Saturday, October 6, 2007
Letting Kids Sing
O.K. so the big thing that has been kicking my butt here has been how I sing. Now in high school, it didn't matter how I sang, but the fact that I could sing. But here, it seems that there is one way to sing, and there is no dodging that fact. Now, I know this is college and we are becoming more refined singers, but should we do the same things to kids in high school and middle school so they don't learn these bad habits? Or should we just let them sing however they want to. It's kind of the same question as should we teach the kid how to play piano properly, or should just let him bang the hell out of it?
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5 comments:
High School is different because you know almost no one is going to want to go on to be a singer. So it's fine to encourage some individuality. It's like the little old lady down the street who teaches piano. She just wants you to play twinkle twinkle little star for your family and everyone is happy, but if you want to be a piano perf major you better go find a real teacher. No one came here to be a pop singer, or if they did they made a mistake. If they want to learn pop skills they should have gone to Berklee.
I think that it all depends on the students. You need to remember that the kids that want to sing in HS probably aren't taking lessons outside of school. If your saying that you dont want that student to develop bad habits then TELL THEM TO TAKE PRIVATE LESSONS. Don't encourage them. Insist! when I was in high school many people said that I "should" take private lesson but I never took them up on the offers or even attempted to. If you have students that say they want to go to college for music teach them the path. Tell them the steps what to do, how to choose songs, and tell them to ask you for help. Don't let a student wonder aimlessly and not know the steps to take to reach their goal. Students learn bad habits because the people that are supposed to tell them what to do DON'T. Lets make better musicians by helping the ones that need help but don't ask!
Good question, Dan. When I began taking lessons for piano my teacher asked me what kind of pianist I wanted to be. So I told her I wanted to become a classical pianist, so she began to train me classically. I think this is the same thing in high school. Not everyone is in choir to attend college for music, so maybe it isn't best to tell them. But, if there is someone who is interested in singing, they should get private lessons from you or someone else so that they can learn the right way.
Also, if you have an auditioned choir and they attend competitions, I think anyone who does not train their choir correctly is insane.
I'd like to register a slight amount of offense at the description of the "little old lady down the street" teacher, because many people would probably put my own high school piano teacher in this category. I didn't work on much classical literature in high school, but she did teach me technique, but more importantly, she gave me the opportunity to always be working on a piece of popular music or something I particularly wanted to learn, and set an example for me as a musician who above all: loved music. You should see this woman go to town at the piano bench. It may not be the kind of skill people here would appreciate, but I have NEVER seen a pianist emote at the piano like she did.
And I'm here.
Shouldn't that say something? I still was able to get into this school, and now that I know how to play with heart, I'll learn to play with skill.
If I'd learn to play the other way around, will skill and then trying to force emotion into it, I don't think I'd be here now or enjoy the piano very much.
So...maybe that's how it was best for me, and this is another "every kid is different" and "context is everything" argument.
But let us not ever discount that wonderful old woman who lives down the street.
I wasn't really sure at first what to make of this post - I know that everyone comes from different high school backgrounds and experiences but I can't say that my director in high school ever let us do bad things or potentially dangerous things, whether we wanted to continue in music or not.
I know the one thing that I've ben struggling most with at WCC singing wise is making the trasition from solo-singing from choir singing. I never considered myself a solo singer at high school, nor did my choir director teach us as if we were soloists - she directed her choir for blend and beautiful tone in choral standards, and since I've gotten here it's been hard crossing over and finding a way to balance both. Maybe that is something of what you have been experiencing.
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