This week Alexa is joined by an author, educator, presenter, and vocal coach who specialises in teaching the child singer. She is the founder of Born 2 Sing Kids and mentors other voice teachers in working with this particular demographic. Dana Lentini joins us from New York to tell you all you need to know about teaching children to sing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Often it is said that kids shouldn’t take private voice lessons: Many well-intentioned experts recommend choral and group singing as the only means for children to learn singing proficiency, pushing their individual learning to instruments like piano and violin. While choral singing is a great experience for kids and offers a broad understanding of good singing techniques, what it doesn’t offer is the opportunity for singers to recognize their own uniqueness. And other instruments, while wonderful to learn, do not teach children how to become empowered with one of the most important assets they will use throughout their entire lives: their own voices.
- Private voice lessons offer young singer freedom to uncover their own personal growth and ability. And unlike other instruments, children use their voice all day every day – why not help them learn how to use it in a healthy manner, with techniques designed just for their age and ability? Under the guidance of a well-educated and knowledgeable vocal expert – one who understands the differences between teaching voice to a child versus an adult – these experiences can be a wonderful opportunity to explore their own range of singing possibilities.
- Through a systematic, customised approach, young singers learn the foundations for a healthy singing technique that will support them throughout their lives. Born 2 Sing Kids offers a positive, nurturing environment where kids can learn to grow and express their voices.
- Dana’s book Teaching the Child Singer is an indispensable resource for teachers who work with kids in the voice studio. Coming soon is Level 1 of her Kids’ Singing Songbook series, designed to take the guesswork out of the repertoire and make learning music fun.
- Research has proven that structured music lessons can positively affect all areas of child development, including higher academic performance, cognitive and memory skills, confidence, focus, self-expression, language and listening skills, task completion, enhanced creativity, and so much more.
BEST MOMENTS
‘I always want to grow and become a better version of myself’
‘I use lots of props in my lessons to make it fun’
‘Think about teaching as a life skill’
EPISODE RESOURCES
Guest Website:
Social Media:
- Instagram: @lentinidana
- Facebook: @Born2SingKids
Relevant Links & Mentions:
- Zoltán Kodály Method/John Spencer Curwen Solfege Hand Signs
- Teaching the Child Singer: Pediatric Pedagogy for Ages 5-13 by Dana Lentini: amazon.co.uk/Dana-Lentini/e/B08DD7DD28/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
- Kids’ Singing Song Book Series – Level 1 by Dana Lentini: amazon.co.uk/Dana-Lentini/e/B08DD7DD28/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
- Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults by Dr Jenevora Williams: jenevorawilliams.com/book-and-dvd
- Teaching Children to Sing by Kenneth Phillips
- Full Voice Music (Nikki Loney): fullvoicemusic.com
- Voice Teachers for Young Singers Facebook Forum
- The Full Voice Podcast with Nikki Loney
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dana Lentini is a US-based mentor, author, presenter, and educator specialising in working with child singer. After cultivating techniques as a singer, performer, and music educator, Dana Lentini created Born 2 Sing Kids to nurture the development of young singers through a systematic, yet customised approach. Through various forms of mentorship, she helps teachers learn about the unique differences in teaching singing to children and how to build their own successful studios.
Dana has been sought after as a presenter for universities and professional music organisations as well as for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, for whom she has also served on various panels and committees. Her consulting and courses on teaching children in the private studio are offered through her website at danalentini.com. Dana holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from The University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Oakland University. Her book, Teaching the Child Singer: Pediatric Pedagogy for Ages 5-13, is available from Hal Leonard Publishing. Dana’s new and unique spiral approach to repertoire development can be found in her Kids’ Singing Songbook series, to be released by Hal Leonard in fall 2022.
Link to podcast presenter’s bios
