Can you REALLY teach ANYONE to SING?
Can you REALLY teach ANYONE to sing?
My students constantly ask me this questions, and my answer is always a resounding YES!
In this blog, I’ll explain why.
Singing is a skill which can be learned!
Although many people believe that singing is an innate talent which some people are lucky to be born with, what they may not realise is that learning to sing works the same as any other skills, like playing a sport or learning a new hobby. When you first start out, your muscles may be fairly uncoordinated while they’re figuring out how to do everything that’s needed, but eventually with practise you become better and stronger. Singing follows the same process.
When we sing, our body and brain are learning to coordinate a range of delicate cartilages, muscles and ligaments which are found in our larynx - which you may have heard referred to as your “voice box”. Your larynx is located in the front of your neck, and can be felt by placing your fingers on the thyroid cartilage at the front of your neck (Adam’s apple). Sing some glides up and down your range while your fingers are gently placed there, and you should be able to feel your larynx rising up as the pitch ascends, and down as the pitch descends.
But why all the weird singing exercises?
When I teach singing lessons from my studio in Rochedale South, I always assign my students with vocal exercises which they can incorporate into their regular practise sessions. These exercises are super important for developing your voice function. The individual exercises assigned will vary depending on each individual’s needs. For example, I might assign a yodel exercise to assist your voice in transitioning between the lower part of your range (M1 or modal register - your speaking voice) and higher part of your range (M2 register or lighter singing voice). Or if you have a strong M2 register but need development in your M1 register, I may assign some exercises to develop a speech quality in your singing - such as singing “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” on a descending 5 note scale.
Doing these exercises on a regular basis will help you to develop muscle memory - your voice will get better at performing the functions that you have trained it in.
How does that transfer into singing actual songs?
Once your vocal muscles learn to navigate the different functions developed in exercises, you will start to see the effects when you sing repertoire (songs). In the singing lessons that I provide at Renee Jury Music Studio, I always assign repertoire that’s designed to develop the same skills students have been working on in their exercises, so that they can transfer them to songs that they enjoy singing!
How much do I need to practise for that to happen?
As with any motor skill, practise makes perfect! The more often that you can practise, the more improvement you will see. I generally recommend building 10 to 15 minutes of voice function exercises into your regular practise sessions at home.
What’s the difference between a warm-up and a vocal exercise?
A warm-up is designed to get your muscles ready for work. This should consist of some physical stretches to get blood flowing to all your muscles, followed by lots of vocal warm-ups to get air flowing. Usually this includes using a lot of weird sounds that we call “fricatives” - like “th”, “v” and “z” - as well as lip trills and raspberries - on a small pitch range, usually 5 note scales. Once your voice is warmed up, then you can move on to vocal exercises such as the yodel or “yeah” exercise that I mentioned above.
If you’d like to learn more about anything in this blog, email me for more info or you can go ahead and book a singing lesson. My studio is located at Rochedale South, however I can also offer singing lessons by Skype to students located around the world!