5 March 2022
Every parent wants the best for their child, and that motivation carries over to any extracurricular activities they take part in. It doesn’t matter if your child is joining a sports team or taking up an instrument—you want them to be challenged, but also supported by a teacher who can help them become the best they can be. That’s why it’s important to find a good vocal coach for children singing lessons who can do just that: challenge and support at the same time during their vocal performances. So, as you search for a great vocal coach for your child, keep these tips in mind.
What would your child like to learn?
You need to know what style of singing your child would like to learn, and you need to find the right vocal coach to help them. It’s important that the vocal coach specialises in the style of singing your child wants to do, and has experience teaching it. In addition, they should have experience working with children their age. It is a good idea to get your child to write down a list of goals that they would like to achieve in relation to their performing arts training. Would they like to be a professional musical theatre performer? Would they like to enter the music industry as a singer-songwriter? There are so many options and having an idea of what they would like to focus on will make it a lot easier for a vocal coach to make a good quality training plan.
Research the vocal coach’s background
The first step to finding the right vocal coach for your children singing lessons is to do some research. It’s important to know that you are training with a professional who has lots of experience coaching young performers and ideally had graduated from some sort of drama/musical theatre/music school.
First, check out their website. What does it say about their background? Do they have any specialties or areas of expertise? Is there any mention of kids in particular? Look at their social media accounts—are they active on Instagram or Facebook? If so, what kind of content are they putting up there? Does this reflect the type of person you want coaching your child’s singing career? Finally, talk with other parents whose kids have been coached by this person if possible; ask them about their experiences and whether they would recommend him/her as well as how he/she compares with others in his/her field. It is also important to make sure that the vocal coach has an up to date DBS!
Take full advantage of the first lesson!
It’s wise to book in one lesson with your perspective vocal coach before committing to a big block of lessons to ensure that they are right for you. Every vocal coach will have different methods of coaching but if they’re a good vocal coach they will want to use that first lesson to create an effective plan for ongoing lessons.
Red flags to watch out for;
- Letting you sing through songs for fun – Remember it’s a singing lesson not a karaoke session
- Not finding out your vocal range
- Not listening to your different voice qualities
- Not giving you any new tips
- Not asking you about what you want to do going forward
What you should bring to your first lesson
Make sure that your child is fully prepared for their first lesson. It would be a great idea to show them the vocal coaches website and explain to them about who they are and what they’re going to be doing. Make sure they wear comfortable clothing that’s suitable to move around in, especially nothing too tight around the abdomen area. You should always bring a notebook, pen and pencil, bottle of water and for the oldest students a device to record on such as a phone. In addition to this, it would be good if you bring anything related to previous experience that you think may be helpful to show your coach.
