# Is it a bad thing to encourage a child who is an awful singer to be a musician? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502 "2013-05-28T00:13:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/61 "2013-05-29T11:51:05Z")
If she wants to do this and her parents tell her parents tell her of some of the down sides and she is ready for it; more power to her. If her parents are pushing her, well shame on them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/62 "2013-05-29T18:17:39Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > A respected, local voice teacher I know flat out will not accept students younger than 13-14, because before that, in most cases, their voices just aren’t ready for it. What style of voice does said teacher teach? Because while I agree with **Kimstu** that there are some styles of singing a young singer should avoid, voice training for kids is not only a good thing but has been going on for centuries. It’s never too early to help avoid bad habits. The kids just aren’t going to sound like adults. There’s a reason the original sopranos, being unchanged male voices, sound almost nothing like their modern counterparts. And, yes, **Kimstu** , you can go too far the other way. I don’t mean her parents need to be Simon Cowell\* or anything. \*Not that Cowell is telling people how it is. He’s intentionally harsh to help potential pop singers deal with the inherently harsh world they are getting into. Not even those teachers who you say “tell it like it is” should even do that. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/63 "2013-05-29T19:10:45Z")
For comparison, [here is a young girl, singing like a young girl](http://youtu.be/QpmtyHGn9nQ), but on key and within her range and natural abilities and the result is very pretty and enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/64 "2013-05-30T00:40:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > What style of voice does said teacher teach? Opera! ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/65 "2013-05-30T00:43:13Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > \*Not that Cowell is telling people how it is. He’s intentionally harsh to help potential pop singers deal with the inherently harsh world they are getting into. Not even those teachers who you say “tell it like it is” should even do that. I think you meant to say, “He’s intentionally harsh to help keep ratings high.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/66 "2013-05-30T04:46:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > . I’ll grant you, the Star Spangled Banner should probably be known as the Star Mangled Banner at this point, and there have been plenty of professional singers who have mangled it. ? I still don’t see what the fuck is wrong with actually singing it the way Francis Scott Key _wrote_ it to be sung. I have heard rock, pop, funk, country, operatic Rosanne Barr, … :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/67 "2013-06-02T23:36:16Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > For comparison, [here is a young girl, singing like a young girl](http://youtu.be/QpmtyHGn9nQ), but on key and within her range and natural abilities and the result is very pretty and enjoyable. Here’s a 9-year-old singer/guitarist tackling some Foo Fighters: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/roeD0xi3sZA/hqdefault.jpg "9 year old Zoe Thomson sings and plays on guitar The Pretender by Foo Fighters") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roeD0xi3sZA) OTOH, she’s more guitarist than singer. Here she is (at age 10) tackling Orianthi’s collaboration with Steve Vai, “Highly Strung”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IPRnXVWz6Hc/maxresdefault.jpg "10 year old Zoe Thomson shreds Highly Strung by Orianthi and Steve Vai") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPRnXVWz6Hc) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502/68 "2013-06-03T12:16:40Z")
Was I the only one who thought that the fireworks was someone trying to put an end to the caterwauling? Listen, I think it’s a parent’s job to let their kids explore different artistic outlets to see if there’s something that their kid will really enjoy and _possibly_ even excel at. So, yes, pay for those dance lessons and drawing lessons and ballet lessons. Even if they’ll never rise to the top, creative outlets are good for our kids. But the parents of that little girl aren’t doing her any favors by parading her out in public and letting her make a complete fool of herself. She’s void of any remarkable talent. So, if she really enjoys singing, great. They should encourage her to keep singing…privately. But, publicly, where people can’t easily escape? No. That’s cruel to both her and her audience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-thing-to-encourage-a-child-who-is-an-awful-singer-to-be-a-musician/659502.md?page=3)