Voice Lessons for Teens

Many people have asked me when their child should start taking voice lessons.  The answer to this question can be a bit complicated because the answer depends on several things:

1.      How much does your child sing now? 

2.      What are your expectations?

3.      Is your child a boy or a girl?

Let's address item one first.  Who wants your child to take lessons, you or your child?  If your child is not asking to take lessons then please don't push it.  If they don't want to take the lessons, there is nothing any teacher can do help them progress.

Unlike a external physical instrument such as a piano or guitar or trumpet, when the key is pressed on the piano or the string is plucked on the guitar or the lips are buzzed against the mouth piece of the trumpet, the instrument will sound even if in your mind you do not want it to sound.  However, with the voice, the sound that comes out when you sing has everything to do with whether you want it to sound or not.  If the child is determined not to sing or is not really interested in learning how to sing correctly, there is very little a teacher can do.

If the child is asking for the lessons, even if you are not sure they have a good voice or not, it is worth exploring.  If they have the interest, a good teacher can bring out the best in any voice.

As far as expectations are concerned, keep them low, at least until the age of 14 or so.  This is when the body begins to strengthen an you can begin to see the true voice take its shape.  Up until 14 the best you can do is to teach the child how not to sing in their throat, the proper way to sing vowels, how to breath correctly, and so forth.  Once the body gets stronger and is able to handle the higher breath capacity of the growing lungs then you begin to hear what the voice is going to sound like.

As in many things in teens, the girls seem to develop a little faster.  In regards to the voice this is because of the huge transformation that occurs in the male vocal chords around the age of 13.  While the girls do go through somewhat of a change it is more of an increase in depth and fullness of sound, where the boy’s chords are lengthening thereby causing there voice to become lower.  This is not saying that boys can’t learn anything during this time but things are changing a lot during this time.  Again the best things to do for a boy here are to teach fundamentals, stay out of the throat, pay attention to vowel pronunciation, breathing and diction.