Singing together as a family?? Oh my!

I’m sure the thought of singing together as a family sounds daunting, even to the parents who grew up singing “Johnny Appleseed” around the dinner table.

But did you know that even a parent who is not confident in their musical abilities can still contribute to the enrichment of their children’s musical development? 

Scientific research has shown that music and singing help children to develop important life skills like language, pre-literacy, concentration and confidence, among other important skills. But, more importantly, singing together as a family is likely to produce children with deep character, a closer family bond and children who desire to be in community with others! This is so valuable in a society that is saturated with promoting self.

It is so important for you, as a mom or dad, to show your children the beauty of engaging WITH and IN music - even if you think you are “tone deaf” or “aren’t musical”. I’ve heard these phrases so often as an excuse to only hit up the sports arenas and not give music a chance. But why can’t we do both?!

Just like we’ve all been born with a potential to speak and learn languages, we too have been born with an ability to become musical to varying degrees. We just need to give ourselves and our children the opportunity to grow their musicality.

It is true that some parents have not been taught HOW to use their voices. But, even if you can’t sing the notes in tune, you are still able to give your children the support, resources and modelling they need to advance in their musical skills.

Even a mom or dad who sings boisterously out of tune during church worship is able to model and show their family that singing is a good and useful skill to have for life.

Can I tell you a little secret? Your children just want to sing WITH you.

They don’t care if your notes are not perfectly in tune! They just want to see you having fun; enjoying using the voice you’ve been given to bless others around you, to build up a strong family bond, and to leave a legacy of music-making for future generations.

Am I too bold to say that our future generations are in dire need of more families that sing together?