This is a very relatable question we often end up asking ourselves. Can anyone be taught to sing? Or did you and I have to be trained since we were children to grow into good singers? After picking up singing at the age of 22, I can tell you this.
Anyone can learn to sing as long as they don’t have some physical disability preventing them from doing so. It’s more about correct knowledge, efficient practice, and the consistency you show in your practice that will determine your success and make you feel confident in your singing abilities.
Let’s dig into it a little deeper. Knowing why and how knowledge and practice play a huge role in how you turn out as a singer and as a musician as a whole will help you navigate your own practice sessions way better than before.
Myth Busting
It’s said the only time a person is willing to change is when their belief is proven false. When an idea they uphold is brought down to be fake, that’s when someone tries to replace their beliefs.
“You have to be born with a good voice …..right?” asked my friend as we were enjoying a meal in the cool pre-summer months in South India.
“No, absolutely not”, I replied.
He was shocked and asked me to prove it.
You see, he wasn’t asking to prove the fact that anyone could sing. He was asking me to explain to him how his belief of people who sing well are born with it was wrong. So, I made a simple comparison.
“You’re not born with the ability to walk. You’re nurtured into it. Everyone around you shouts and screams and tries to put your attention back to standing on your two legs when you’re about to get distracted as a baby. Right?”
My friend nodded in agreement.
“So, just because the baby was taught how to walk doesn’t mean they will be able to compete in races when they grow up. It is only when a person is consistent in their efforts to become better at something that they actually do”.
Comparison
One of the tragedies of our adult lives is that we no longer learn for ourselves. It’s always done in the context of you vs. someone who is better than you. Always. That’s where we falter. That’s what we need to change.
The idea isn’t about whether you can surpass the world’s best singer. NO! The idea should be, can you become a better singer?
Just because you were taught how to speak as a child doesn’t mean you can sing. But, also, it doesn’t mean you can’t be taught to sing.
And if you can’t sing, then you have to ask yourself how many hours have you put into learning how to sing and how efficient were these practice sessions of yours.
The real meat and bones of getting good at singing are having the correct knowledge about singing and making your efforts count while practicing. You can practice the wrong things and you can have the wrong knowledge.
Here is a link to an article about how beginners can progress fast and here on another talking about if you’re too old to sing. Spoiler, you’re not too old.
Online Course
If you hadn’t read the page’s URL, now would be a good time because I plan to solve all the issues with an online course. You can read here why they’re effective.
Correct Knowledge
But, on a serious note, it’s not just about getting to know better but it’s more about getting to know the right things. You’ve probably come here trying to prove to yourself that anyone can be taught. Indeed that is possible.
The first step is obviously to know the right things and an online course is by far the only way to go. In another article, I explain how it is important to not only just have an online course but you should be gathering your knowledge from various sources to answer your questions, if you’re in a hurry then this online course is the way to go.
It is only when you have the correct knowledge, like the one above about you being consistent in your efforts, and how that is the only way for you to know how to learn to sing well, I have no doubt in my mind that if this advice is followed, you will end up singing better and even if you’re a beginner.
Improve Your Understanding
There are multiple things you can do to make yourself better understand the things that are there in singing. But there really are two ways to look at them.
There is an understanding of technique and how actually singing works and that is more practical than theoretical or ideological. You learn this by singing itself. Something that you will find in this link here.
The other side of that coin is having the understanding of the correct mindset, and making yourself realize the general truths about singing, which is what these articles do for you.
So, in part, you have already improved your understanding a little bit but in order to gain knowledge and even some real practice you ought to get the online courses I was mentioning above.
The best way to improve your understanding in the correct direction is through understanding how singing works altogether. The better you learn to sing the better you understand. The more you do it the more it makes sense.
If you reach a point in your practice where you are able to understand what works and what doesn’t then you have already come to a point of understanding of not only viewing it as the knowledge you use for yourself but also being able to predict and prevent bad habits and practices to be formed for yourself and even for others if you decide to teach.
Understanding Practice
Correct and effective practice is up next.
Correct practice just means that you ought to practice with the correct technique so you won’t harm your voice or develop a bad habit of some sort. The issue with YouTube and free online singing lessons are precisely this.
