I understand why people relate to not being able to learn to be advanced in age. It makes sense. In your 50’s you can’t run or do anything as efficiently as you did in your 20s. You might be surprised at what is possible though. Especially with learning how to sing.
You’re never too old to sing because the basics of singing are the same for everyone. ‘Knowing’ how to sing has a finite end. Doesn’t matter that you start at 5 or 50 because it’s more about practicing correctly and the frequency of practice rather than something that depends on age.
If you are of advanced age, please I encourage you to keep on reading, you might be surprised about a few things I have to talk about.
A Word on Basic Skills
Whether you start at 14 or 40, knowing how to warm up your voice, exercises to match your pitch, learning to sing in different keys, or extending your vocal range. All these skills you’d still have to learn.
At whatever time period you start your vocal learning journey, the truth of the matter is going to be this.
The basics of anything, including singing are not ‘hard’ to master.
What truly is hard is showing up every day and proving that who you are is someone who wants to learn to sing. That’s hard. That small line of difference is what separates people who end up getting good at singing from those who don’t.
A little mindset shift can cause a huge difference, so let me make a statement and hope it sticks. These basic skills do not care about your age, they don’t care whether you are able to sing in your desired key or your desired pitch, the skills themselves don’t care. So you have to return that favor and treat them as such.
Do not put learning how to sing on a pedestal.
This leads me to say the polar opposite of basics not being ‘hard’.
A common mistake is the overvaluation of one’s abilities in the beginning. It’s easy to get lost in your head, thinking you’re singing better than you are when you really just know the ‘basics’. Now, these are just the foundation, giving them their proper place is necessary.
Do them, don’t boast about them.
Don’t get me wrong, you ought to be proud if you’re able to single a scale with just a root note perfectly but that’s not the end either.
Don’t let basics discourage you.
It is on these ‘basic’ foundations that great singers are built. It is when you can rely on your abilities to sing something spot-on on your command that allows you to tackle far more complex singing to make yourself sound great.
Don’t stop now, the fun is yet to begin.
Finite Knowledge
Singing is a collection of finite skills.
There is no doubt about that in my mind and knowing what these skills are is an absolute must. The fact that people think that singing has this huge knowledge base is just fundamentally wrong. There are things you ought to know for sure but not something a common person cannot achieve in their life much less because of their age.
Imagine you’re reading a book that is huge. It’s thick and that means it’s quite long. The difference between a thick book and the knowledge required to sing correctly is you can see where the book starts and ends.
I wish it was the 21st century and there was a way to see a list that you could go through to see these finite skills. Oh wait, that’s what online courses offer. They offer you a way to see where you are, where you have to go, and how much of it is left. Read here about why online courses are good for you.
We should be grateful that we finally have something that we can just refer to, look and have everything that we need to know at a click of a button. The world has truly shrunk.
The opposite of this having this vast ‘knowledge’ at quick access should not allow you to let the fire of learning fade away. It’s very beautifully curated for you to read every page and maybe even go through it twice. (Just so you know, the ‘reading’ is just a metaphor for having the course’s contents at your fingertips)
Practice is Progress
Once knowledge is acquired then it’s a matter of making progress. The way musicians work through this said progress is obviously through practice. (I will purposely underline wherever I write ‘progress’).
You see, you, me, or Lil Wayne can’t be perfect. Practice isn’t a matter of perfecting things, it’s a matter of making certain skills better than they were before, it’s about getting that 1% better than yesterday. It’s about setting 15-30 minutes aside and singing your exercises and going through them daily.
You might feel the tone to be serious for practice because I personally feel that someone who hasn’t enjoyed practicing in their life has missed something. To see yourself make those efforts for the fruits to show up only two weeks later and in some cases, months later is just amazing.
I do also believe in over-practicing and making your vocal cords suffer. Practice well, the moment you feel you’re getting tired of singing, stop. If you’re still willing to go on, research how to practice more effectively or do something productive in terms of enriching your knowledge or planning how to do things better.
The biggest fault in our system for practicing singing is that the progress bar is invisible.
That’s why video games are addictive, you play, and you are rewarded by having a clear indicator that you are indeed better than you were 15 minutes before.
The remedy for that is having to track your singing routine and recording every minor progress you feel or hear. It’s the constant reminder of the fact that you have worked and it reaped you the reward that you should be after.
A final word on this is going to be about just like basics are achievable and knowledge is finite so is practice. You probably won’t practice something once you know that you can do it perfectly.
