Children do not always, sadly, have a healthy natural vocal technique. I have had very young children come with nodules from the way they have been using the voice without instruction. If these children do not get help in childhood it could lead to permanent vocal dysfunction. Others have had conditions like acid reflux that was not diagnosed until I sent them to the doctor — I could tell from the voice that they needed more than a singing lesson. There is so much we can do to support the development of children’s voices and I find it to be profoundly different with each child.
As a perspective, here is a bit about Beverly Sills from Wikipedia that shows how early singing and lessons can start, and how a lifetime of giving to audiences can come from it.
At the age of three, Beverly Sills won a “Miss Beautiful Baby” contest, in which she sang “The Wedding of Jack and Jill”. Beginning at age four, she performed professionally on the Saturday morning radio program, “Rainbow House”, as “Bubbles” Silverman. Sills began taking singing lessons with Estelle Liebling at the age of seven and a year later sang in the short film Uncle Sol Solves It (filmed August 1937, released June 1938 by Educational Pictures), by which time she had adopted her stage name, Beverly Sills. Liebling encouraged her to audition for CBS Radio’s Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour, and on October 26, 1939 at the age of 10, Sills was the winner of that week’s program. Bowes then asked her to appear on his Capitol Family Hour, a weekly variety show. Her first appearance was on November 19, 1939, the 17th anniversary of the show, and she appeared frequently on the program thereafter.
Sills is 8 years old in this clip of “Arditi: Il bacio” in the short film “Uncle Sol Solves It” on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAz2HgSZaDs
I encourage anyone who feels a deep call to support children’s singing to honor that call, and also to heed the words of caution so often spoken regarding teaching children to sing. It is a less explored and studied practice and there is less to guide us. We must be utterly present and aware.
Teaching children is not for everyone, and until I did it I would not have believed all that is possible. I find that children immediately feel vocal shifts and they delight in them. They are often quicker and more adept than adults. They adore learning and mastery as much as any of us, and I could never deny them.
To communicate successfully with a child has asked the same from me as communicating successfully with anyone. I must listen deeply for how they learn. I listen to the language they speak and then use it to frame the concepts that will help them express themselves. We learn together and their singing evolves in a healthy, playful way.