Singing, can it be taught?

Subject: Singing, can it be taught?
From: rusty mahone
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 08:32 PM

I've been playing the guitar for something like 18 years, i'm no expert mind - allways learning and all that. But i dont think of myself as a singer, and what i want to know is, do you think that singing is something that can be taught, or is it the kind of thing you've either got or not? Many Thanks Rusty

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Alice
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 08:44 PM

rusty, anyone who isn't tone deaf can be taught to sing. Here are some past discussions we have had on singing.
Threads on the Singing Voice.

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Jeri
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 09:13 PM

Alice, I've even read articles by people who have managed to teach tone deaf people how to sing - and not be tone deaf. (I think the article was by Pete Seeger and was in a SingOut! reprint.)

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: bbelle
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 09:20 PM

Jeri

Tone-deaf people can definitely be taught to sing. It starts by working with them to be able to hear the tone. They have to be taught to hear tones. It takes a lot of hard work and frustration working with people who have been classified "tone-deaf," but it is so rewarding when they hear that "tone" and can sing it, as well.

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 09:33 PM

Yes, absolutely! Virtually anyone can be taught to sing reasonably well...or very well. I would recommend a good voice instructor for any singer or would-be singer. Even top professionals can benefit greatly from voice training, and many of them have. You learn how to conserve breath, use your diaphragm properly, enunciate clearly, and not strain your vocal chords, among other things.

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: bbelle
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 09:45 PM

Little Hawk ... Some day, when we meet face-to-face, I'll tell you my diaphragm story. It's a good un.

moonjen

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From:
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 10:00 PM

YOU BETCHA! Singing is like almost everything else, in that if you study the techniques and practice, you will improve. There are vocal coaches who take movie stars and celebrities who are cast in a singing part and teach them to sing passably in a month or two.

If you have a decent library nearby, see if you can find Seth Riggs' book on learning to sing with CD, or Roger Love's.

One of my old roomates taught voice and I used to see his students progress from horrid to wonderful.

So, go for it. . . . . . .

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: tradsteve
Date: 01 Oct 00 - 10:38 PM

I think singing can probably be taught. Lessons couldn't hurt. I know that even proffesionals, such as Elvis Costello, have taken voice lessons.

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: sophocleese
Date: 02 Oct 00 - 01:15 AM

Well I'll add my voice to the throng telling you that singing can be taught. Its technique, just as much as figuring out where you put your fingers to make those sounds on a guitar. I should know; my family used to yell at me to shut up whenever I wanted to sing. Now I get people telling me I have a lovely voice. It helps, when you're looking for a teacher, if you have an idea of what you want to sing so he or she can help you get there.

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Alice
Date: 02 Oct 00 - 02:03 AM

Please see all the threads I linked to at the beginning of this one.

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: MikeofNorthumbria
Date: 02 Oct 00 - 08:10 AM

Hi everyone!

Here are a few hints for vocal underachievers (from a fellow-member of the club).

If you fear you may be tone deaf - try the Tring Test.

"There was a poor fellow from Tring, Who said, when they asked him to sing - You may think it's odd, But I cannot tell God Save the Weasel from Pop Goes the King!"

If you CAN tell one tune from another, then you aren't tone deaf.

If you can't get the sounds you hear inside your head to come out of your mouth, you need professional help, not discouragement.

If family, friends, or schoolteachers say you're tone deaf, don't believe them. (But take care what, where, and to whom you sing - till you've discovered what you're doing wrong, and learned how to put it right.)

Meanwhile, don't give up! We can't all sing brilliantly - but almost everybody CAN sing.

So much for consciousness raising. Now here's a practical tip for vocally challenged guitar-players.

Try picking out a tune you want to sing on just one string of your instrument. If the tune's first note happens to be its lowest note, start with an open string. Otherwise, start on the 5th fret, or the 7th, or whatever works.

This gives you a visual sense of the melody, to support your aural image of it. You see when the tune goes up, and when it goes down. Likewise, you see when it takes big jumps, or small steps. Keep repeating this until you get the tune right every time.

Next, do this one-string walkabout while humming the tune (no words yet!). Pick on whichever of the six strings puts the tune in your humming range. This should help you grasp the vocal technique needed to produce the tune. It should also help you find your personal comfort zone for singing. (Beginners often come to grief through pitching a song in an unfriendly key.)

Finally, when you feel confident about humming the tune, try singing the words instead. (Still playing on one string only!) Repeat this until you are really sure of it. Then, and only then, start trying to sing the song over a chord accompaniment.

But always make sure the accompaniment is in a suitable key for your voice - one that allows you to pitch the song in the comfort zone you've just found. And if you can't play the guitar chords in that key, then use a capo.

This will not solve all your singing problems - for that you need a competent and sympathetic voice coach. But try using it as a work-out routine before you perform a song in public - it may save you some embarrasment.

Wassail!

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Alice
Date: 02 Oct 00 - 10:32 AM

Much has been covered in the earlier discussions on this topic (over and over) regarding singing technique and teaching. I'll add to MikeofNorthumbria's message that in addition to a good singing teacher, using a tape recorder to listen to your lessons and your practicing helps you hear the weak and strong points in your singing. There are many links to information outside of Mudcat as well as the forum discussions on the topic in the link I posted earlier.

Rusty, reading through the previous discussions and adding to them would help bring up alot of material so we don't rehash it all over again here. Just a thought.