Practice is progress. Strive for it.
Still, Feeling Too Late?
All of the points above were to convince you that it’s not too late.
Your age doesn’t determine your ability to learn the basics, the required knowledge, or the practice that needs to be done.
The only time it will be too late is from now on because now, you know better. Any negative thoughts that deter you from learning how to sing will purely be fictional and all made-up stories in your head.
For this reason and for this post to reach more people, please feel free to visit this article and refresh your memory and motivation as many times as you feel like it. Because I know the doubts will return, but I also would like to congratulate you for reading this far and trying to find an answer.
It is precisely for this reason I am writing this. It’s definitely not too late. I urge you to keep on reading to get a little bit more motivation for you to at least begin.
The beginning is the hardest part of the journey. There is no going if there are no steps taken at all. Believe in yourself and trust the mindset this article is providing. It’s doable. You can. You get to get good at singing if you allow yourself to.
It’s a Drive, Not a Race
Another small thing that I’d like everyone who’s starting out at the moment is to convince you that it’s not a race.
In order to win a race, you must have more than one person participating. Music in general, let alone singing, isn’t a race, to begin with. It’s more of a drive. A drive to get to a destination, a person in a hurry will skip all tourist sightseeing. A person on a drive will, however, stop, gawk, and be filled with awe.
Be in awe.
You should however try to strive for excellence. I bet you’ve heard of delayed gratification, people wait for ages for retirement to see the world. The more you’ve waited for something the sweeter it is when the results finally start to come in.
Striving for excellence will allow you to do exactly that. Once you’ve anticipated your success and are in the mindset that singing can be taught to you regardless of how old you are, it’s a drive. Enjoy the scenery and the wildlife, it’s a beautiful thing to sing.
Eventually, the drive will end, yes. But you will have stories to tell from your travels, the things you saw, the people you met, and the things you learned. It’ll all be good and you’ll thank yourself for leaving the comfort of your home to venture on a journey.
Just to say this one last time, be in awe.
Online Courses are For You
Oh, the misery of asking where one learns singing from!
My clear-cut answer is online courses.
There is a part in the above post where I talk about the barrier of entry, which doesn’t exist regarding anyone’s skill. For someone reading this, I assume you’ve come here thinking about your age and the above post linked there is just going to amplify why you should be taking online singing courses.
They’re just at the end of the day far more convenient. Especially if you’re someone who thinks age is going to be a barrier, just read through the sub-topics or headings in the post linked above and let me know if I am wrong.
No commuting, no hassles of commuting, or finding a teacher suited for you at the right price.
Click, buy, yours.
Take it at your own pace and get better at singing however fast or slow you want to. There is nothing halting you.
I really hope you take advantage of this and finally begin learning to sing.
Learn From Online Course
I have made a dedicated page for just which courses you can and should buy.
Some Final Advice
Enjoy
Never forget that you are learning this ability to sing to satiate a desire to have fun with it. It’s meant to be fun. No musician ever performs without pleasure, seek it and go ahead with it. Regardless of what skill level you may have, you must know how to enjoy your art.
It allows you to feel the power of the skill itself, it’s not just a heavy routined mechanical thing *moves arms like a robot* rather, it’s something you have fun with in the end.
Never ever in your life, stop having fun with music especially singing.
Record
My honest recommendation is to start recording yourself singing. Especially if you’re beginning, not for your future self to see but to have a memory of something that was done out of purity.
I have written a few songs that came to me in the moment of most emotional times, I recorded them on my phone and kept them. You should too. They are now officially under ‘production’ as I am writing this.
You never know when you’ll be revisiting these times of great fun by yourself.
Post Online
Make it a habit, even if it is just a small part of a song that you have mastered. It will come in handy in the long run, trust me on that. Because online likes and comments and posts are the new currency of fame and for artists, it’s the penultimate to have an online presence.
You don’t have to be a master in order to do this either. You just have to. I would expound on it a lot more but this is just advice for you.
Involve Yourself
You’d be surprised how many places are willing to take a beginner singer into their fold if the beginner shows gumption. Be that beginner. People, especially artistic people (at least good ones) show great respect to someone for trying. Because they know how hard it can be.
From church to a random band. Get into it early.
Hang out with people who do music a lot more than you do. If you hang around with four really good musicians or singers, you’re gonna be the fifth.
Give Back
Give back?
Yes, teach someone else how to begin singing and tell them it’s possible.
Whatever you end up doing, I hope you’re successful!
