What's the best age to start children's choir? Best kind of children's choir?

[LynnS6]

Dd is 6 and loves to sing. She's got a good sense of pitch and can carry a tune quite nicely.

I'm thinking that 6 is a little young for a children's choir, but a couple of the choirs around take kids as young as 5. She'd be in a 'prep' choir until about age 8 or so.

Does anyone have their child in a children's choir? What's a good age to start? What to look for in a good choir?

Thanks!

[meemee]

good age to start? depends on the child.

dd was in one when she was 4. she was singing solo at 4. that's her thing though. she could carry a tune at 1. it was her passion so she loved being there. the hard parts was when we had to wait around for her part to sing. i used to stay with her.

what i looked for. anything that would be child friendly. where dd would be comfortable to be corrected and encouraged. they would understand that we might be a little late. would they listen to dd's suggestions and be able to gently tell her why they cant do it her way.

what they looked for was could my dd handle the structure, could she show up for practise. would we as parents support her and help her practise at home and learn the words.

[LuxPerpetua]

I sang in a children's choir from age 10-18 and had a fantatic experience, and I want the same for our dd. I think the age to start depends upon the choir. I would recommend age 8 at the youngest for a serious choir (like, not church choir or a homeschooling community choir or something). I think it's important to be able to read so she can learn to read music if she doesn't already and to be able to fluently read words in songs along with notes and be old enough to have a good counting sense for rhythm. Of course, she also needs to be okay with rehearsals and what is expected at performances. Choir is probably the most profound experience of my life--I learned so much about other languages and musicality and it's also where I met dh at age 14 (we're now 29 and 30). As to what to look for, I would go hear a performance and talk to the director. I would discuss rehearsal schedules, performances per year, travel, expenses for attire, parent involvement and expectations (some want you to fundraise), and also whether they require auditions and what to expect if they do/how to schedule, etc. I would also ask how much musical knowledge the children are expected to have upon entering. The best choirs will require an audition. If they don't require and audition, then it may be fine but most likely the caliber of music they perform will be much lower (which may or may not matter). In a perfomance, I would look for these signs of a higher caliber choir: Training choir for younger kids and Performing Choir for older kids (not mixed), a "classical" section with music in other languages such as Latin, Italian, and German, polyphonic music (multiple voice parts) with little unison singing, and just overall blend of parts. The best choirs will also have balanced voice sections (equal or near equal numbers of girls to boys). Also, just get a feel for how the director speaks with your child when you talk with him/her. That will let you know how well your child will work under their direction. It is definitely worth looking into! I hope it works out for you!

[LynnS6]

Thanks!

Dd is an early reader (currently reading at about a 3rd-4th grade level) and has been doing piano for a year, so she has some basic music reading abilities. She took part in the church's musical and memorized 7 songs in 3 days. So, I'm not so worried about that.

I am worried about her ability to take direction and about not destroying her love of music.

The thoughts on auditions are interesting, and I think you're right that we definitely want that level of professionalism. We definitely want polyphonic singing (dh grew up Lutheran, and sing polyphonically without thinking; I don't and want dd to be able to be able to do this).

I like the idea of going to some of their concerts before signing up. That would give us a sense of the musicality and expectations for the older kids.

[Geofizz]

As with most of life, things like a kid's choir depends a lot on the specific choir and the director. Any chance you and DD can go observe a rehearsal (you only get to see the product at a concert)? It will either feel good or it won't. Some directors do a great job with that age, others don't.

[eepster]

I would say that if she is as old as the stated age of the choir in question, than she is old enough. A choir that say it is for "8-12 yo" will have different behavior/attention/reading/time expectations than one that say it is for "4-10 yo," or one that says it is for "children 10 yo and up." If a choir says it takes 5yo, than they should be used to 6 yo acting like 6 yo and not always being 100% attentive.

I would say a good start is to find one that is associated with your religion. It sounds though like this has more to do with a desire for her to learn music theory, and an opportunity to preform. Possibly you might find what your really looking for in a children's chorus instead. Opera companies often have these. A friend of mine was in one as a kid.

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by eepster

I would say that if she is as old as the stated age of the choir in question, than she is old enough. A choir that say it is for "8-12 yo" will have different behavior/attention/reading/time expectations than one that say it is for "4-10 yo," or one that says it is for "children 10 yo and up." If a choir says it takes 5yo, than they should be used to 6 yo acting like 6 yo and not always being 100% attentive.

I would say a good start is to find one that is associated with your religion. It sounds though like this has more to do with a desire for her to learn music theory, and an opportunity to preform. Possibly you might find what your really looking for in a children's chorus instead. Opera companies often have these. A friend of mine was in one as a kid.

Chorus vs. choir... I don't think I distinguish the two. It doesn't have to be religious. I mentioned the Lutheran thing only because dh was trained in polyphonic music early because of his experiences in choral singing.

But yes, I definitely want the music theory and the opportunity to perform. My nieces and nephew have had great experiences with their Children's Choir (they call themselves a choir, but have everything I'm looking for). Unfortunately, we don't live close enough to join their choir.

Going to see a rehearsal is a good idea. Probably better than a concert. I know that it varies by group, but if I were getting a ton of people say "my 6 year old was miserable in children's choir/chorus" I'd think seriously about waiting.