Help! My Child Is Tone Deaf

Do you think that simply because your child is unable to sing in tune or pitch notes accurately that he might be tone deaf?

If the answer is YES, then the good news is that you are absolutely wrong, and also that you are not the only person who’s ever thought that way. 

I, myself cannot pitch accurately, and I thought I was tone deaf, so don’t beat yourself up if you’ve been thinking like this for years. 

If your child is not tone deaf, then why isn’t he able to pitch a note accurately or hold a tune?

I will not only answer that question in this post, but I will also give you some simple solutions that you can implement immediately to help your child. 

Most Of Us Are Not Tone Deaf

Yes, most of us aren’t tone deaf, and it is likely that your child isn’t either. 

What many of us are, is, unable to pitch perfectly. 

Did you know that only 3% of the population is born with perfect pitch?

Did you also know that many of the greatest singers and musicians had their ears trained, because they were not born with perfect pitch?

So, what does that mean for your child?

It only means that like the rest of the 97% of us, who have no medical condition pertaining to our auditory senses, your child too has to have his ear trained. 

That’s it.

Ok I can hear you going, ‘Oh! I don’t have the money for that’, or ‘I don’t even know where to start’. 

Well, no need to fret, throughout the rest of this post, I will share a few simple tricks that you can put to use. 

Sing Simple Songs

Yes, that’s it. 

Start off with very simple songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Farmer In The Dell and so on. 

What happens with most of us, is we try to sing really complicated songs and when we can’t pitch accurately we give up thinking that we are no good. 

But that is not true. 

First start with simple melodies and then help your child work himself up to more complex melodies. 

Now, you have to remember that the more complex the melody the harder it will be, so tell him to be patient with himself and practice and he will get it. 

Take It In Bite Sized Pieces

Have your child identify high and low parts in the more complex songs and pitch them individually instead of all that once. 

By breaking each piece into bite sized pieces he will be able to very quickly, sing those melodies accurately. 

Rest assured that with enough practice over the course of a longer term, your child will be humming and singing very complex songs without too much trouble. 

Want a more detailed explanation of how to train your child’s musical ear? Then read my post, 3 ‘Ridiculously’ Simple Steps To Train Even A Tone Deaf Ear.

Try out the strategies in this post and come back and let me know how it works out.