How to further a young singer's chances of success?

Question:

How to further a young singer's chances of success?

OK- here is the deal: got a daughter of 15 who I discovered can SING (no, not just being a doting mother here) and now am stumped.

What can I do to help her further her career beyond the obvious of getting her singing lessons (which, by the way are impossible to come by here in the Scottish Borders! Anyone know of a coach?!) and perhaps offering to ferry her to workshops?

She got a mike and interface for Christmas and we have just mucked about with it (I am NOT aux fait with recording booth technology and am "at sea")- seriously- just mucked about: www.myspace.com/brigidmhairi

Now- I was wondering- do I just get cheeky and send her tape to someone to have a listen and advise further? If so, who to?

Any advice by recording artists, singer songwriters or producers would be very welcomed.

This is my first question so am not sure what to expect from it but it is driving me mad to have folk tell me I am wasting her chance for vocal development by not acting now.

Please and thanks

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: A few things that might help from the point of view of a singer and voice coach who has worked with teens:

First of all, don't let anyone (including herself) push her voice to the point that she physically feels uncomfortable or hurts. I knew a gal who had nodes (scarring) on her vocal cords at the age of 18 because she and her voice teacher were too hard on her voice. Nodes can cause permanent damage.

Second - if she is serious about this, have her learn basic music theory. I know, BORING, but being able to read music will make her stand out in a crowd of talent. If she can learn to sight-read (sing something from a piece of paper without hearing it first), all the better.

Third, and this might help for both of you, get used to the audition process and rejection. I know I sound harsh, but to "make it," a person needs to have thick skin and a backbone. A producer, director, hiring agent might not hire someone because his or her sound isn't what they were looking for. That doesn't make the singer "bad" - heck, in my experience, some directors look for a sound that makes me cringe. If your daughter can learn to shake off a bad audition or a Simon Cowell-like rejection, she'll be happier in the long run.

As for the tape, I say go for it. What's it going to hurt? In the meantime, have her get all the experience she can singing. Sing at church, in community theatre, where ever she can get experience. And make sure she's enjoying it. If she isn't, it's going to cause BIG problems.

Good luck!