CAN EVERYONE LEARN TO SING?
We all know at least one person who couldn’t sing to save their lives, and who only lets themselves sing in the shower. But is singing badly destiny, or can everyone learn to sing?
Everyone can sing, except for people with amusia, a neurological or genetic anomaly that impedes the perception of rhythm, melody, and chords. So why do some people sing badly? The explanation is simple: like a musical instrument, singing requires practice, and people who don’t sing well simply lack training.
Learn to Use Your Voice
Like any sport or learning any kind of instrument, practice plays an essential role. And a person who hasn’t learned how to sing doesn’t necessarily sing well as soon as they sing their first notes. It’s therefore by working on your voice without forcing it and by persevering that it can be trained, like a muscle before a sporting event.
Do Scales and Exercises
The first thing to do when training your voice is to warm it up by doing exercises in a medium scale, then low, and finally high, and then returning to the medium scale, and so on. Doing scales allows you to work on your technique and strengthen your vocal cords. And with practice, the register expands, and the accuracy comes with time, because, as in sports, the more you sing, the better you get at it.
Agility exercises that involve singing from C to G and then returning to C, performed in semitones for each note, help you gain more flexibility in your voice. However, you should make sure you rest regularly, and in all cases, at the first signs of tension in the voice.
Adopt a Comfortable Position
To sing well, a singer must hold themselves upright and breathe properly – in other words, take deep breaths while working the abdominal muscles. Breathing exercises help you adopt a better breathing technique.
Improve Your Musical Ear
In the same way that one plays an instrument “by ear,” when you sing, you reproduce the sounds that you hear. Training your ear is therefore an integral part of learning how to sing. Getting some idea of music theory or learning to play a musical instrument is also a driving force when you’re learning to sing.
Practice Regularly
It’s essential to practice singing regularly to see significant progress, by humming the songs of the moment, but also by practicing your scales and exercises, ideally for half an hour each day. And nothing’s stopping you from doing this in the shower, while doing your chores, or while driving your car! Breaking up the sessions also lets you conserve your voice.
Find a Training Method
Training methods or courses taught by singing teachers can help you stay motivated over time and achieve better results. This must, of course, be done according to your own particular convictions and budget.
WIMA offers both in-person and online singing lessons:
Being part of a choir is also a great way to learn how to sing.
A few people can sing well from the start, but today, we know that musical talent comes more from acquired abilities than from an innate gift. In any event, even though learning how to sing is easier for young children than for adults, it’s never too late to learn to sing!
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