There's Oil in Them Thar Hills

She's been singing since she exited the womb. With all the objectivity a mother can muster, I have long professed that the kid's got pipes. Through the experiences of my own vocal training, I have acquired an ear for potential. I always believed she had it, but of course this opinion means nothing coming from her mother.

So IMG started voice lessons a few weeks ago. We found an appropriately accredited, nurturing, and eccentric voice teacher. This teacher impressed me from the start, in that she wanted an audition to be accepted to her studio. She only wants to work with those who are both serious and in possession of an instrument worth playing. Completing her audition, she noted that IMG's rating in potential is a 10.

Six weeks into her training and she has finally progressed to the point where she is making sounds. Several sessions were spent on the anatomy of the respiratory system and of the vocal cords. After breathing on the floor, on the wall, and while doing abdominal crunches, she was promoted and ready to make noise. Last week she started with lip trills and vowels produced with a pencil between the teeth.

Oh, the fond memories I have of these lessons from my youth. The foundations of vocal production may be the first things we learn as singers, but we think of them again every time we reach for that high A or for the D in the break of the voice.

While these lessons are allowing me the indulgence of reminiscing about my days of endless potential, I am more drawn to the phenomenon living in my own home. At age 13, IMG is producing vocal sounds that would have Juilliard grad students wielding the sticks of Tonya Harding's accomplices. Yesterday her voice teacher told her to practice well, that she'd be supporting her old Mom and Dad with her voice. During her practices my house fills with the sound of heavenly vocalizations, and I have to remind myself that these glorious tones are coming from my little girl.

I can say without conceit that she reminds me of my younger self. Although I can't blame my parents for the sporadic support they offered in my pursuit of a musical career, I have to think that my life could have been different if they'd provided what we're going to provide to my girl. We're cultivating a triple threat in a small teenage package, and we're committed to do everything we can to help her bring it to harvest.