Can anyone sing?

boy singing with mic cartoonThe answer is yes.  If you are able to talk then it is possible to sing.

Singing is a skill that can be taught just like any other instrument or any skill actually.

I have worked with many students who wanted to sing but didn’t have the skills. Over time with study and practice these students became very good singers.  These students wanted to be good singers and they put in the time and effort required to get good at it.

I am an ok dancer. I can move in time to the beat and when I take time to go over a dance routine I can learn it reasonably well.  But I will never be a great dancer.  That is because I like dancing, but not enough to want to do it all the time and take the classes to become really good at it.  My daughter loves dancing, goes to classes, practices a lot at home and is becoming really good.

But I love to sing.  I have had lots of lessons and performed quite a lot and I have developed skills I need to be a good singer.

I will never be great at violin because I don’t have an interest in playing it. I would like to learn cello though.

I love to teach but I would be pretty useless as a nurse as it is something I don’t want to do.

They say it takes around 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.  I think that this is pretty close.  If you were to ask anyone who is an expert at something, they would probably tell you these sorts of hours.  They would be working on their craft every day over a long period of time.

Learning how to sing well is like any instrument.  You can’t expect to become a concert pianist with a weeks worth of practice.

When you look at the lives of some of the famous singers who are really good at their craft –  you would discover that most have been singing since they were young children. They sing all day every day, listening to music and singing along, they probably go to voice lessons and are involved in any performance opportunity they can.

If you would like to be able to sing reasonably well, in tune, yes you can learn.  You probably don’t need to spend 10,000 hours.  Maybe 100 hours would be a great start.

How good you get depends on how much you want it. How much is your desire?  Are you willing to do what it takes to get really good?

 

Here is a video of  Jessie J at 15. You can tell she has been working on her craft for many years already.

Another video of a young Jessie J

A more recent live acoustic performance.

 

Dream!

How to get back into a practice routine

boy singingIt’s the beginning of 2016 and you haven’t practiced any singing since before Christmas.  Does that sound like you? I am a little bit guilty of this too.  The Christmas season was so busy for me I hardly had any time for anything else. It was a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends and I did sing heaps of Christmas carols, but most things like practice got put aside.  Now with the new year we find ourselves back into more of a routine, but finding the motivation to get back into practice can be a bit challenging.
You might want to start by sitting down and writing out a couple of goals for your singing this next couple of months.  My goal at the moment is to come up with a list of ten songs I would like to start learning as I need to build up my repertoire for performance and auditions.
However, it is important that I don’t start singing all these 10 songs straight away. Over this week all I am trying to do is get my voice back in shape.  I need to do my vocal “push ups”. Just like the rest of our body, if we don’t exercise consistently, things get out of shape.  My vocal chords and the surrounding muscles need to get a good work out.
I need to do this slowly, a bit to start with and then lengthen my sessions later on in the week.
So to start I will just do some light warm ups.  Sirens, bubbling lips, humming etc.. through my vocal range. Then some exercises to extend my vocal range and work on my resonance and then get into learning songs.
Starting with 15 –  20 minutes and then gradually increase this time over the week.
Just like the rest of your body,  if you go out and exercise full on straight away, you will most likely be very sore the next day or may even do some damage.  Your voice is the same.  Go slowly and gradually build up your strength and stamina.
Here are a couple of exercises to get you started:

Breathing:

 

5 note scale on ah:

 

practice makes perfect

 

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful time of celebration at Christmas and New Year. For me it was a wonderful time with family and a chance to wind down a little after a very busy year.  As we begin 2016 there are thoughts about new year resolutions and goals set for the coming year.  I am sure that many of us have finished up with voice classes for the year and have not sung a note since the last Christmas carol at Christmas Eve.  That’s almost two weeks ago!

Just like an athlete, as soon as we stop using our voice we start to lose condition.  Singing is an every day activity if we want to be at our best. If you haven’t sung since Christmas, I suggest you get back into practice asap.  Otherwise all the technique, strength and condition will begin to be lost.

I am offering a one week Summer Singing Intensive next week,  Monday 11th Jan through to Friday 15th Jan.  This is an opportunity to focus on getting your voice back into shape. With daily hour sessions, your voice will get the workout it needs to get back into shape.

Sessions are available one on one either in person or on line.
Please note that sessions are booked at the same time each day for the five days.

Normally this sort of tuition would cost $350 but I am offering this once off opportunity for $250. That’s $100 discount.

If you would like to take advantage of this special offer  CLICK HERE to book your time.

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