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Singing with a Child

Three short lessons for grown-ups who think they cannot sing: sing in the child's key, echo short phrases, and keep the songs your family already has.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/singing-with-a-child · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Sing in their key

Young children's voices are higher and have a smaller range than grown-ups usually sing in. Many grown-ups pitch songs too low for a small child to join in comfortably.

Start a song a little higher than feels natural to you, and keep it within a few notes. If the child can sing along without straining, you are in their key. Your voice does not have to be good; it only has to be there.

Question. Your child cannot join in a song you are singing. What should you try first?

  1. Sing it louder.
  2. Start it a little higher, in a smaller range.
  3. Stop singing until they are older.

Say it back. In your own words: what is the child's key, and how do you find it?

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Lesson 2. Echo short phrases

Children learn to match a note by echoing. Sing a short phrase — two to four notes — and let them sing it back. Then swap: they sing, you echo.

Keep it playful: sing their name, the dog's name, what is for dinner. Matching notes is a skill that grows with practice, and every echo counts.

Question. How long should an echo phrase be for a young child?

  1. A whole verse.
  2. Two to four notes.
  3. One very long note.

Say it back. Say it back: how does echoing help a child match notes?

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Lesson 3. Keep your family songs

Every family has songs: a lullaby from a grandparent, a song in a home language, a silly bath-time chant. These are worth keeping as they are, in the voice that sang them.

If you like, record a grandparent singing on your own phone and keep it there. Sing along with it, then let the child lead.

Question. What is the best way to keep a grandparent's lullaby?

  1. Find a professional recording instead.
  2. Record them singing it on your own phone and sing along.
  3. Write down only the words.

Say it back. In your own words: why keep a family song in the voice that sang it?

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At the table: The name song

Players: a grown-up and a child, 2 to 7. You'll need: nothing.

  1. Sing the child's name on two notes, a little higher than you usually speak.
  2. Let them sing it back. Then sing yours and let them echo it.
  3. Let the child invent a two-note phrase for you to copy.
  4. End with one song your family already knows.

Answers

  1. Start it a little higher, in a smaller range. — Moving the song a little higher and narrower puts it where a small child's voice can go.
  2. Two to four notes. — Two to four notes is short enough for a small child to hear and sing back.
  3. Record them singing it on your own phone and sing along. — Recording the grandparent on your own phone keeps their voice, and singing along keeps the song alive.