When can toddlers sing "in tune"

[BhoysGirl]

Does anyone know when the ability to sing in tune kicks in. My DS is joining in with words to his favourite songs, but there's not much tunefulness.

i'm a little paranoid, as my Dad is tone deaf - he's not allowed to sing in public - but my Mum did a lot of music stuff, as did I, and DH can sing in tune, and I'd really like DS to be exposed to more than just football. DS loves music, is always asking for it (when he's not nagging about bl**dy Thomas), so he definitely connects, but he has me a bit worried....

[MamaPan]

how old is he?
my DS1 is very musical (I think) which makes sense as DH and I are both musical...
He can sing in tune for some songs but many he is off... and he is rarely in the same key as the rest of us...
At this stage i think having the timing right and showing a real interest is pretty damn good!

[sconeonamission]

I don't know if he's " in tune" but he can sing his version of twinkle twinkle
, bob and roary theme to the music. If he used the right words, you'd thinkit was just the song on tv, iykwim. He's two.

[~Kim~]

Well I could pick Darcy's tunes before I could pick the actual words she was singing, so not really sure.
Though she's been learning piano for a bit and has amazed everyone at her ability to pick notes She's 3.5 and has been singing since 14months? or so.

[Patooties]

My 2 year old can pretty much hum a tune correctly - (I know when she is singing Katy Perry's 'Hot n Cold' song.) When I forget to put my seat belt on in the car, she can match the beeps perfectly.
Perhaps you could play some games - singing high and low. Walking on tippy toes for high notes and crouching down for low notes. .

[beetle]

I think exposing kids to music from a young age can only help! My Dad was tone deaf but he wasn't brought up in a musical household at all. My Mum on the other hand is a music teacher so my siblings and I were brought up in a musical household and I'd say we're somewhere in between mum and dad! I reckon it has more to do with what you're exposed to than natural ability.

[Early Kids]

First remember each and every child is different and therefore develop differently

My lil man is 2y7m and doesnt speak much, let alone sing. So no he cannot sing, or in tune.

[Nelle]

I wouldn't stress too much. I don't know if I sang much when I was 2, but apparently I didn't talk much, so I'd be surprised if I sang - and I'm alright at it now.

Can bub mimic you? My bub will mimic me doing arpeggio sounding stuff - if he's in the mood and not too tired and he can't see his blocks, trains, the tv or any food.
It's definitely not a priority for him, to be able to sing, so he doesn't spend much time on it.

I guess just keep singing fun, so that he's interested in joining in, and the more he has an opportunity to sing, the better he'll get?

[Smoke Jaguar]

Dunno, so I'll just give you anecdote.
My DS is 3 and a quarter and only now starting to inflect for pitch. I don't think he's tone deaf, I just think he's only now slowing down his attention to notice 'details' like pitch! He's been exposed to music since in utero because I was doing gigs till a month before he was born, and then I sang to him whilst breastfeeding when he was born. He would sing the words to songs last year, just not with a discernible tune. It's only recently that he's bothered with tuning his mutterings and really only since I started back at doing gigs in May.
Oddly enough, the song he chooses to sing now when he has a 'microphone' in his hand is not one that I've been singing since he was in utero, or even in the intervening 3 years...it's a new one on the playlist...can you believe that it's been the Dolly Parton song, Jolene, that has taken his fancy?? Of all the songs that could have stuck!
I'm not worried about him. I was a bit of a purist about tone and will forever carry the guilt of telling a family friend that her tone deafness precluded her from singing in front of people (I was young and foolish!). I now don't believe that - everyone needs to be allowed to sing if they want to, even if they're bad! Just cos I can do it and people will pay a cover charge to hear me doesn't give me a monopoly on the feeling that expressing oneself vocally can bring So, I'm never going to emphasise pitch in singing for my kids.
Absolutely different story for instruments - you can't get the pitch right on the violin and you don't deserve it...my sister learned the violin...pain, people...pain!