In the previous part (click here to the 1st Part) of ‘Top 10 Myths About Singing’, we debunked 5 myths about singing, including how honey water does not actually reach your vocal folds at all, and how it is rare to be totally tone deaf!

In today’s article, we will look into 5 more myths about singing, including how spicy food may or may not affect our vocal folds, some myths about belting, and also whether having a powerful voice is enough to be a good singer?

Aaron Matthew Lim is the Director and Master Vocal Trainer at Intune Music, and has 17 years of teaching experience. He specializes in Voice and Performance, helping his students achieve significant breakthroughs in their singing either by way of extending their vocal ranges, or guiding them to have greater mastery over their vocal control and tonality. Aaron is the 1st and only Certified Master Teacher in Estill Voice Training in Singapore, certified by Estill Voice International in 2016.

Myth #6: If I have a powerful and strong voice, I will certainly be a great singer!

Yes, it certainly will help if we have a powerful singing voice! However, what many singers neglect is their ability to listen to music and how it combines with their singing voice. Ear training is an extremely important skill, and all singers need to learn not only to just sing powerfully, but also to listen in detail and be more observant of what they hear. Because what good is a loud and powerful voice if it is out of tune?

Myth #7: Singers MUST not eat spicy food and dairy products! It is bad for the throat!

I know of many singers who eat spicy food on a daily basis and are still able to sing very well. And yet, there are also many singers who just have to taste even the slightest spice in their food, and their voice will feel and sound different after that. Whether eating spicy foods is good or bad for our throat and our voice really depends on our body’s reaction to such foods, and if you find that spicy food does not really affect your voice very much, by all means, eat away! However, if spicy food makes your throat feel irritable and raw and even causes you to have gastric reflux overnight, then please avoid at all costs!

Myth #8: If we constantly run out of breath when we sing, we must not be breathing enough! The only solution is to breathe more!

This is something that many beginner singers do. When we find that we always run out of breath when we sing, we blame it on ourselves for not breathing enough, and we tend to take in a bigger breath to compensate for that. However, what we need to do is to think about how much breath we are actually using when we sing! If we keep singing in a breathy voice, we naturally would then need to take in more breath to sustain that breathy singing tone. But if we were to sing in a solid and strong tone with little or no airiness, we would lose less breath when singing and thus not feel out of breath all the time. It’s a chicken or egg situation here, because how we use our breath is closely linked to how much breath we actually need to take in!

Myth #9: Belting high notes is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS and will hurt our vocal folds if we do it over a long time.

All forms of high-intensity singing are dangerous, not just belting, if we do not use the correct technique that is required. Many people think that belting a song is harmful for our voice, but I would say that if we know how to avoid the pitfalls, we can avoid the vocal damage and still be able to produce the loud and high sounds that belting offers.

#10: If we are a baritone or alto singer, we can never sing tenor or soprano. Similarly, if we are a classical singer, we can never sing pop songs.

We can train ourselves to do many interesting things with our voice, and certainly, we can increase our vocal range during our singing lifetime. I know of many singers who started off as baritones, and now can sing tenor repertoire with ease. This means that they taught themselves to be able to sing high! It’s all about how we use what we are given, and how our entire vocal setup becomes stronger with training, allowing us to sing higher with greater ease.

There are many ways to know proper techniques and methods of singing, rather than to just follow blindly what you hear or see on Youtube or from your friends at the KTV. Some of these singing myths may actually cause permanent damage to your vocal cords!

If you would like to learn more about singing safely and healthily, why not join our Intune Music Pop Vocals Programme and experience lessons with our passionate and professionally trained vocal instructors who will cater to your needs and also provide feedback to help you on your learning journey.

Our Pop Vocals Programme touches on topics like breath and vocalization, voice projection and control, pitching and rhythm, aural awareness, body movements and even stage performance skills!

“Zuo En always keeps each lesson light hearted and enjoyable. She is very detailed in picking up areas that can be improved. She also goes above and beyond to discover the music/songs her students wish to learn so communicating ideas is extremely easy.”

– Jun Ming (Vocal Student of Teo Zuo En)

Take up pop vocal lessons in a group today!

We are offering a 1-hour trial lesson at $37.50 per pax for you to try it out!

Minimum 3 pax to start a group, so gather your friends and enjoy vocal lesson with our friendly and experienced instructor!

For more information, visit www.intunemusic.com.sg or contact us directly friends@intunemusic.com.sg or 63360335 today!