In my book, Can You Sing a HIGH C Without Straining? I have an entire chapter devoted to training kids which I’m defining as boys and girls under the age of puberty. If you want your son or daughter to be a super singer by age 16, don’t wait to start training them when they hit 14 or 15. Nothing, and I mean nothing can take the place of early training. I start vocal training for kids at age 7 only because their attention span at 6 isn’t quite up to a private lesson. Prior to age 7, get them in choir, school musicals and singing in church but it’s cool to start private one-on-one vocal training at 7.
If you heard that you should wait until a child goes through puberty before giving them vocal training, you heard from someone who doesn’t know how to train kids. There is no difference between a kid’s voice and an adult singer’s voice other than children’s vocal folds (cords) are shorter and thinner. That’s it. The training is the same. If a vocal coach tells you differently, they need to brush up on vocal physiology. I’ve trained scores of kids how to sing a HIGH C without straining (and much higher). We also work on singing in tune, vibrato, breath control and having good tone just like I do with my teen and adult students.
Skeptics of training children need only watch Sam Santiago sing “Rollin’ In the Deep” and watch the testimonial given by his mom below. Then go to the video examples page and watch the rest of his music videos. This kid rocks and he’s clearly developed a safe, yet powerful vocal technique through vocal training at my studio.
I’m excited about seeing Sam Santiago and want to start voice lessons with Thomas Appell ASAP!