Have you ever heard someone describe themselves as a terrible singer, or known someone who is quick to say "I can't sing" whenever an activity involves singing? This can be the truth for many people and is maybe even the truth for you. While people often think of singing as a gift or talent, it is actually a skill that most everyone can attain, build upon, and practice.
One my main goals for our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students at Bryant is to not only foster a love for music, but to also give them the skills and confidence to not shy away from singing and to be able to participate in all kinds of musical activities when they leave our school. Singing can have amazing effects on our health and well-being, releasing endorphins to improve our mood while improving physical control over our bodies like breath, articulation, and posture. It is also a great way to feel a sense of community, which is why I wrote our Bryant School Song, so that students can feel that sense of singing along with a large group.
In all of the grades, we work on vocal exploration, trying out the many different variations of our voices. We expand our ranges, sing in silly voices, and learn the difference between our head and chest voices among many other things. All of these different exercises help us to become more familiar and comfortable with our own unique voices and in the end, will help us to build that confidence with singing so that later on in life, if someone asks us if we can sing, we can respond in the positive :)
Listen to this recording of Mrs. Klein's Kindergarten class singing a short echo song that works on vocal exploration. Here they are working creating a nice round tone with lots of space inside their mouths. Then we do some sirens to "stretch" our our voices and connect to our head voice. Great job, Mrs. Klein's class!
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