Teaching Kids to Sing

This is, in my opinion, probably the best book out there for teaching vocal technique to children. And children need it, especially today, as they are surrounded by bad vocal models in the media. If you teach choral or vocal music to anyone younger than 13, you really need to have this book, at least as a reference.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who teaches singing- especially those who work with groups of inexperienced singers. Phillips goes a long way in demystifying singing technique and causes for singing problems as well as providing ideas for remediation in older inexperienced singers. The fact that Phillips approaches singing in a very objective manner makes singing an attainable skill for anyone who is willing to put in the physical work. The exercises in this book are intended for group use and when used consistently they really work! Many people ask me how I get my 4th and 5th grade boys to sing so willingly and I really think a lot of it has to do with the information that I have taken to my music classroom from this book. Some of the exercises may sound a little silly at first, but give it a try!

This book explores the history behind American vocal training, describing how different attitudes towards school singing has affected the choral sound as we know it today. The author also effectively presents how singing is a psychomotor process, and one that is not always easily taught or learned. He reviews the vocal parameters of younger and developing voices, and explains the difficulty with the adolescent voice change (especially with boys). He also encourages teachers to express singing as a "sport", one that requires physical involvement of the body! The second half of the book is dedicated to 90 specific exercise methods for teachers to use in developing their choir. He has broken it into three age levels so that teachers anywhere within the grades 1-12 spectrum can use it effectively, or just use it to supplement a program they may already use and like. The exercises develop repiration, phonation, resonance, diction, and expression within choirs. Eighteen wonderful vocal exercises are explained for each of these areas. This would make an excellent reference book for any music teacher who is involved with teaching singing to any age level. The exercises are specific and help coordinate the students' overall approach to singing.