Learning to Sing Music Pitch

Learning Objective:

Your child will be able to match a pitch sung or played on an instrument.

Instructions:

1. Sing a song with your child that he or she knows well.

2. Practice teaching your child the notes of the song by singing each note and having your child match the pitch your are singing. For example, if you were to sing Mary Had a Little Lamb, you would sing the first note of the song and have your child match the pitch. Then you would sing the next note and have your child match the pitch. Do this for every note in the song.

3. Most young children cannot match the correct pitch at first. If your child is singing the wrong pitch, listen to hear if the pitch is lower or higher than the pitch you are singing and do the following:

If your child is singing lower than the desired pitch, point your finger up and tell your child to keep singing higher until your child sings the desired pitch.

If your child is singing higher than the desired pitch, point your finger down and tell your child to sing lower until your child sings the desired pitch.

When your child sings the desired pitch, tell your child that is the pitch you want them to sing.

4. If your child does not have the patience to sit and learn every note, you can sing a song with your child and randomly stop on a note and have your child match the pitch.

5. You can also try matching pitches on a piano or other musical instrument by playing a note on the instrument and telling your child to match the pitch.

Assessment:

Can your child match any pitch (within their range) you sing or play? If not, keep practicing with your child until he or she can.

You can also start teaching your young child about pitch. I do this lesson with my 2 year old and she loves it!