In my encounters with singing students as well as friends and colleagues, I discovered that many people actually do want to sing. They enjoy singing in the shower, and also listening to singers on YouTube belting our their favorite songs.
…art of singing basically involves using the various parts of your vocal anatomy in specific ways.
However, when asked if they actually do sing in front of others, many people shy away and say that they would never do that, because they have bad voices, or that they just cannot sing!
So why is it that so many people secretly want to sing, but don’t sing in real life? The problem lies in certain long-held beliefs about singing and also about learning to sing.
Many people believe that good singers are born with beautiful voices. That it is a talent that is given by a higher power, and that we cannot really learn how to sing well, because it is a ‘special power’ or ‘talent’ that is endowed on us.
However, I always tell my students that singing is a skill, just like any other. Just like learning to play the piano or guitar, or learning to ride the bicycle, or to swim in the pool. Singing is a skill, and it can be learnt. If we can teach ourselves to play guitar, we can definitely teach ourselves to sing!
Which brings me to my next point. The art of singing basically involves using the various parts of your vocal anatomy in specific ways, so as to achieve certain tone qualities and inflections that will then convey the emotions that you wish to convey. Once we are familiar with how our voice works, we can then make educated decisions about how we want to use our voice, and train ourselves to be able to sing in specific ways. This then, is how we can learn how to sing well, and also equip ourselves with the necessary skills for good singing.
Of course, being able to sing well also requires us to be musically trained, and we need to have a good ear for sound and pitch, and to also be aware of musical scales and notes so that we will be able to stay in tune when singing. Even if we do go off pitch at times, we will be able to hear ourselves do that, and correct ourselves almost instantaneously so that our audience won’t be able to notice the difference.
Everyone has a beautiful voice. I know most people would say, “I can’t sing because my voice does not sound nice. I sound terrible when I sing. I sound like a chicken screaming and dying…” However, I would like to say again, that ‘Everyone has a beautiful voice’. All we need to do, is to understand our own voice, and equip ourselves with the necessary skills in order to unravel the singing voice that is hidden within us.
The SmarterSinger beginner singing programme provides singers with a deeper understanding of the singing and speaking voice, through educational training videos, as well as audio clip resources and vocal drills.
Find out more today at www.smartersinger.com!
WATCH: Welcome to The Smarter Singer! – Online Vocal Training System by Aaron Lim
Thank you for your kind attention, and have a great day ahead!