You can sing. Here's why

Posted by Norman Bailey on Monday, July 7, 2014 Under: Voice Works



When I say 'I'm a singing teacher' many people reply, “I can't sing!” 

Now I'd have thought that would have been my perfect in.  But no.  For so many people their sheer terror at the thought of using their voice effectively, joyfully and confidently is something they'd rather not contemplate. 

I've been out and about promoting The Love singing method recently, so I've had the opportunity to talk face-to-face with people who haven't fully embraced the joys of singing.  What's even sadder was finding out how many people out there had been put off from singing at a very early age.  Which meant that for some people I met, many in their forties and fifties, past negative singing experiences had robbed them of them benefits of singing.  

I knew about this problem. I was just taken aback by the scale of it.   I used to say to new pupils that I should carry around a sealed envelope with the words, “When I was young someone I trusted told me I couldn't sing".  This was because for a great percentage of the people I've taught this is the case.  Somewhere along the line a teacher, a parent or a friend told them the sounds they were making didn't make the grade.

If you feel this applies to you, please think about the sealed envelope, realise that you are not alone, and maybe you should get out there and do something about it. You will be amazed the difference it will make to your life. 

 

In my post Why Singing Is Good For You I gave a quick rundown on how singing — just singing not performing — can change your life.   Amongst the things you'll gain are:

  • A happier healthier you

  • Longer life

  • the best free stress buster going

Seriously it's true.  I grew up in a culture steeped in Gospel music, so I was singing all the time.  And when we got together to party singing along to the latest hits was compulsory. And fun! Nobody ever told me told or anyone else to stop singing.  Not because we all had a great voices but because using your voices in an expressive manner was expected. And although many cultures do the same I was shocked to find out that many do not. 

I've found time and time again that people who are convinced they have bad voices actually have great voices but have been put off using them.  It's regrettable that you may have been put off by someone else's careless words.  What they said may or may not have been malicious.  An under pressure choir master, charged with putting together an ensemble in a short period of time may not have had the time to develop rough hued voice and would pick those ready to go. A stressed out parent may have been unaware of the damage being done by telling a child to be quiet.  

Everyone can sing

The main reason people say they can't sing is because they sing out of tune but singing out of tune doesn't mean you can't sing.

I'm always going to stick to that assertion though many will disagree.   The only people who can't sing, in the conventional sense, are those with something to their oral apparatus.  It used to be that I would also say that you be in the same boat if you had something wrong with your hearing as well but I've recently started working with a young man, 10 years old, who was born deaf and has cochlea implants in both ears and he's showing remarkable promise.

I will always take issue with people who will tell a child they can't sing and insist that that's the end of it.  There are a great many things a child of five can't do doesn't mean they will never be able to do it.   Driving a bus, solving algebraic equations, and tying shoelaces are things on a long list of things a five year old can't do.  But, of course, It doesn't mean they' won't be able to do them.  But just like singing for them to become proficient at it they have to be taught it well.  

People will often say great singers are born that way.  It's certainly true that for some the ability to hold a tune and make sounds pleasing to others comes easier than others.  But for them to become fully proficient at it they will need many years of study and hours of practice.   And as much as we like to laud praise on the 'gifted' we do them a disservice by thinking that there talents come easy.   

So sing and enjoy it for its own sake and enjoy the benefits it brings.

In : Voice Works 



Storybookers

Sing Your Way To Better Health

Does Your Fitness Routine Include Singing?

Did your New Year resolutions include joining a gym – again?  Is the thought of buying all that keep fit gear, doing exercises or even the thought of actually going to the gym, putting you off – again?  Then consider joining a choir instead.

Expert are lining up to convince you that when it comes to giving you a top-to-toe tune up there’s nothing better than a good sing-a-long. For example, do you know how singing can reduce your stress levels or how good it is for your heart and lungs?   And if being able to tone your upper body and sorting out your posture wasn’t enough it’s also going to put a few extra years on your life.

All this from the humble past-time of singing?  

Apparently so.

According to Professor Graham Welch, Chair of Music Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, singing will give you a physical and psychological boost.   For the past 30 years he’s studied the developmental and medical aspects of singing.  

And he states.

“Singing has physical benefits because it is an aerobic activity that increases oxygenation in the blood stream and exercises major muscle groups in the upper body, even when sitting. Singing has psychological benefits because of its normally positive effect in reducing stress levels through the action of the endocrine system which is linked to our sense of emotional well-being.”

So singing is an aerobic exercise.  Well if you have no desire to travel back to the 80s.  Or if you’ve never had a fondness for legwarmers, Lycra and fluorescent sweatbands, then here’s a much cooler alternative.  If only someone had told you sooner.  

Group singing is even better for you

Singing can even help you live longer especially when you join forces with others.   According to the findings of a joint Harvard and Yale study choral singing increased the life expectancy of singers in New Haven, Connecticut. The report concluded that this was because singing promoted both a healthy heart and an enhanced mental state. Another study at the University of California has reported higher levels of immune system proteins in the saliva of choristers after performing a complex Beethoven masterwork.

That explains what happen at a one of my voice workshops recently.  One visitor had this to say about her experience, “Who would think that breathing and singing exercises could be so tiring, my muscles hurt from inside.” I did panic a bit here because I don’t want to wear people out and put them off singing.  I was pleased that her next words were, “Had a lot of fun, thanks for great experience.”  Phew!

Thank goodness she got some of the psychologically benefits as well.  She went on to say, “The breathing exercises, tuning into the moment (when focusing where the sound vibrates), plus not feeling cautious how you sound gave me such huge sense of freedom and being in the now.   I think people like me who are constantly busy would appreciate the opportunity to pause for the moment and sing their heart out.”  And finished by describing the session as ‘Exercise for the soul.  So spiritual benefits too it seems.  I’ll have to look into this a bit more.

So sing..sing..sing.

If you don’t feel ready for the choir thing, then start by singing along with your favourite tunes.  Doesn’t matter what you sound like. The singing fairy doesn’t care.  She’ll bestow her blessing on you no matter what.

If you do want to improve your voice then take a few lessons or join a choir that teaches you how to sing.  They don’t all do that apparently, so make sure you ask before you join.  And remember the main point of all this is to have fun.

Give it a go.  I’d love to hear how you get on.

Posted 457 weeks ago

About Me