Can a non-singer be taught to sing?

[ChrisnSteph]

I can't sing. Not one bit! I try and try, and I just can't. A group of my friends love to kareoke, and they always invite me along. I don't go because they'll pressure me to sing and I just can't! So I'm thinking of taking singing lessons. But before I spend the money, can a person really be taught to sing?

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Hey, we depend on people like you to make karaoke fun and entertaining.

 

[hucifer]

It will certainly help, especially if the teacher is good.

Good luck with that, Steph.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Maybe a singing teacher will reply because I've wondered, too. I think that a person can be taught to sing up to their potential, but if they don't have much potential, it doesn't mean that they'll be able to be able to be taught to sing. BTW, I can't sing, either.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I can say emphatically yes. But don't expect to qualify for American Idol.

I took lessons to learn the mechanics of singing. I didn't continue as I was pregnant and once classes let out for the summer---It was getting tough for me to use that diaphragm since I was a newbie (and no jokes!!!! ). Basically--I had to learn how to play my "instrument"--my voice.


I do find it easier to hit notes and I do sing properly more often. I would love to go back and sing some more. One of the things I learned--I am a soprano--much easier to learn those notes than the alto notes I was always placed in in chorus in school. Can't do low notes and never new why.

And I was able to do two musicals as I can now learn to sing properly within a group--but it is hard work for me--but by show time--I do pretty well.

But an American Idol I am not and I cannot do a solo part as I do not have the confidence and I still mess up quite a bit.

So mechanics yes--beyond that..depends on how good your ear is and how it translates into producing the right sound. My ear is awful and if I do not have a soprano singing next to me--my voice will all of a sudden be all over the place with the alto's and tenors. A vocal train wreck if you will. ETA: In my last show--I had two swap places with this lady who had perfect pitch--I was throwing her off trying to match her--with alto's singing behind me--we swapped and the problem went a way.


A good teacher is a must!

 

[MouseWorshipin]

Never tried it. My choir teacher made me just move my mouth, I was so bad.

I couldn't carry a tune if you wrapped it in bubble-wrap and stuck it in a suitcase.

But I LOVE to sing! I sing in the house, in the car, all the time...with mucho gusto!

 

[Feralpeg]

It depends. Some people are tone deaf. They cannot really be taught to sing because they can't hear if they are on pitch. Non-tone deaf people can sing. Learning to breath and project from the diaphram is what separates most good singers from poor singers.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

project from the diaphram

Feralpeg must be right on the money! Boy, do I remember those words. Our choir teacher was always yelling about that.

Ya know, I'm not tone-deaf. If the piano needs to be tuned, I pick up on it right away. And I can hear myself singing...I know how bad I am. I just (honestly) can seem to do it right!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Feralpeg must be right on the money! Boy, do I remember those words. Our choir teacher was always yelling about that.

Ya know, I'm not tone-deaf. If the piano needs to be tuned, I pick up on it right away. And I can hear myself singing...I know how bad I am. I just (honestly) can seem to do it right!

OMG--I so hated that...I never knew what the teachers meant when they said that.


My first vocal lesson she told me that and I'm like That's why I am here--I don't know what that means.


So we did an exercise and she showed me--it took a few lessons--and each time I had to do the same exercise (involved laying down on the floor).

I still want to go back---I want to learn about what sound is correct--some ways I sing seem funny--but I'm told they are correct...some seem obviously wrong--and then others....I can't tell.

During lessons--I knew when it sounded weird to me--it was right--and when it sounded good to me...it was probably wrong.

Odd.


Yes--voice teacher can teach you HOW--they can't change how you sound--they can only work with what you have to make it sound the best that it can.

My best isn't much--but it is a far cry from the "cat in heat" descriptor my mother used to say I sounded like.

 

[olena]

Often, training your ear is as vital as training your voice. Understanding pitch goes a long way towards attaining it. Proper vocal technique and lots of practice can really shape a person's sound. I believe that there are few truly tone-deaf people out there.

 

[Keli]

Most people can definitely improve their ability to stay in tune, keep a beat, and get the right pitch with different exercises, and as Olena said, training the ear to hear is as important a step as any other. You cannot reproduce a sound that you didn't clearly hear and understand.
Lessons and practice will help the vast majority of people. I agree with others that have stated that very few people are truely tone deaf.

 

[momof2inPA]

I'm that lady in church everyone tries not to sit in front of. I can't carry a tune, but I really enjoy singing, and I'm sure God doesn't mind. At the end of Church, I always smile and give a silent apology to that poor person in the next pew.