I recently hired a vocal instructor from a local university who is trained in opera. My daughter no longer wants to go to her musical theater classes. So the woman is great, but she's never trained anyone this young (12) and wants to find a good book featuring a variety of musical theater type songs in the G clef (?). Can anyone recommend a song book on Amazon, etc. Or is this a question that I/she should already know. It's not for auditioning, just training. Also, not alot of belting and heavy on girl stuff. Thanks!

All of the musical theatre anthology books are good. Here is a link to some of them on sheetmusicplus:

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/...ised-Soprano/2932245

There are a variety of volumnes, each specifically compiled for tenor, alto, etc.
Each one has an incredible assortment of songs from early muscials all the way up to modern shows in each book.

Colony music in NYC also has all of these books and I am sure Amazon probably does as well. They are each called musical theatre anthology. You just need to know which volume and which voice type you need. For instance, there are at least 3 different musical theatre anthology books for tenor. New books are created about every year.

By the way, the books I suggested probably will not have songs for young kids, as they are mostly adult songs, so I don't know if that will help you.

Also, I am quite surprised a trained teacher doesn't have a general idea as to finding material on her own for teaching. Hopefully she is not too short sighted to teach only operatic based music. I have studied with both classical and musical theatre teachers in university and in private studios. A good technique for singers is a good technique,no matter what genre the teacher feels drawn to, but some classical teachers have blinders on and really dislike musical theatre; mostly because they have little experience in that field so sometimes judge it as unhealthy, untrained singing. Just my two cents after 28 years as a pro singer.

I think she is fighting her short sightedness by having my daughter go to a music store and pick out something she would want to practice. There's a music store in the area that has a ton of stuff and we're going to look over their selection. D has an idea of what she would like to sing, so the teacher is going to take it from there. No belting, though. Dd has been through that too early in career. I always felt that the musical theater program she was in demanded too much too soon. Thanks for your 2 cents, I greatly appreciate it. That site you recommended has what we're looking for.

You're a great parent allowing your child to make choices in what she wants to sing. I didn't intend on speaking badly of the teacher, as I didn't realize she is allowing your child to find some things on her own.

Learning to sing in a healthy way is what is most important. If you have a good technique, you can sing anything. The world is not all pop music. Unfortunately, shows like American Idol seem to show people with little or know training who can stand on stage and scream and be a star. Unfortunately, many of those same people who come to play leads on Broadway, find they have vocal problems from trying to sing 8 shows a week.

It's essential people become educated and trained. Like any musician, once you have a solid technique, you can apply it to any style and perform it in a healthy way.

Kudos to you and your daughter. Hope she is having fun in her learning process along with you!

I NEVER thought you were were speaking badly of the teacher. I thought it was funny, because the teacher was clearly having mixed emotions about how to go about training dd. She met her, had already told ME she had never trained anyone that young, but she rolled with it. Took dd into studio, did some scales. The teacher came out beaming, said this would be fun, cause dd has a good attitude about things. I think the teacher was concerned that both dd and I thought she was going to be the next Miley and all the baggage that entails. She was pleasantly surprised that dd wanted to sing professionally and still have fun. It's probably good for the teacher to open herself up to the light hearted. She was kind of serious. But she (the teacher) is definitely awesome, and believes in a solid technique that won't make my kid sound like a toad by the time she's 25. Thank you for your advice. It's been a process trying to find professionals that train well, and not take advantage of me and my dd.

I'm glad you found a teacher you like. I started voice lessons at 12 years old (I'm 40 now) and had very good teachers along the way. I had an opera teacher in college who taught me great technique, but he had a very limited knowledge of musical theatre, as to him it wasn't a legitimate art form for singers. (How many touring companies of the opera The Magic Flute are there compared to touring companies of, say Wicked??) Singers need to be able to sing in all styles and genres, and many teachers have blinders on, focusing only on one style of music, be it opera, classical, etc. If they don't teach their students a well-rounded genre of music, the students will not be marketable in the music/theatre business. Because of this, I also studied in a private studio at the same time with a teacher who was both opera and musical theatre, and he helped me with all of my musical theatre music. I also studied piano, so it helped I could read music.

Kids have it alot harder today, as influential as pop music is. Good training is good training, and you can sing pop in a healthy way. It's important to be with a good teacher who can start with the basics..breathing, placement, resonation, musicality..those things stay with you whether you are singing in Wicked or singing hymns in a church choir. You use all of those tools as you approach any style of music to sing.

Break legs!

my reccomendations:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/...tion-Book-CD/3983696
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/...en-s-Edition/3983683

Good suggestions. I missed those from sheetmusicplus.

Amo37, thanks for your encouraging words. How many times a day do I have to "Popular?" Wicked is my d's dream show. Her second is 42nd Street, I took her the last season it played on B'way when she was 4. She couldn't believe how great it was. How can I deny a child who stood up and cried at the end of "Lion King" when she was 6, and made all the little old ladies in the handicapped section around her bawl when my mom took her to see it when the road tour came to town. This kid loves show tunes, what can I say? I'm just doing all I can to make sure she has a shot if she decides to give Broadway a try.

You're a great mom. My parents encouraged me, but never understood my passion. It seems you 'get it.'

Follow your bliss. And God Bless you for helping your child find hers.

Thanks. I've already followed and found my bliss, believe or not, but I'll do whatever I can to help her. Even if she wants to be a singing doctor, or a dancing teacher, or a lawyer who can do back flips. Hopefully, she'll be a performer, but just in case, these are the "back-up" jobs she's discussed so far in case she doesn't "make it."