The one comment I hear over and over in my profession is “I’m not a singer, so I can’t do music at home”.
Let’s get one thing straight, everyone is a singer, and the most important audience you will sing for are your children. You don’t have to be in tune, sing with the melody or even be in time! The most important thing is that you are confident and put yourself out there. This will not only strengthen the bond between you and your children as they observe that you are not afraid to express yourself in front of them, but the more you sing the better you will be! Like anything, practice makes perfect.
So, how do you get started?
- Find a song you like
This can be any song you have a connection with, but would suggest a song with easy words and a simple melody. Some great examples are You are my Sunshine, Here Comes the Sun, Morning town Ride and Raindrops keep falling on my head.
2. Learn the song so you could sing it in your sleep
Play the song all the time. In the shower, in the car and when you wake up. Look up the lyrics and make sure you sing the correctly. I sang ‘Our lips are sealed’ as ‘Alex the seal’ and was very confused as a child! If you are going to sing this song to your children, it’s important you are singing the right words, otherwise you end up with confused faces looking back at you!
3. Build up your confidence
Find a version of the song you really like on iTunes or Google music and sing along with it until you begin to feel confident with the words and the melody. As your confidence builds, turn down the music bit by bit, so you can hear your voice over the top of the music. Do this for as long as you need to!
4. Practice, practice, practice!
Keep at it! Children need repetition to create strong pathways between different parts of their brain. If they are asking for the same song over and over, it means they are still learning things from it.
Tips:
If you have the music turned down very low, but still aren’t feeling confident, try and find a karaoke version of the song, so you still have some kind of backing track to sing along to.
If singing makes you nervous and you forget the lyrics, print out a copy of them to read off. Building your confidence will take time, so if this helps, go for it!
The only audience you need are your children, no one else needs to hear you sing. I guarantee they will adore sharing this time with you, and one day they will feel confident in joining in.