The answer is yes — the majority of people can learn to sing. While many physical and psychological components come together to create a voice that can make people stop everything to listen, at its most basic, what most of us consider to be ‘bad singing’ is singing out of tune, also called pitch accuracy or intonation. Being off by half a semitone is considered to be bad singing in the scientific research world and some researchers estimate that 60% of non-musicians are out of tune by at least this much. However, using less strict criteria, other researchers found that 85-90% of non-musicians can carry a tune.
Verdict? Most everybody can learn to sing at least well enough for their own and other’s enjoyment. Afterall, a good singing voice is really just a voice that other people enjoy hearing.
Why do some people sing out of tune?
It is true, some people are simply tone deaf — they can’t discriminate between the tones of two successive notes, carry a tune or keep time. This is an actual condition called congenital amusia, but only 1.5% of the population is afflicted with it.
So what’s wrong with the other out-of-tune singers? Researchers have shown that most people’s vocal cords function well and are physically able to produce the proper note, and most people can hear the note accurately; the problem is that they can’t reproduce the note with their voice. The mix-up lies in the brain and its inability to send the right instructions to the vocal cords.
Called imitative deficit, out of tune singers associate a note they hear with an incorrect muscle movement, and the wrong note comes out. They can do this over and over, producing the same wrong note in response to the same note they hear. The good news is that it is possible to re-map the brain to correct the faulty instructions. It does take perseverance however.
Other physical or psychological factors could be involved as well. Improper breathing techniques — using the chest and shoulders instead of the diaphragm reduces control over the voice. Psychological tension can certainly tighten the vocal cords as well. It is no accident that people who grow up in those happy households where music and singing are part of life, most often have great voices.
Going Beyond just getting the notes right
While singing in key is the most obvious component to get right, there are a host of other aspects to singing that can be worked on. Singing is, in large part, a skill that can be learned. There is a myth going around that singing is all rooted in innate abilities and talent, and this causes people to give up too soon. Even if you have the best vocal cords, lung capacity and the right shaped skull, mouth, throat and nasal cavities so sound resonates beautifully, you still need to learn the proper techniques to make the most of your innate instrument. Remember, only 1.5% of the population truly can’t learn to sing.
We’ve already mentioned a couple of factors that contribute to wonderful sound that you can learn to control: intonation/vocal control, breathing and relaxation/confidence. Here’s a few others:
- Tone, developed among other ways, by practicing both your head and chest voice
- Rhythm, timing and phrasing which shapes the sound and music, making it more precise as well as more interesting
- Volume control modulates sound, adding interest
- Posture, related to breathing, helps strengthen the physical support system of your singing instrument
- Enunciation which is basically how you shape your mouth for the clearest, most true sound
- Vocal range can be extended to some degree, but more important is to understand your vocal range and work with your voice to highlight its unique beauty.
Conclusion: You can learn to sing too!
As you can probably surmise from the list of different skill sets that contribute to a beautiful singing voice, feedback and expert instruction as you are trying to improve or correct these aspects is critical. But it is entirely do-able! It takes persistent practice, yes — but you can do it!
Would you like to learn to sing? Send me a line and we’ll talk.
