The woe of the elementary music teacher. Singing. It can be difficult to get students on the same page sometimes. Sometimes it’s unhealthful singing, sometimes it’s not wanting to sing. Whatever the case, here are some things you can do to encourage good singing in the elementary music classroom.
Long Game
Teaching students to sing well is not a quick fix. For teaching the skill, you can add in parts of it all the time. Don’t let kids lounge in their chairs when singing. Teach them to sit up straight, not lean on their knees, or to take good breaths Don’t let singing games sound sloppy.
If it’s a culture change, it can take longer.
You may need to convince older students you aren’t there to embarrass them. I’ve told classes that I will never make them do something I wouldn’t do with them, especially if it was in public like a performance. (It took a lot of convincing with that particular class, and even then it took them several months to start really believing that it wasn’t me just flapping my gums). Find ways to get them involved without feeling like there is pressure. If they hate singing in public, put instruments in their hands while they do it. Don’t add dance movements that make them feel more on display when they’d rather go hide in the corner. Help them feel secure if they are performing. They might never be your most convinced performers but you can help meet them where they are at. Growth over end product.
Play Examples
There is lots of amazing singing in all different genres. There is also lots of questionable stuff that students see regularly with poor technique. Play great examples for them. Let them hear strong, well supported singing from all genres and cultures. Play kids choirs. Play Broadway artists. Play great singers that you happen to come across on YouTube singing stuff they wrote themselves. Play videos outside of Western Classical to hear well supported singing that is a different style.
Logical Steps
So we can’t run before we can walk, so help your students by scaffolding their singing. Not just in technique, but also in how you approach it. If you’ve got a lot of reluctant singers, chances are you aren’t going to get them to participate by plopping down an octavo and saying let’s get to it. Start with things that don’t feel like SINGING and feel more like fun, games, and trying new things.
Start at the beginning
- Help students find their head voice.
- Use arioso activities.
- Use lots of 4 voice activities.
- Ensure you are giving songs with appropriate ranges
- Use lots of opportunities for solo singing that don’t feel stressful (singing games with solo singing like Doggie Doggie, We Are Dancing, Who Has the Penny are great for this!)
Singing Games
Not just solo singing games, but singing games in general are great for creating a culture of singing. My rule is that if you want to play, you need to sing. I will not provide the music for you. It helps students be self-sufficient, you aren’t using your voice ALL day, and students internalize the music more so you can teach concepts. These are some of my favorite games for singing.
Teach Deep Breathing
Chances are your students have already been taught how to take a “deep breath”. And it looks like shoulders going up, stomach going in, and a lot of sound in the back of their throat.
Teach them the right mechanics. Show them how your stomach going in actually makes your lungs smaller. For your older ones, teach them about the diaphragm and how it is an involuntary muscle that helps your lungs expand. Lay on the floor and let them feel air going into their lungs and stomach going out without sound. Have them practice hissing out the air to work on phrase length and air control.
This is definitely something I wouldn’t do until you are already seeing some decent singing participation!
Voice RX
Help students if you hear unhealthful singing.
Vocal Fry: Get them in the right range. Play games with puppets in funny high voices to help them access that head voice. Vocal Explorations (tons of ideas here), sirens, and balloon voice singing (such as if they sucked in helium).
Glottal Stop: Help them learn to start air first. Lots of warm ups that start with M such as mee, may, mah, mo, moo are great for this. Also starting vowel sounds with an H, or putting a hand under their nose and ‘try to keep the sound above your hand’.
Overly Forced Vibrato or “Belting”: Belting can be done healthfully. But often times young children imitating what they hear are not necessarily doing it correctly. If you hear a student pushing, try lots of warm ups that involve light bouncing like a ping pong ball. EX: “Bounce a ping pong ball on your fingers and sing “pip” with me”. 1-3-5-3-1. Hip also works well. Have them sing the song on those words.
NOTE: Some people including kids have strong vibrato! The majority of the time I’ve encountered it, that’s the case. If that’s the case with this kid, just ignore it, it’s their voice! If they are purposefully doing it to “sing like an opera star”, then remind them their voice is what you want, or try many different “silly voices” to get them to find their natural one.
In the case of belting, while it CAN be done healthfully, it’s not always great for young voices and encouraging lighter singing is better here. The best way to approach this is talking about blending voices together. You likely aren’t teaching belting in your classroom and if you do have a child that can do it well and safely, or is taking lessons where it is being taught, it still won’t blend, especially in a choral setting. This is a huge debate among voice teachers but my rule is as long as it’s healthy, I don’t care. Help them blend in your classroom and move on.
Last Notes
It is important to help students feel secure. If your classroom is a “safe space”, simply saying it does NOT make it happen. You need to stand by it. Shut down any giggles, teasing, or whatever else. If it happens, you call them out, you ask them how they would feel if it was happening to them, and deal with it the way you have to. Don’t let a few kids bring down the pack. And this can be a part of the culture change that takes time. Don’t get discouraged if it’s not overnight.
I hope this gives you some good ideas to encourage good singing!
