Learning to sing is just like any other instrument... but somehow it isn't. So many people believe it's a god given gift, only for the select few, and that you can't learn to sing. You're either born with the voice of an angel, or without. Some have got it, and some haven't. You may have heard (or thought) the following ideas...
I can't sing
I'm tone deaf
I can hold a melody, but that's about it
I used to be able to sing when I was at school
Well, I'm here to eradicate all of the above!
Firstly, everyone can sing. If you can speak, you can sing! There's not much more to it than that. You may lack confidence or need some guidance with musicality and pitching, but trust me on this one, everyone can sing.
Number two, there are a very small percentage of people who are tone deaf. I forget the percentage, but it's ridiculously small. So small in fact, that it would be extremely unlucky if it was you that was tone deaf. The ability to pitch and sing in tune is a skill that you can learn and improve! There are also physical factors to consider and incorporate into our singing technique, which can improve our overall intonation (fancy word for how well you hit the notes and stay in pitch).
Moving on to point number three. Just as we can improve our ability to pitch we can also improve our tone and musicality. Have you ever thought about how different each singer sounds and why that is? There's lots to consider including accent, position of the larynx (that's your voice box, more on this in the future), musical influences, vocal tone, their chosen genre or style to name a few. And guess what? All of these factors can be consciously influenced for you to develop the sound you want.
The final remark that I hear a lot is that I used to sing when I was younger. Maybe this was at school, or in a choir, but so many adults tell me that they sang in their younger years and then stopped in early adulthood. I have lots to write on this topic so for this purpose I'm going to keep it short and sweet.
You may have altered physically, anatomically and psychologically, but the ability to still sing is still very much a part of your being.
Maybe now you're thinking, 'okay, I get it, I have the ability to sing but where do I go from here?' Here are some avenues I offer to support an individual and their singing journey.
Introductory online courses (The Singing Guide online course returning in Autumn 2023)
As always, my inbox is open and I'm happy to chat about how you'd like to start your singing journey.
Comments