How Singing Improves Development
It’s no secret music plays an important role in the development of learning but we wanted to explore this further. How does singing improve development, especially in young children and teenagers?
Jaz's first time on stage.
We have proud parents call us regularly with the glimmer of hope their child has a voice, and in most cases they really do! We get to watch their development and progress as they not only improve technically but also with their confidence and belief in themselves. It’s a special journey and one we see time and time again. So what are the main development improvements we see REGULARLY!?
#1 is confidence.
Aimee in her element!
I don’t really like using the word confidence. When we say “you need to build your confidence” it’s not very appealing, especially for the student who is struggling with their ‘confidence’ already. Instead I like to sit back, say nothing but help our students build that confidence slowly and powerfully. See singing is unlike learning an instrument its an individual and internal journey and one that is hard to measure growth by ticking complete in a book. It’s a development and with that time comes confidence.
Plus we firmly believe in the power performing on stage has in building that belief so we organise performing afternoons every month!
Socialising
Finding friends who ‘get you’, is hard. Music is an easy way to connect with people especially in small groups. We always match students in groups where they can make friends and feel supported. If you’re looking for a way to keep your child socialised seriously try singing lessons. It helps!
Encourages the use of words and memorisation
For our little ones we notice an almost immediate improvement in learning words. When we associate words with music our brain holds onto them so much easier. Coach kids always start off finding it difficult to sing with a backing track or memorise a whole song. With much persistence and practice this becomes second nature and it happens really quickly. (I often feel like I have a whole section of my brain just to store lyrics.)
Mindfulness and Expression
In class we always refer to singing as being a form of meditation. It’s the chance to escape your thoughts and truly be in the moment and follow your flow state. The more we practice this the easier it happens and before we know it we can get so lost in a song we forget our day to day stresses. This not only improves our mental health BUT it enables performers to connect with their audience and sing (literally) like no one is watching.
Once we have nailed the flow state then we can truly express how we feel. This for me is the reason singing is so beneficial!
There are so many reasons singing helps us to grow, but these are a few of my favourites… We would love to hear from you about why you sing, or how singing has helped you or someone you know improve their development.
Written by Alanna Deutrom