Can someone be taught how to sing?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:04pm

As opposed to being born with the talent? The reason I ask is because I love to sing (in my car, in the shower, you name it), but unfortunately I don't have the best voice. From the feedback I've gotten, it's not altogether terrible but could use improvement. When I was a kid (before I hit puberty) people used to tell me I had a "beautiful voice."

[Just_John]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:06pm

If you take training, yes it's possible. My voice was much better before it changed. But I've been taking lessons and it's getting better again.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:12pm

Well, Jessica Simpson said that she thinks your voice is 80% that you're born with and 20% singing lessons. I am probably the only one that thinks she can really sing and has a powerful voice.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:21pm

"I am probably the only one that thinks she can really sing and has a powerful voice."

I think she can really sing and I think has a powerful voice...

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:33pm

The hardest part is not how to learn to sing, but choosing the right program/teacher for you. There are so many different ways to be taught.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:37pm

As long as you're not tone deaf, then yes you can be taught to sing. I think it's harder to teach someone pitch, then just how to sing.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:39pm

I say yes, someone can be taught how to sing. I started singing when I was very, very young, and I just didn't know how. I knew you just yelled out the notes, and that was it, or so I thought. Then I learned about vibrado, and runs and sliding notes, and I gradually built up a voice. This is going to sound horrible, but now I'm always getting a lead role in the musicals I'm in, and I owe it to learning how to sing. So yes, you can be taught, but I think it depends on age, and how early you begin.

[LifeoftheParty227]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 3:06pm

essentially, someone could learn the fundamentals. But as far as being taught to sing on a performing level? Highly unlikely. I believe people like Sutton and Idina have God given talent with stage presence. If someone has a moderately 'okay' voice and goes to a voice teacher who encourages them to sing. That's where the "rejects" of American Idol come in. Unfortunately, people aren't as blunt as Simon.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 3:24pm

Thanks everyone who posted! To use an analogy, I'm not athletic and I have never had a passion for sports, but I did play Little League and Youth Soccer as a child. However, I was never really good. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a handle or a firm footing on either sport. My question was really: "Is it genetics?" Also, I'm hard of hearing in my left ear, so would that be a problem?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:31pm

Well, I guess it IS genetics. It's not like anyone can learn to sing like Kelly Clarkson. But if you take lessons, you can only get better (granted you have a good teacher), and maybe work your way up to a level where you can perform songs, even if they're not among the most challenging. Sometimes people have a voice locked up inside them, and it teakes some technique to make it come out the right way.

As far as being hard of hearin in one ear..I'm not sure that'd be a problem. A challenge, perhaps, but you can probably work around it. I remember Elliott Yamin from American Idol this past season was something like 90% deaf in one ear, and the boy could REALLY sing.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:36pm

I saw this program on british TV last week which showed this singing coach who claimed that ANYONE can learn how to sing if they can talk (obviously people who are dumb can't). I didn't believe it but he actually took people who sounded simply awful and they were really quite good afterwords.

[singtopher]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:39pm

As it was profoundly put to me:

"You are born with a gift, and you are taught a talent"

In other words, anyone can learn to sing properly. But you may not come out sounding like (insert your favorite singer here).

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:45pm

Well, essentially, it's true...if you can talk, you can probably learn how to sing. I mean, the goal anyone should realistically have is to get the most out of the voice he/she was given, not to sound like Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Idina Menzel, or whoever else.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:54pm

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Your posts are very encouraging. I've been considering taking singing lessons, but I wasn't sure if it would be worth the effort. Now, how does one contact a good teacher? Is there a website for this?

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 5:30pm

Usually the best way is through referrals. Ask around among friends, singers, performers you work with and see who they've taken from what they've thought, etc.

[Born2cthelightsofbway]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 5:56pm

I truthfully think that you are just born with the talent to sing. Yes, anyone can be taught to sing, but that doesn't mean that they will be taught to sing well.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:01pm

"I saw this program on british TV last week which showed this singing coach who claimed that ANYONE can learn how to sing if they can talk (obviously people who are dumb can't)."

Wait, I'm confused. Do YOU think that if people can't talk that they are dumb? Because, that is WAY wrong. Many deaf people cannot talk (with their mouths) and many of them are smarter than those who can talk (with their mouth)

If I read that or took it the wrong way, I appolgize.

[waddledee524]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:12pm

I agree with what somebody said above about how it's much harder to teach pitch than it is to teach singing technique. I have a few friends who are hopelessly tone-deaf, and are likely to remain so. On the other hand, I think there is a bit of singing that you just have to be born with. Maybe you need vocal chords that are properly shaped or conveniently shaped to facilitate stronger singing, or something like that.

[Ladyofthe Lake]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:18pm

"I saw this program on british TV last week which showed this singing coach who claimed that ANYONE can learn how to sing if they can talk (obviously people who are dumb can't)."

Wait, I'm confused. Do YOU think that if people can't talk that they are dumb?

I believe the word "dumb" in this instance is being used in the sense of being literally unable to speak, i.e. mute.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:21pm

Ok- thank you Ladyofthe Lake.

[theatrebabe]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:21pm

I think that anyone can be taught to hit pitches. I'm not sure that everyone can necessarily be a great singer.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:27pm

"Maybe you need vocal chords that are properly shaped or conveniently shaped to facilitate stronger singing, or something like that."

This is true to an extent. There are actual several studies in which vigor of vocal cords can be linked to race. The study actually found that individuals of african descent had thicker and less delicate vocal cords, while individuals of norwegian descent has thinner, more delicate cords. This is part of the reason you will find African-American gospel singers with abhorrent vocal technique that can perform for decades without experience damage to their voice. And, this also suggests that individuals of Norwegian descent are much more prone to nodes, polyps and even cord rupture.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 6:30pm

Sorry about the dumb thing, I should have made that a bit more clear. Doesn't 'Lame' mean the same thing? I was sure about the meaning of Dumb not as sure about lame. But anyway, yes, I meant dumb as in 'unable to use one's vocal chords', either for talking or singing.

On the Norweigean thing, Lordi, a Norweigean rock group, recently won the Eurovision Song Contest with an awful satanic hard rock song. Hopefully if what you say is true then they will soon lose their voices and we wont have to put up with them any more.

Updated On: 6/27/06 at 06:30 PM

[kaboodles041]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 7:42pm

Just remember: "Singing is just sustained talking" :)

In all honesty, I too agree it is both. You're born with a bit of it, but lessons certainly add to it. I talked to a great voice major at my college, and she believes lessons are the only way one can truly "get good," and excel for lack of better words.