Alice

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: John Routledge
Date: 24 Oct 00 - 06:21 PM

Having just returned from a weekend of singing workshops I can say that singing can be taught.The awareness I now have of my singing voice means that transformation for the better is possible albeit with much hard work.(Musicians please note). I propose to continue attending workshops particularly if they are hosted by tutors of the calibre of Sandra Kerr.

Keep on singing everybody John

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: GutBucketeer
Date: 24 Oct 00 - 11:52 PM

As one that considered myself totally non-musical for years I can say YES Where there is a will there is a way. I'm at the point where I can almost carry a tune and follow the beat. Compared from where I came it light years improvement. So, I'm not swallowing my pride and trying to sing out whenever I can!!! Hopefully, it's not too painful for the audience :-)

So find a teacher and GO FOR IT.

JAB

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: JamesJim
Date: 25 Oct 00 - 01:53 AM

Yes, singing can be taught, but first, do you really want to sing? Eighteen years playing and you're only now thinking about it? I'd bet you have some friends who are pretty good singers and you are somewhat embarassed to go for it(?).

You only live once - GO FOR IT. There is nothing more fun than singing with friends. I think Homespun Tapes (Happy Traum - Woodstock) has a few taped lessons on singing. That might save you some bucks.

The really fun part is learning to harmonize. If you have a deep voice, you can add a lot by singing bass (when singing with others). If you have a higher voice, perhaps tenor is the ticket. If you don't want to fool with all that stuff, that's okay. Just start singing with others. You'll pick up a lot by just doing. The best training is OJT - or maybe in this case, WGS (With the Group Singing).

Good luck!

Jim

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 10:53 PM

Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 07 Jan 15 - 08:56 AM

Certainly it can be taught and is, but performing a song can only come from a huge amount of practise, experience and feeling for the song. Tip I'd give you is learn your chords and timing, but remember the chords are just the writers interpretation, try find your own way of doing it, I always look up as many versions as I can find on You Tube, take little bits I like from then and then do it in a way that suits me. Good luck

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Musket
Date: 07 Jan 15 - 09:08 AM

I tried to improve. Thirty years ago in the folk clubs, I concentrated on playing in bands because my friends all agreed I just couldn't sing.

Perseverance and bloody mindedness. I have improved and where I live now, the local folk clubs see me as a half decent singer.

For people who sing flat, singing acoustically is the hardest of all. I went through a long phase where I could sing well with a pa but lost it again the minute I got up in a pub without a mic.

I do get asked about my guitaring and the emphasis on heavy bass picking with thumb pick. Simply, it was my way of hearing a note to tune my voice to when training myself to improve.

If you sing flat and have never had your ears syringed, try it by the way. An ENT surgeon I know reckons a huge number of flat voiced peopke could benefit.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 07 Jan 15 - 09:17 AM

I'd also like to add that the older you get (and I suppose the more you sing) your ear will become 'finer tuned'. These days I can hear when singers sing notes slightly sharp or flat. That's something I would never have noticed years ago.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 07 Jan 15 - 11:18 AM

I'm here to shout that singing can not be taught...at least for me.
to wit: 6th grade music class, American folk songs, I was accused of singing off-key when I wasn't singing at all; such was my reputation.
More: in a choral group years later, I would sing the part of the person next to me, rather than my own. I was asked to stand there and lip-sync. More: While I start well, as we continue I lose tempo, usually getting faster as the song continues. I the Jack Benny, violinst, to Mel Blanc's violin teacher.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 07 Jan 15 - 11:46 AM

It can be taught but for some of us it takes a lot of hard work. There can come a point where you might just decide to concentrate on something that you may have more apptitude for.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: GUEST,Pete from seven stars link
Date: 07 Jan 15 - 03:29 PM

I was a non singer till I started writing songs, but it took a long time to sing, I hope, well. It is time,effort, and finding the right teacher......and not letting the naysayers tell you ,you will never be a singer.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Mr Red
Date: 08 Jan 15 - 04:23 AM

As a guitar player you must know that adrenaline flows at public performances and makes your muscles twitchyer. That can help with hand movements, but it tightens the larynx/pharynx and you tend to sing louder and higher unless you control it. So be aware. Things that relax you can help. When standing (easier for singing) I perch my posterior on the back of a rear facing chair. It gives a three point stance and takes the pressure off my legs, that tend to twitch. I am more relaxed.

Know your words, don't read from a page because you can then project (instead of pointing downwards) and you can "act" the words. You time them at the pace they demand rather than controlled by your thinking time.

I prefer to have a cider close at hand, we call it lubrication, but in truth it is clearing the mouth and can relax or ruin depending on the dosage.

three things that are ancilliary but essential.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jan 15 - 08:11 AM

Real singers learn throughout their lives. As the body ages and muscle groups wax and wane in strength and coordination, the singer must adapt his/her technique to produce the best sound possible at any particular time.

Professionals -- especially opera singers -- work consistently with voice coaches for precisely this reason.

At 60, I find that my memory for lyrics has dropped right off the back of the truck and I'm far more nervous in performance if I have to accompany myself. At 20, I could learn a song in a day or less. Now, I need a week of stern practice just to get to a "first draft" level of performance. That's partly because my standards are much higher now, but also because I just don't trust myself as I did back then -- with reason.

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Subject: RE: Singing, can it be taught?
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 08 Jan 15 - 12:19 PM

Jeez, so it's not just me Charmion.
I can't remember the title of the song sometimes let alone the lyrics. Alas, my memory truck is an empty flatbed these days.