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Are Great Singers Born Or Made?

Tone Deaf

Week after week I hear people tell me that they want to learn to sing but they are bad. They aren’t born singers. Do they have a right to learn to sing? Can singing be taught? Are great singers born or made?

They’ve taken in the following statements:-

“You can’t be a very good singer if you need singing lessons!”

“Some people can just sing and others can’t.”

“Some people shouldn’t sing.”

“Singing is only for those who are good at singing.”

These statements made me extremely angry and sad.

I’m pretty sure that we are born as babies and babies are mostly quite a similar “standard” in their singing. They are loud, resilient and – well mainly – loud.

So I’m asking again. Are great singers born or made?

Singing is a skill that anyone can learn.

Singing is a muscular activity and so you train it muscularly.

It is my job to know how the voice works and to work with you, to give you a training programme, so that you can optimise your muscular settings to get the results you want. 

In other words…

You train your muscles to run. You train your muscles to dance. You train your muscles to play badminton. 

You train your muscles to learn how to sing.

If I can I can learn how to run then you can learn how to sing.

(If I had an injury then my goal or my journey or route may need adapting.  Likewise if you have an injury to your larynx or breathing system we will need to work with that, but it can be done).

If you’ve always sung then you know how to sing.

This is not because you were born a better singer but because you have used your singing muscles more.

You always knew that you were allowed to sing.

For those who think they aren’t allowed to sing…

We have a critical voice that tells us we shouldn’t sing and it really gets in our way. 

If we block ourselves mentally then we block ourselves physically. It’s how the body protects itself.  It’s also how we get into unhelpful singing habits (or lose the freedom to sing in the way that we want to sing).

When I started teaching singing I realised very quickly that the singers who are seen, heard and chosen are often not, technically speaking, the “best”, whatever “best” might mean. 

The singers who are seen, again and again are the ones with tenacity, determination and a deeply held belief in themselves and their right to be heard. 

These people don’t seem to have the critical voice that tell them it’s not their turn and they should pipe down.

We all need to be more like them.

The singers who have always known they can sing and that singing is their right.

They aren’t blocked about their singing so they are free to sing. 

Their voices shine through. Lucky them ( lucky you?)

Is it because they are great singers who were born and not made?

I wrote a blog about this 5 years ago that you can read here.

How does this resonate with you? 

How Can I Help You If You Are Already a Singer?  

Perhaps you already know that you can sing, (because you have always sung or you have previously trained your voice).

Do you have a technical challenge that you need some support with?

Do you need to get back into shape ready for when performing is allowed again post lockdown?

Let me know how I can help.  Contact me here.

I’m available for lessons but also I’d love to create a video or blog to help you. 

Or 

Do You Struggle to Call Yourself a Singer?

Perhaps you’re one of the who believe you can’t sing.  

That you can’t be a beautiful singer.

There is a voice in your head that says no one would want to listen to you.

Think of a baby learning to walk

Baby's First Steps

What would you say if the baby fell over?  Would you laugh at them or get cross with them?  Would you tell them that walking just isn’t for them? 


Would you talk to them in the way you talk to yourself in your head about your own singing?
 

A baby needs to learn in a safe and kind place.  A place of acceptance.  A place that allows for so called failure.  

You deserve to develop your voice in the same safe environment. 

You can learn to sing.  

You can love singing and you have the right to experience the joy of singing that you see other people enjoying. 

I have helped so many people who contacted me saying that they couldn’t sing.  

Now they realise that they can sing. 

They do sing. 

They sing all of the time and they share in the joy of singing. 

Even if your challenge is that you struggle to sing in tune, if you can love music you can learn how to sing in tune.

Let me know how I can help you with your singing journey.

Check me out on Youtube and let me know if there is anything you’d like help with.

1 Comment

  1. Pingback:Tone Deaf? - Singing Lessons for people who worry that they really can't.

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