You reckon?
October 17, 2019Someone asked me today if I could teach them to sing, and I said yes. This was her reply with that disdainful look on her face, “you reckon?”.
This is not the first time this has happened. However, it says more about the person who is asking the question than it does about me. Basically, if you can speak, and you’re willing to be instructed, I can improve your singing. But this response really begs the question “do you believe you are capable of learning to sing?” which is a very different question.
The only real obstacle I’ve come across in my many years of teaching amateur singers, is attitude. The problem is, if you don’t believe you can learn, then you won’t apply yourself, and you won’t make any progress because you haven’t done the work. Not because you’re not capable of doing the work. You just didn’t do it, because you’d already made up your mind it wasn’t going to work.
There are a few things I can tell you that might help.
- The vocal cords are muscle tissue. Just like every other muscle in the body, they get stronger, more coordinated and more agile with exercise. In terms of singing, this translates into greater range, richer and more resonant tone, reduced breathiness, volume and tunefulness, singing more with greater ease. All this improved confidence which lights up all of the above even more.
People just need a nudge in the right direction for how to exercise them, and to give yourself a chance for it to work.
2. It won’t work if you don’t do it. You need to do the exercises to get the benefits. Much like sitting around wishing you could run a marathon, nothing will change if you just sit around wishing you could improve your singing. Don’t chastise yourself, or your coach, for not getting results from the work you didn’t put in. Expect steady progress.
3. Use it or lose it. Again, exactly like the fitness and strength of the rest of your body, if you stop exercising, the quality of your singing with plateaux at best. It’s not a lot of time, just a bit of care and attention. A lot of it is not hard, you just need to do it.
I realise that the first steps you have to take on faith. Just like you do at the doctor, or at the gym or at a dieting club. You have to take that first action because you believe it will work. Follow the system, and let the results speak for themselves.
You can do it!
So to answer the question. I do reckon.
