Advice from singing teachers about lost ability

[raspberryjamchicken]

I have a 13 yo DD. She loves performing arts. She's always been a good, if not amazing, singer with good pitch and has performed solo roles successfully lots of times. She's been taking singing lessons for about a year. Recently I've noticed her singing doesn't sound as "good" as it did previously. I've noticed she sometimes has problems with singing in key, which has never been an issue before. She still enjoys it and I didn't worry too much about it. However, recently she auditioned for her drama school show.and the teacher took me aside to say they couldn't give her a singing role as she kept singing out of tune in her audition.

I just wondered if this could be as a result of puberty or if I should look into if she has developed hearing or throat problems? I will speak to her singing teacher but she is away at the moment. It's not the biggest issue in the world but DD has some mental health difficulties and her performing abilities have always helped her self-esteem. I think she would find it very hard if she wasn't considered "good" at it any more.

I have no advice but a little personal experience and it may give your thread a bump.

As a child under 11, I used to sing in a choir and had a good voice, not amazing but got picked for solos etc.
As I got older, my voice did change. It went from being a young girls voice that could hold a tune to a slightly deeper, older voice that needed more skill to be able to hold a tune. I did not have the skill but I also think confidence plays a part and becoming a self conscious teen didn’t help matters either.

I imagine it’s over comeable, nobody’s going to go from being a good singer to completely tone deaf. The singing teacher will probably have to adapt her methods a bit. It’s good that you have noticed before she seems to have and can hopefully work on it before she loses confidence.

I can't really see how it could be related to puberty but sometimes changes in confidence or focus can have an impact on performance.

Is it just her teacher saying she is out of tune or is your dd able to hear the difference between correct pitch and when something is off? Does she play any other instruments to help with overall musicality?

Sometimes the move from primary where outgoing bubbly confident kids get solos and performing opportunities to secondary where they may feel like a small fish in an ocean can be disappointing and disheartening.

Depending on what type of music your dd likes to sing, it might be a good idea to join relaxed and inclusive drama classes outside of school to build up her confidence. These can be amazing for friendships outside of school too.

It is around this age though that many teens move onto new hobbies and interests, is there anything else your dd would enjoy? Maybe dance which still has the musical element?

If she wants to stick with singing, she could work on a grade, trinity grades tend to be more flexible and less strict and intimidating. I'd avoid putting any pressure in her though. She may just come back to it naturally at a later stage.

It’s almost certainly puberty at that age. Hormones can have a big effect on the voice. She just needs to workout how to work with the parameters of her new (and changing) voice. And again later when she goes through menopause! There’s probably also a bit of losing self confidence as she moves into the teen years. Being a woman; so much fun!! I’m sure her singing teacher will be able to help.

From what I have heard, girls voices can naturally deepen a bit in the teenage years but I didn’t realise hormones could impact the ability to sing in key. If this is the case, would a singing teacher be able to guide or is this something to wait and 'grow out of'?

I would have her hearing tested. It might be a build up of wax or something? Testing it wouldn’t hurt anyway.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I will consider all the suggestions. She had a really bad ongoing cold and cough at the start of the year which lasted for weeks and I've noticed her speaking voice has been a bit hoarse since then so I might get the doctor to check her throat and ears. She also has had a really bad time with anxiety and sleeping problems and the tiredness probably doesn't help. I'll try to get her singing teacher to just focus on some simple things so she at least is enjoying herself. I would like her to just see it as a fun thing but unfortunately she is autistic and performing is her special passion so it might take a while to reframe her thinking about it.

I appreciate all the comments.

There have been some nasty bugs this winter, that can't have helped. Is she getting any help with her sleeping and her anxiety? Being rejected at auditions is never nice but with good sleep and inner confidence it's easier to manage these disappointment. Such a difficult age, OP hopefully she'll find her mojo again soon. Musical theatre, if that's what she is into, is intense and there is competition for the lead roles but if performing is her special interest, hopefully she can work through it.

To any singing teachers that may read this, if hormones are to blame, what should young singers do if they temporarily struggle with their voice? Are there exercises? Rest?

Girls’ voices change in adolescence, though obviously not as dramatically as those of boys. The link below suggests that “insecurity of pitch intonation” is not uncommon.

https://vocalprocess.co.uk/adolescent-voice-change-in-teenage-girls/

Puberty can really affect girls voices. Not as dramatically as boys but it still needs a lot of care through those years.

Does the singing teacher focus a lot of the lesson on exercises and support, or is it a quick 5 minute warm up and mainly focus on songs?

My DD is embarking on a professional singing career and at least 30 minutes of every lesson is purely exercises (tailored to what her voice needs week to week) and has been for the last 10 years.

There are often months where things seem a bit off or plateaued and then we normally see a big leap upwards.

If her voice and ear were good beforehand then it shouldn't be too hard to bring her back to that with the right work.

Hello! Singing teacher here. Girls do go through voice change and some audible markers of that can be hoarseness/ breathiness and pitch instability as tissues grow and change- all totally normal. Anxiety has potentially huge effects on the voice, muscular tension in the throat can become very problematic. However, it could be worth asking for a referral to a specialist laryngologist for a video stroboscopy. This is the gold standard for singers to find out what is going on- no one can know what is happening inside the larynx unless they get scoped and a rule of thumb is that if you have voice difficulties for longer than 3 weeks it is a good idea to see a specialist. It could also be a case of hearing difficulties too so worth getting that checked also. If that seems too big and might spook her, if you can find a singing teacher with a specialism in adolescent voices and voice rehabilitation that could be a way to ease in to getting her assessed. I wish you and her the very best and I hope she can get back to enjoying singing and performing again very soon 💜

Thanks for the advice. She only does a 30 minute lesson and I think it's half exercises and half songs. I'm also going to get her hearing checked as she is prone to ear infections anyway. I don't think she would cope with any sort of invasive investigation - she's autistic and very sensitive. Couldn't even manage x-rays at the dentist! I will see if I can find a singing teacher more specialised with teens if I can find one that will fit around all her beloved classes.

This is the first time I've posted in this section - I didn't realise how many knowledgeable people there would be.

@raspberryjamchicken if you can hear hoarseness in her speaking voice, I would be concerned about if she should be singing without this being investigated. If her vocal chords are still inflamed (from the lingering cough/cold), continuing to sing (without a lot of care) can cause damage.
If her teacher hasn’t picked up on this - and the struggles with pitch / changing voice - I would recommend seeing someone else, particularly as this is such an important thing to your DD.

I do sympathise! I have an autistic DS for whom singing is life, and he has just / is still negotiating his voice changing last year - and that was after having a period of illness and over singing as well, which took a long time to recover from.

She will get it back! She just needs to be guided correctly.

I sing in a choir and had a horrible cold/cough thing at the beginning of last year. It was months before I could sing properly again.