Tuneful and rhythmic singing is often generated from imitation rather than from musical understanding. Children are great imitators. Young children can learn to convincingly recite poems in a foreign language, complete with expressive nuances, yet not understand the language. Many can do the same with music. Untrained tuneful and rhythmic children may, of course, have fine music potential, but without a background that develops musical understanding during the earliest years, they will not be able to fully develop that music potential.
Listen closely to your friend’s child sing and you may be able to tell the difference between imitation and musical understanding. You may discover that the words to the songs are leading the way rhythmically and tonally rather than a sense of meter and tonality, much like a GPS takes you where you need to go without ever activating your own sense of direction. You may be able to hear that the child’s rhythm is fairly accurate though tonal is approximate, or vice versa, with the weaker of the two piggybacking on the stronger.
Perhaps the most deceiving attribute of “impressive singing” is a rich voice quality, whether child or adult. Many older singers are readily accepted into auditioned choirs based on their rich voice quality, yet their rhythm and tonal skills may be very weak. Ironically, a strong sound can pull down the tempo, rhythmic precision or intonation of the whole group. You Tube has its share of videos of very young children’s solo singing with rich voices, yet most are not a display of consummate musicianship. Try to get beyond the impressive sound and listen to the rhythm in particular. Do you hear a sense of meter? Weight on the macro beats? A feel of micro beats pulsing throughout? Do you feel fluid movement? Momentum?
Another deceptive aspect of “impressive singing” can be style. The richest child voice is pure and natural, not one that sounds like a voice 15 years older. A young child’s singing that sounds like an adult or popular recording artist is generated from imitation, not from musical understanding, and has been praised as the child’s voice.
It is not so important that you know the difference between imitation and musical understanding, but that you know that there is a difference, and that many children who sound tuneful and rhythmic are not nearly as developed musically as your little one who may not yet be tuneful and rhythmic.
|
