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Singing – lack of confidence or lack or opportunity?
Why do so many young people feel that they "can't sing"? Is it lack of confidence, or lack of opportunity? How much emphasis should there be on singing in schools?
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Young people feel that they can't sing for a number of reasons, breaking voices in boys make pitching very difficult for them. Also young people feel if they don't 'sound' like their favourite pop star, then they must have a terrible voice. It is important to engage young high students from year 7 in singing, that way they are used to it and have built confidence all the way through school. I use Sol-Fa with year 7's to teach them sight singing (which they learn quickly) and get older boys to sing along with current music.
Many children have parents who come home late from work and do not sing with their children anymore. I am giving a talk at the local school on the importance of singing with their parents and great grandparents. We have brought out a CD which children can easily sing with their parents and greatgrandparents. molly@songsconnect.com
I have found that this applies to people of all ages. I have many experiences of very distressed adults coming to to me to find out if they can sing. Some have really lovely voices and have never felt able to sing because they have a history of being told they can't sing or their voice is horrible. I agree that young people need to be encouraged to value their voices in school.
What are the factors that have produced a culture where, uniquely as far as I know, many children find singing embarrassing? Is it a coincidence that the seeds of this disfunction can be traced back to the late 19th Century but little further? I recall Billy Connolly's hilarious sketch based on his own experience of music lessons in Glasgow, of a middle-aged, middle-class woman trying to get the class to sing 'Marie's Wedding'.
Where is the context, relevance or community here? Or is it surprising that many teenage boys will not utter a note all week, but will sing their heads off on a Saturday afternoon - often singing songs with traditional tunes? Here is context, relevance and community.
We are in the state we are in, and this is not to deny the tremendous work and dedication of a great many practitioners in schools. Until and unless we address some of the fundamental issues - and one, sadly, is that schools may be a part of the problem as well as necessary for the solution - this will continue to be a concern.
A large proportion of KS2 teachers are female, middle aged and ‘middle class,’ so are ripe targets for parody. I’m one of them, and it’s not this stereotype that is the problem with getting children or adults to sing, it is the choice of songs and how they are delivered; and in many cases, a classical choral voice,- the ‘trilly lady’ I hated as a child, - can be as off-putting as a mid-atlantic pop twang.
I do not think children are embarrassed to sing if it has been part of their lives. Think of it as something like speaking a foreign language: If it’s new to you, it makes you self conscious.
If children have heard singing all their lives then they sing, and this is what we on this board are all about. Just sing, any of the thousands of traditional songs on every subject, and those with repetitive nonsense choruses that children love, effectively making mouth music and exercising voices.
If you can speak, you can sing. It’s what we do. When a two month old baby discovers that the some of the sounds he can hear are his own voice, it’s a magical moment! And if people have missed out in childhood, let’s help them find out that it’s never too late to learn.
One of the worst things any teacher - or parent,- can say to a child is, 'You'll never be any good at ...' or' You can't sing so don't try.'
I know a woman in her 50s who writes lovely songs, but has never got over being told 35 years ago that her voice would never be any good, and she cannot bring herself to sing.
At yesterday's State of Play launch at the Sage Gateshead, it was interesting to note that many people believe children and adults are too often afraid to step out of their comfort zone and start singing. Once they do take this big step, however, they find themselves becoming more confident from the off. I think people need to be encourage to take the leap and be brave! What's the worst that can happen...there's nothing wrong with a few bum notes at first!
Couldn't agree more - let's get more people singing with confidence. Quality can be improved as people gain in confidence. But they have to start singing. Sadly we still have the legacy of those people whose self esteem and confidence were demolished by being told they couldn't sing when they were at school.
It is a stark reminder that throwaway remarks can have a lifelong effect. I know a woman who composes beautiful songs but cannot bring herself to sing because of being told at school, 'You can't sing, go and sit at the back!'
And that is a very common problem. We have to help these people realise that it is never too late to find your singing voice.
What are the factors that have produced a culture, where, uniquely as far as I know, many children find singing embarrassing?
Is it a coincidence that the seeds of this disfunction can be traced back to the late 19th Century but little further?
I recall Billy Connolly's hilarious sketch based on his own experience of music lessons in Glasgow, of a middle-aged, middle-class woman trying to get the class to sing Marie's Wedding. Where is the context, relevance or community here.
Or is it surprising that many teenage boys will not utter a note all week, but will sing their heads off on a Saturday afternoon - often singing songs with traditional tunes? Here is context, relevance and community.
We are in the state we are in, and this is not to deny the tremendous work and dedication of a great many practitioners in schools. Until and unless we address some of the fundamental issues and one, sadly, is that schools may be a part of the problem as well as necessary for the solution, this will continue to be a concern.
I believe that we are also not use to hearing live singing so much anymore. We don't have church as a staple Sunday activity; people around us rely on recorded music at best - singing along- and somebody singing a folk song is a rare thing. It is the acoustic-ness of singing which helps us feel it is readily accessible to us. i was a head of music for a few years before re-training as a singer at a conservatoire, and I was always singing the pupils - and i recall a wonderful moment when I was approached by three, what would now be year 11 boys who asked me if they could sing something together - a carol- for the forthcoming Christmas carol concert - their last. I was amazed but delighted and these were "popular" lads. They had the guts to decide it was something they wanted to do - but i had managed to build up the music in that school so that singing was a matter of course. i used to get up - rather like Gareth Malone did on his choir prograames and just sing to the assembled kids. yes they laughed - but i didn't - and they accepted it. we all play to our strengths and I am not advocang everybody does that! However, these days I am shocked as I do training days around universities to discover that music teachers do not now get instrumental lessons as part of their course - so their expertise is up to them to fund and indeed find. So there is no provision for developing their confidence beyond their age of 18. perhaps Music Manifesto should look at that?