There’s a simple reason why most voice coaches and teachers have a piano in their classroom – students simply learn faster when singing along to other instruments.
Unlike human voices, instruments like acoustic guitars or pianos have a pre-defined timbre. Children don’t need to listen to it for long to adapt to this sound, and it becomes their “guide” when they sing.
Humming and singing guitar melodies can be exceptionally beneficial to kids and teens who wish to learn new songs – even if they don’t aspire to be singers later on. Today, we’ll explain how these simple vocal techniques work, and why your child should begin implementing them.
We are The Music Box, Tampa’s premier music school, and we offer both guitar and voice coaching lessons. If you’re looking for top-tier music education for your child or yourself, you’re in the right place. Firstly, let’s talk a bit about humming and singing melodies and how our music coaches use them to help kids grow faster as musicians.
Humming Helps Improve Vocal Quality
Most kids feel better about singing when they feel they’re doing it right. Although preparing one’s voice to sound even remotely professional can take years, humming can help raise it to the next level, albeit in the short term only.
A research paper by Edwin M-L Yiu published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing states that humming is “a conservative voice therapy technique.” It not only improves but also heals the voice, priming it for being used for singing.
To summarize this research, kids who hum before they start singing along to other instruments often sound a bit better than they initially would’ve. Consequentially, they’ll feel better about the music being played and/or learned, which is more than likely to increase their performance and memory retention.
Humming & Singing Guitar Lines Helps Kids Accurately Visualize the Notes
Imagine a group of 5-6 children singing in unison, and only one of them is hitting the right notes. Even the most experienced vocal coaches would need some time to “untangle” that mess, not to mention that the child that’s singing well wouldn’t progress as fast as they should’ve.
That’s why it’s better to sing and/or hum the main melodies of the song first. A teacher or a coach can play these lines on a guitar or a piano, and the kids can sync with these notes far faster than with each other’s voices. Swing by our Facebook page if you want to see how The Music Box vocal coaches do it.
Singing Melodies Improves Memory
Although this is not a rule since some kids have an easier time remembering written words and lyrics, most children who have an affinity for the “feel” of music tend to remember its sonic components easier.
Melodies, and in some cases even guitar riffs and licks, are perfect guideposts that musicians often follow to navigate various parts of the song being played or learned.
This little trick can help guitarists too. Many beginners get stuck with complex riffs and can’t repeat them simply because they haven’t tried humming it first. If you want to learn more about how our music coaches implement this technique, check out our Instagram page.
Singers and vocalists benefit the most from this because they’re swatting two stones with one strike – they’re preparing their voice for the incoming singing parts, and humming guitar melodies alongside other instruments can sound hauntingly beautiful in certain tracks to the point that it can be included in actual recordings.
Kids Who Can Sing Guitar Lines Express Themselves More Fluently
Imagine the following scenario – a group of kids has formed a band, and their singer is the only one who had learned the song they should be playing. While guitarists could simply try a variety of chords until they hit the spot (and drummers could always play simple beats), singers must use their voices to articulate what they want to express.
Whether it be simple humming or downright singing, the ability to “cover” guitar, piano, or bass lines is something that can greatly benefit children singers. Not only will they be able to teach the band how to play the song faster, but they’ll also be able to express their thoughts more fluidly.
Besides regular vocal coaching lessons, we always leave a couple of minutes in each class for our students to practice humming and singing parts alongside a piano or guitar player. Check us out on TikTok if you want to learn more about our vocal coaching method.
Humming Helps Kids Learn New Songs Much Faster
Children who’ve heard a song once and fell in love with it usually want to learn it as fast as possible. This can be tricky for certain songs, especially if odd time signatures, various key changes, and multiple singing harmonies are thrown in the mix.
No matter how complex a tune is, kids who want to learn how to sing it will be able to do it if they can hum at least a couple of parts. This helps avoid the initial discouragement after failing to hit all the high notes (or cover the exact singing technique/style), since humming leaves far more room for improvisation.
It always helps to dissect a song into small parts and learn them one by one, but “hummers” can even skip that method if they want to have fun and sing the whole piece right away.
Join The Music Box and Begin Your Singing Journey Today
It takes months to learn the basic singing techniques and probably years to achieve a level of competence that will allow the singer to perform with confidence. However, high-quality vocal coaching and music education can whittle that time to merely weeks if the student is committed to success.
That’s where we come in – The Music Box vocal coaches excel in helping aspiring teen singers reach their goals. We’re headquartered at 4321 Gunn Highway in Carrollwood, Tampa, Florida, so swing by as soon as you’re ready to begin your singing journey. Simply follow this link, and we’ll help you through the rest of the way.
