There are also millions of people who would truly love to be able to sing, yet feel they can't - at least not well enough to feel good about it. Many experience a significant amount of fear in regards to singing.
But what is this magical instrument we call singing? Can anyone sing or is it just for a talented few?
Let's explore this subject and deepen our understanding of how to improve our ability to really sing.
Singing From A Historical Perspective
In the beginning there were no words but our ancestors still expressed their experiences with their voices and bodies. We could easily argue that the human race sang long before language was ever developed. This is true not only from a historical and evolutionary perspective, but it is also true for you as an individual. You also sang before you were able to express your thoughts and feelings in words.
There has been no known culture, tribe or society that has not used singing as a means of expression. Singing has always been a communal activity to express grief and joy, sorrow and jubilation. Indeed, we all sang our feelings before we learned to speak our thoughts.
Sound is merely a form of vibration. We could argue that everything in our universe "sings" in its own way, whether we are able to discern this vibration as sound or not.
Is Singing About Talent?
The word "talent" is often used to judge singers. In fact, there is perhaps no other endeavor where the term "natural talent" is used as frequently. The tendency when we hear a great singer is to immediately label him or her as naturally gifted. People who feel they aren't equipped with a "good" singing voice come to believe they lack this talent.
But what is it that is natural? If it is inborn talent that makes a singer, then where is that talent? Are talented singers shaped differently physically? Are their vocal cords and throats shaped differently? Is it their breathing that differs? Is it their hearing that is exceptionally talented?
What exactly is it a person is equipped with that makes them sound like a great singer?
But wait a minute... what sound are we referring to when we speak of "a great singer"?
Do Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Jon Bon Jovi, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti, Joe Cocker, Barry White sound anything remotely similar?
What about Aretha Franklin, Sade, Janis Joplin, Jewel, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Brighton? Do they sound anything remotely similar?
And then we haven't even discussed the many styles of singing of the many cultures of our world - from throat singers of Tuva to the calls of the muezzin.
Surely, these singers' bodies aren't shaped alike. Obviously, it is not the sound per se that determines the great singer, since they sound so differently. If we made the case that it is how a singer is physically shaped that determines their success, then how do you differ from these singers?
Don't you also have vocal cord, lungs, larynx, pharynx etc. just as they do?
So then, maybe it is the ear that determines talent and singing ability... or maybe not...
The Art Of Singing On Key
The main difference between speaking and singing is that when singing, we sustain notes long enough to determine specific notes or "pitches". It's is the inability to sing these notes - aka the inability to "sing on key" or "sing on pitch" - that most people would consider the mark of a "bad" singer. The singer who sings off key is often made fun of - or labeled as someone who can't sing. There is no doubt that being able to sing on key is the main concern for beginning singers. In fact, it is often a concern for seasoned singers as well.So, how does one learn to sing on key?
The common wisdom is that this ability is about hearing. We speak of being musically inclined as if it is solely an auditory skill. Many people who have difficulty singing on key might have been called "tone-deaf", or have come to believe they are "tone deaf" or at least unable to "locate" and vocally reproduce the note. Not surprisingly, many believe that the ability to sing on key is an inborn talent. Others who believe this skill can be trained believe it is about it training one's ear.
But what if it is not about your hearing?
Most singing training in the western world is derived from the methods of classical training from hundreds of years ago. The sole method of learning to sing this way is by singing scales - i.e. a certain combination of notes. What we forget is that this was training on an elite level for people who already knew how to sing on key, and it was training limited to one specific style of singing. No method had ever been devised to teach those people who had not yet acquired the skill of singing on key.
So the common wisdom is that in order to be able to sing notes on key, you should practice trying to sing notes on key. It certainly seems logical, doesn't it? Many singers have also been taught to "hear the note in their head" before singing it.
But what if you were told that singing on key has very little to do with the ear?