You want very specific instructions and you want to follow them as they are being shown. No deviations.
The second aspect of practicing well is its effectiveness. Slow progress doesn’t equal bad practice sessions. Neither does immediate practice equal good practice sessions. Initially, you’d have to rely on your instructor’s knowledge and must trust that they are showing you the correct way to practice.
It is when you follow through with it and it starts to show results that you can judge whether it was an effective practice session. If it’s not clear, your ability to do something in singing effortlessly dictates how your practice session was.
If even after weeks of practicing something you feel you’re able to do the exercise but it’s not heading towards being effortless or becoming easy for you to do, even though you may be able to do it, then you need to reevaluate your practice. Otherwise, it can take weeks but as long as you see a little bit of effortlessness coming into your abilities then you are doing good.
YouTube Disaster
The only reason I deter people from learning from YouTube is that when you are learning something specific the knowledge provided by YouTube is very scattered and can become very narrow too soon.
You would want to sing a part song and in that song, there might be a single phrase that is quite hard and you’d want to learn that but someone teaching you that directly without any prior knowledge of what you are capable of doing is wrong.
It’s just bad teaching and you being unaware of all the skills that ought to precede it will end up frustrated not being able to sing something that you are definitely not qualified for. Take it easy and check out the various resources that are provided for you on this website.
Understand Time
Understanding time is the bane of some singers. It’s not easy for some and while practice works this needs to be up there. Just so we’re clear I am not talking time as the unit we measure our hours and minutes. I mean time, as in keeping time so you can improve your rhythm.
You have to understand, singers feel their music a lot more than anyone else. Makes sense, you’ve been speaking your mind and heart out through your vocal cords and you use them to sing as well. It’s an intimate thing to do.
But, in that feeling it’s very easy to forget about there are other things that require your attention and something that you should definitely improve as you progress through this world with people who want to make music with you, and rarely every song is going to be the same as the one before.
There is going to be a tempo change, the meter can change, and many other things. Improving your time starts with understanding time and music theory.
Practicing different time and their rhythmic patterns will allow you to become a master and save you from the scrutiny of others musicians when they call you out for having a bad sense of time.
Improve your rhythm. No excuses for singers to be without a good sense of time. It’s a part of being a musician and you will always be an incomplete one if you never work on it.
Still, so far I have not spoken anything about the talent that may deter you from learning how to sing well. Everything I’ve spoken requires time for you to give attention so that you can improve yourself and become a better musician.
Learning how rhythm works will take you one step closer to understanding that anyone can be taught to sing.
Understand Progress
Understand how much you’re getting better. There is a lot that can be said on this topic and I believe it is highly important that everyone should have a consistent gauge they measure themselves against to realize if they are making consistent progress towards their goals.
I would like to say this right now, progress is definitely not linear but to make it feel like it is, is possible. You have to be focused on what you’re doing and work towards your goals with consistency even if it is just 30 minutes a day.
If you miss either being focused on what you’re doing or consistency and then measuring yourself then it would be disheartening because it doesn’t work. You need both to make progress work.
You practice the things that you know you need to improve your singing and then you observe how difficult it is for you to perform those same things a week later. Even if it is just a little bit easier for you to do then you have made it easier for yourself. You can and should realize that you’re making progress. Even if it is a small gain.
The key is realizing that you are making it easier. Slowly and steadily you will start to get closer to your goals and you will love what you’re doing. The worst thing that you can do to yourself is work on something for months and be unaware of your progress, regardless of how small the improvements are, and then quit just because you couldn’t see the small increments of what your practice was brought to you.
So understand progress, everyone is just a little bit different and so you will need insight into what you want and what you’re doing to make a sound decision for yourself.
I thoroughly believe that improving your understanding, getting better at rhythm, knowing what your goals are and how you’re getting ahead of them, and having the right set of tools to practice your singing can turn you and anyone else who is interested in learning how to sing will be able to do it if they wish for it.
I have made a dedicated page to help you with it. You can find it here and I hope you enjoy it and start your journey to learn how to sing and become a great singer one day!