The musical “The Sound of Music” has a song in the first act called “Do-Re-Mi”. Maria uses this song to teach children to sing. If she has a child who has some vocal talent, she can use this song to train her voice and ear.
Many children when they start to sing, assuming they have some degree of talent to begin with, have trouble controlling their voices. Indeed, a voice is as much a musical instrument as a piano, a guitar, or any other played instrument. One of the traditional and effective ways to teach an instrument is to use scales. If you take vocal lessons from a voice teacher, a large part of your practice will involve working with scales.
What’s so interesting to me about the song “Do-Re-Mi” from “The Sound of Music” was the way this type of training became fun. Doing something that would normally be boring and fun is very important when teaching children.
You don’t need a formal vocal coach or teacher to do this. Now, I am NOT saying that formal training will never be needed. It certainly has its value. But in the beginning, if your son has some degree of talent and is having trouble controlling her voice, using the song “Do-Re-Mi” can bring some discipline to your son’s voice.
There are many variables involved in becoming a good vocalist, and controlling your pitch, i.e. staying on key, is one of the most important. He tries to use the song “Do-Re-Mi” to do this. It won’t be the end of everything, but it’s a good start.
