Make it Fun

Weekly Teaching Tip – Dec. 12, 2011

It’s simple and obvious, but we need to remember that singing and music should be fun! I don’t think I have ever met a child that doesn’t enjoy music. They love to push on piano keys, bang on things that make sound, experiment with their voice to make different sounds. But I fear at some point we take all of the fun out of music and singing and turn it into drudgery.

Today’s tip is simple; Keep it fun! Sometimes we as teachers become so focused on everything that needs fixing that we seem to take all of the fun out of singing for our students. We are constantly pointing out mistakes and probems. Ultimately we are just trying to help our students find their voice and enjoy singing. The teacher that keeps singing fun is always going to have students.

So yes, we need to fix problems and analyze voices, but we always need to remember why students came to us in the first place – because they love to sing. We need to make sure that somewhere in the process of helping them become better singers that we don’t diminish that love for singing that brought them to us in the first place.

Keep singing!