[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]
“Why can’t I sing?” The short answer is: “You can. Everybody can.”
The whole of my singing work is based on the belief that everyone can sing. All my choirs and workshops are open-access, no auditions, no experience necessary.
Yet very often when I say that, I get the response: “But not me – I can’t sing at all.”
Some time ago I came across a blog post which mentioned a guy who seldom hits a wrong note, knows lots about music and how it works, is very keen, but who still thinks he can’t ‘sing’.
It turned out in this instance that the guy believed he couldn’t sing musically. He thought that in order to ‘sing’ it’s not enough to sing on pitch, get the notes in the right order, be exact with your timing, etc. there’s also a need for musicality.
In my book, this guy can sing! He’s pretty advanced compared with many people and clearly wants to go onto the next level. But there are complete beginners who believe they can’t sing and that stops them from even trying in the first place. And that’s a terrible shame.
It got me thinking about what people might mean when they say they can’t ‘sing’.
Here are some persistent myths that keep people believing that they can’t sing:
All these are, of course, myths. But quite prevalent and persistent myths. It’s quite hard to disabuse some people of these erroneous beliefs.
Here are a few truths:
One way to help people realise they can sing is to offer workshops to people, but don’t tell them that they’ll be asked to sing. Start off with a few warm-up games, some running around and being silly, being playful with the voice (call and response silly sounds, for example), then quickly teach a very simple three-part round.
Point out afterwards that they’ve just been singing unaccompanied three-part harmony which is a very, very difficult skill. In the process they’ve proved that they’re all excellent singers, so now we’ll learn a song. Always works!
Have you got any handy hints on how to persuade people that they can sing? Do you think you can’t sing? Do you have any more reasons why people might think they can’t sing? Do drop by and leave a comment.
You might also be interested in a discussion on The Mudcat Cafe forum:
and another post of mine: “Everyone can sing” – what the hell does that mean??!!
Chris Rowbury
website: chrisrowbury.com
blog: blog.chrisrowbury.com
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Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury