if I can find something else in my stuff that may help....
Well first I would have her ears check to make sure everything is ok with them, then I would go ahead put her in music lesson like Jackie said.
Yep. *waves* :lol: I'm one of those people. I can not, can NOT, sing on key (or whatever you term it) no matter how hard I try. It's the worst when I'm trying to tell someone about a song and they want me to hum it or sing a bit, because while I can 'hear' the song in my head, I simply can not make it come out of my mouth. Much to the amusement of the person asking for the humming or singing. :lol:
My Ditz's voice/piano teacher says either humming or*ninging* actually puts the voice in the right place to be on pitch. No, I do not know how this works. So get her to hum rather than sing, at least to start with.
Uhm, not sure if this is mentioned yet, but some people are just plane tone deaf too. I would have her put headphones on and try to sing along , it may take days, months years but if she is enjoying herself it will be okay. don't get on her, just encourage her to keep singing... vocal chords sometimes take a while to work right too.. thats why they make voice lessons in the first place to train your voice to sing right, right?
That's my daughter. She recognizes melodies; she picks out similar melodies in differently arranged peices. She has your same frustration when she is trying to tell us about a song; sometimes we can recognize it from the rythmm but she's all over the place with the notes. Tone deafness was my first thought, but since she can recognize melodies and can tell me if notes are going up and down, I really don't think that is it. I have to tell you all that she does put on headphones and sings her heart out; it's cute and horrendous at the same time. I've heard people, including myself, sing off key, but off key is still close -- this is light years away. It is usually a fluctuation between two notes -- a high note and a low note -- so she is jumping octaves as she sings. I think I will check into voice lessons for her. I wasn't sure that a voice teacher could help her. I had always thought of voice lessons as being for those who already had vocal talent but wanted to fine tune it. I think I should get her some help to see if matching a melody is possible for her. I am afraid that one of her peers is going to criticize her (even at church, children and people can be thoughtless). If that happens she will become self-conscious and will stop trying. I'm all for viewing our strengths and weaknesses honestly, but at nine, you can be sure of the areas in which you will develop. I doubt she'll ever sing an aria (even though she sounds pretty operatic at times!), but I'd like her to feel comfortable singing her baby to sleep and teaching her toddler "The Ency Wency Spider" if she is ever a mother herself. Thanks for all the ideas.
I have no advice but...if you find something that works let me know. Some of us are just born TONE DEAF. If I didn't do so many things already I might be president of that club. lol
