The Value of Music Education

Some times, the success of music education is measured in the number of students who become professional musicians. It is wonderful that some people choose to pursue music as a career, but music education can enrich the lives of all, students, amateurs, and professionals.

Why do we teach all children mathematics, not just the future mathematicians and engineers? Why expect all students to study English rather than reserving the subject for developing poets and novelists? We do so because the study of these disciplines is valuable and a solid foundation in these areas can enrich anyones life, regardless of profession.

Music used to be placed in this category as well. A classical education - the educational standard of the Greeks, Romans, and our Founding Fathers. An educated person studied music, not to become a professional but to be a well-rounded individual.

Music trains the brain to work in a different way. It is mathematical and creative in nature, requiring both hemispheres of the brain to work together.

Music is therapeutic. In a world running at an increasingly frantic pace, the study of music requires one to slow down, unplug, and focus on a single task. The music itself can also have a calming or uplifting effect.

Music surrounds us. It is everywhere I our world, in our advertising, entertainment, work, just about everywhere. It should be important for everyone to have a basic understanding of this important cultural element.

Music education is important and it is never too early or to late to start learning!

Practice Too!

Children model their parent's behavior.  This is especially obvious when our children are very young, but it tends to be true throughout our lives.  So, use it to your advantage.  If you what your child to practice music regularly, you should practice music regularly.  

It doesn't matter if you haven't played for a decade or more,  take your instrument out and dust it off.

If you have never played an instrument, now is your chance.  Teach your self piano or take a few lessons if you can.

The important thing is that your children see you practicing regularly, even when you are tired or had a bad day.  If practice is a priority for you, it will likely become a priority for them.  If practice isn't just for kids, your kids are more likely to do it.  Practice what you preach, or nag, about.  Be a role model.

And, maybe you can even play a duet or jam together sometimes!

Finding Your Voice - Improvisation

Improvisation is making up music on the spot.  Usually, there are some general guidelines or rules for the improvisation.  This time, however, the rules of improvisation are very simple.

Just sing something.  

Kids are great at improvising using their voices  They will make up little songs as they go about their play, singing about their actions and imaginings.

So, when no one is around, give some vocal improvisation a try.  Sing about what you are doing, or just sing a string of nonsense sounds.  Just use your voice and experiment with what you can do.  No rules, just have fun!

Finding Your Voice - Theory

Music is written on a staff.  A staff is a set of five parallel lines.  The staff is essentially a graph of pitches.  The circular part of the notes, or note heads, are placed on the staff to indicate how high or low each pitch in a song should be.

The notes may go up on the staff, showing that the pitches should get higher, as in Are You Sleeping.

The notes may go down on the staff, showing that the pitches should get lower, as in Mary Had a Little Lamb.

The notes may also stay the same, showing that the pitch should stay the same as well, as in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Try singing some music written on a staff.  What type of graph do the note heads create?  Do the notes go up? Go down? Stay the same?  Each song will be a combination of these types of motion and looking at the notes on the staff can give you an idea of the shape of the melody.

Finding Your Voice - Listening

The sound of the head voice can be strange to our ears.  It tends to be used in more formal, art music styles rather than in popular music.  Try listening to some examples of people singing in different ranges and try to identify if the singer is using his or her head voice or chest voice.

For more examples of head voice, try listening to:

• Vienna Boys Choir, Harlem Boys Choir, and other children's choirs
• Just about any opera.  Start with the Chorus of the Street Children from Carmen and the Flower Duet from Lakme. 

For an extreme example, using the male falsetto:

• Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Tiny Tim

And my favorite musical inspiration for finding your voice:

• Sing a Song by the Carpenters

If you have other suggestions, please comment below!

Finding Your Voice - Games

The first step to finding your voice is finding your head voice.  Helping children to use their head voices will also improve their singing as well!  Use the following games with children, or for the kids at heart!

• "Nah, nah, nee, nah, nah" - The children's playground taunt naturally falls into the head voice.  Listen to children sing in their play; that is likely the same range they should be using when singing.
• Sirens - Imitate fire engines, police cars, and British police sirens.  Make it an echo game. These sounds tend to naturally fall into the head voice as well.  
• Roller coaster - Younger children love imaginative play, and even if they are too young to really ride roller coasters, they are very happy to ride a pretend one.  Build up the experience.  Sit down, buckle and imaginary seat belt, and pull down the shoulder harness, because this is an upside down roller coaster.  With hands out in front, palms down, imitate a roller coaster going up a very steep track (add sound effects, like clicking your tongue).  Pause for a moment at the top, then hands mirror zipping down the track while making "whooooooo" sounds in your head voice to mirror the movements.  Try a big turn, corkscrew, loop-de-loop, whatever you like.  Just be sure to stay in your head voice and the kids on your coaster will automatically stay in their head voices too!

Finding Your Voice

Everyone can sing.

Yes, everyone.  

Just as we all have a unique speaking voice, we all have a unique singing voice.  Our individuality is what makes each of our voices beautiful.  Don't try to sing like someone else; sing in your own voice.

Often, people try to sing too low.   There are a lot of popular singers who sing a lot in the lower part of their range, and a people try to copy them.  However, it is a lot harder to sing well in this lower range, called the chest voice.

It is much easier to sing the right notes when using the head voice, but this can sound odd to our ears.  It's okay.  Learn to use your head voice and you can then work on singing lower if you choose.

Practice your head voice alone at first.  To find your head voice, bend over as if to touch your toes.  Now sing.  It feels strange, and probably sounds strange, and that is okay.  Keep singing and slowly stand up.  If you have found your head voice, you should "feel"  the sound, the vibrations, in your head. If you are singing in your chest voice, you will feel the vibrations in your chest.  Focus on keeping the sound in your head.  It will be a lighter, less powerful sound that your chest voice, but it will also be easier to sing accurately and is the first step to finding your voice.