Do I need Talent to Learn to Sing?

You might be a person who is sick of hearing discouraging words about your voice. You might yourself be confident that ‘a bear sounds much better.’ You might have received all sorts of funny comments about your voice and you have got a notion of how ugly you might sound while singing. Still, you are so passionate about singing and you cannot stop singing.

Well, the good news is, do not stop.

When we start to walk, we fall but that does not stop us from walking and then running. Then who is stopping us from singing? If we have the power to speak then we can sing.

Of course to sing, one needs to have talent, and what is talent? Talent means an aptitude or skill and a good skill is nurtured by constant training and passion. The meaning of words is changing every day. Singing used to be considered a gift that one is born with but as we stand here, it is understood that no one needs to be born with the talent to sing but mold his voice to sing heavenly. Great musicians are not born overnight but they have a story to tell of hardship, hard work, and vigorous training. As the internet says, hardworking beats the talent when talent would not be working.

When we see a guitarist or pianist play amazing tunes with their instrument, what do we say? We say, “Wow! What a great musician.” I am sure no one will say, “What a great instrument!” The musician might have practiced on the instrument day and night to achieve what he did. It is always the musician and not the instrument (unless the instrument is out-of-tune, but of course it can be tuned, right). Same way, let us see the other way around, a person who is not a trained guitarist and he is handed over a guitar to play. Do you think the guitar will play melodious music? No! It would not, because it is not the instrument, but the person who is playing is the true source of music.

Same way, vocal cords being the sound box of our body, needs to be trained by you to generate good music. A well-trained vocal cord is the strongest weapon in the hands of the singer himself. The singer will have the bridle of his vocal cord that he can control as he might.

Do I need talent to learn to sing? Well, you sure do but anyone can train their voice.

How to Train your Voice?

Everyone has crossed the hurdle of holding a pencil and writing ‘A, B, C.’ It had been a herculean task for our young mind. Then with the help of our teacher, we learned how to write and where are we now, we do not even think before writing. Similarly, it will be hard in the beginning to learn a new skill but with the right guidance and endurance, we can achieve the ability to sing.

In a family, where music is an integral part, where they exposed to singing and dancing, they tend to sing at very early than the others. It is because they had been practicing the skill even before they know.

Breathing Exercises

Doing breathing exercises daily will help an aspirant to improve his or her lung capacity and thereby gaining control of their voice. To start with, one can fill their lungs fully with air by inhaling through the nose without moving and then exhale out through the mouth. We can inhale and exhale for many times to stretch the diaphragm. Apart from the breathing exercises, we can also do aerobic exercise to increase our lung capacity, which will considerably improve our singing capability.

Staying Hydrated

One needs to be very well hydrated before starting the training, though we are not lifting heavy dumbbells or going to run a marathon, we are going to put our vocal cord muscle into strenuous singing, which can harmfully affect if we are dehydrated.

Good Posture

A good singer uses not his vocal cords alone, but his whole body to sing melodiously. So before warming up, the singer must find a posture that is best for him to sing comfortably. The following ways are considered most suitable for getting an appropriate posture, we need to be keeping our chin parallel to the ground. We need to hold our chest open and high so that lung capacity increased to its maximum. The shoulders should be in a relaxed position but it should be held backward. The stomach should be held firm and we need to feel the vibration of our singing in the stomach. Some form of classical singing chooses to sing in a seated position but most of the singers following other forms of singing sing standing.

Vocal Warm-Up

Vocal warm-up before singing is an integral part of long-term singing, otherwise there are chances that your vocal cords will be damaged and it can be sometimes permanent too. Warming up vocal cords is similar to doing a workout for any muscles, say for example your triceps or biceps. Vocal warmups can be done by humming, lip trills, lip bubbles, and singing solfeggio or simply DO-RE-MI.

Good Teacher

Finding a music teacher is not a hard job but to get a good open-minded teacher needs some work. Paying attention to the qualification he/she has and the experience they carry might be of great help. Nowadays, there are a lot of online classes, vlogs, and blogs helping a person to sing making singing seem more approachable than it was many years ago.

Finding a Community

Associating with people who understand and share the same passion will be very helpful. Joining a choir and singing along, discussing different techniques, sharing concerns and inhibitions with them will boost our confidence. Like-minded people can uplift our energy and spirit.

A person with open-mindedness and passion to sing will surely find success. Overcoming all fears and tearing down the thoughts that once held you back will help you sing confidently. Following legends and their work and their success stories will create a positive ripple in one’s conviction.