Hello everyone, this is my first posting and I've got a tricky one for you
to read, think about and comment on please.
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Robyn,
Parents can have an awful time staying objective when it comes to their
children. I know...I have two.
The first thing that jumps to my attention is the lack of any substantive
comment regarding the mom's knowledge of the workings of the vocal
mechanism. The idea of singing from the chest, and not the larynx is
laughable. How she could have sustained rib cage damage from singing in her
chest voice is beyond me.
However, this is not unusual. I taught a student last year (an eighth grade
boy, who had recently gone through his voice change) whose mother approached
me. She told me (in front of her boy) that the reason she wanted him to
take voice lessons was because he used to have this wonderful, high voice,
and now he was singing low and rough. I wasn't sure she was serious at
first, and almost sent the boy somewhere while we talked, but preceeded to
tell her that this wasn't his fault. I told her about the male voice
change, and the difficulties her son was going through. I think it was good
for him to hear me say this to his mother, who had apparently chastised him
for not singing the same way he used to. After our conversation, she
understood, and was much better to her son about his voice.
I think we who teach younger students would be well-served to educate the
parents, too. I have not taught any younger students this year, due to time
constraints, but next time I do, I will make the parents (at least one of
them) sit in on the lessons.
FWIW,
David Grogan
Marshall, Texas
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