Reading Time: 4 minutes 7 Ways Voice Lessons Can Benefit Your Child
This is a guest post about the benefits of voice lessons for children.
If your child enjoys singing, you might wonder if you should get voice lessons for him or her. Enrolling your child in voice lessons can be a smart move, especially if you want to help your child get a mental workout and develop musical talent at a much faster pace. According to Lone Star School of Music, a provider of voice lessons in Austin, “If you want to teach yourself, with enough trial and error you might be able to learn a few of the basics. The process, however, is typically slow and frustrating.” If you’re still undecided about pursuing voice lessons for your child, here are 7 ways voice lessons can benefit your child.
7 Ways Voice Lessons Can Benefit Your Child
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Develop Musical Talent
Some children are naturally talented when it comes to music. But, natural talent is raw talent. Most everyone has room for improvement as long as your child is paired with the right voice instructor. By choosing to enroll your child in voice lessons, you will help him develop his talent. This may foster a musical career, or at the very least, serve as a source of personal enjoyment. At any rate, it will be something that will change his life.
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Develop Concentration and Focus
Participating in routine voice lessons each week and practicing the skills that were learned between lessons can help your child develop concentration and focus. Concentration and focus are skills that can be employed in many different situations throughout life, in the classroom and beyond.
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Build Self-Confidence
As your child improves his singing voice through diligence and accomplishing goals, he will experience a sense of accomplishment. This can help build his self-confidence. In addition, his self-confidence will grow as others recognize he is improving his singing ability and offer positive comments.
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Develop Study Skills
As part of taking voice lessons, your child will learn different study and memorization skills that she will have to apply as she seeks to improve her singing voice. The best part is that she will not only be able to use these study skills to excel in music, but they can also help her excel in her academic pursuits.
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Develop Presentation Skills
Because the purpose of voice lessons is to develop the singing voice, your child will naturally find occasion to perform for others. The act of preparing to perform in front of others while practicing a learned skill can help your child develop presentation skills, as well as poise. A child can use these skills in various situations throughout life.
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Improve Speaking Skills and Eye Contact
Voice lessons help students improve their clarity, tone, and diction. They can also help them with expression — both verbal and non-verbal. And of course, all of these learned skills can overlap. In addition, the student can improve eye contact skills.
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Develop Creativity and Artistic Expression
If your child isn’t at the stage where she hasn’t really started expressing herself creatively and artistically, voice lessons can help her develop those traits. If she has, voice lessons can help take her creativity and artistic expression to new heights.
Choosing a Voice Lesson Instructor
Not every voice lesson instructor will be the perfect fit for your child. Therefore, it’s vital that you put in the legwork to ensure your child is paired with an instructor who will meet her needs. Here are some guidelines to consider when choosing a voice lesson instructor:
- The voice instructor should have a degree in vocal performance, whether a bachelor’s or a master’s degree.
- An instructor who has had or has a professional singing career can be of benefit.
- The voice instructor should be well-versed in the genre your child sings within.
- The voice instructor should be able to deliver constructive criticism to help your child develop the right habits.
- Your child should feel comfortable with the voice instructor, not uncomfortable.
- Your child should not leave the lesson feeling vocally fatigued.
- The instructor should be a good listener who is willing to work with your child to improve her voice through patience and diligence.
Don’t be afraid to meet with several different voice instructors before making a final decision. After all, if you are serious about developing your child’s musical talent, the right voice instructor can make a positive impact, whereas the wrong voice instructor can have the opposite effect, only serving to discourage your child or damage his self-esteem.
Rachel is an Austin blogger, educator, mom, wife, young breast cancer survivor writing about health, saving money, and living a happy life in Austin, Texas.
Rachel has written for HuffPost and Hometalk and has been featured on KXAN, Studio 512, Fox 7 Austin, and CBS Austin.