Part Two- TIPS ON HOW TO TEACH CHILDREN HOW TO SING.

6. Teach intervals.
Begin to work on major/perfect intervals beginning with seconds and progressing to octaves. Always use solfege syllables.

7. Begin working on vowels. Make sure the child sings each vowel with the proper mouth shape. Make sure they open their mouths enough for Ah and Oh and round enough for Oh and Oo.

8. Work on focused tone and open throat.
Instruct them to "sing through a yawn" but with their tongue flat behind their bottom teeth. Work on tone by asking them to focus the vibration on the roof of their mouth. This is especially effective by having them hum and asking them to maximize the vibration on the roof of their mouth. Tones in the upper register will feel like they vibrate above the roof of the mouth, in the head and even above the head when high enough.

9.Begin learning songs. Practice sight reading by first singing in solfege while watching the contour of the notes. Begin teaching children to read music this way. Then move on to holding the vowel sounds out to the length of the notes (rather than closing them off quickly as in normal speech) and singing with pure vowels.

10. Give performance opportunities. Learning to successfully perform is one of the indispensable experiences in voice lessons. Frequently conduct informal performances where the child will sing an entire song, facing you. Encourage students to sing for their parents and even friends, if they are comfortable with it. Finally, hold a recital every 6 months or so for which they can prepare 1-3 songs to perform.

Remember that children, especially younger children, always learn much better from doing than being told how to do something. A good model to follow when teaching them something new is to first demonstrate it, then show them how to do it (in smaller steps, if it is more complicated), then allow them to try until they get it right, then let them do it over and over as many times as they like.

Then, when they tire of it, move to something else and return to new activity a little later. Remember, children learn best by lots of repetition so give them lots of opportunity to practice their new skills.

Children do not have long attention spans. Keep activities fun and short, with good transitions to the next one to keep them interested.