Each one – teach one: The way of the singing Jedi

Fielding ideas for this column, I received a wonderful list of topics: ‘How to perform when you don’t feel like singing?’, ‘How to sing in tune?’ ‘Tips for voice care while on tour’, ‘Does the voice change with the seasons?’ and even ‘Why is Killing In The Name Of such an amazing song?’ All led me back to the issue of ‘How do we learn about our voices?’

We can answer and respond to these questions – teach ourselves and learn from positive experiences, experimentation and our own (and other peoples’) mistakes. Even with lessons – we must think for ourselves and sing for ourselves. Most importantly we must personally register and reflect on what’s going on.

Many people have been scared (or scarred) by teachers, or, by their internalized perception of what it is to be ‘taught’ or ‘trained’ how to sing. It’s helpful to dispel myths about our voices and how we learn to improve.

Firstly, singing, and learning how to sing, is fun, easy and simple. Though it helps to gain perspective and some objectivity about our voices from a skilled teacher, we can learn from experience, mindfulness, constructive practice, performance, injury, working with and talking to other singers and musicians (dancers, poets, songwriters, actors….. mechanics and interior decorators!)

If you are resistant to learning about and improving your voice (or feel some distance from it as an uncontrollable alien inside your throat!) then ask yourself:

• Do I have a fear of change? Fear of success? or failure?
• Have I accepted weakness and deficits in my voice as ‘just how I sound’? Rather than accepting that a more beautiful, easier and less painful approach exists?
• Do I think of myself as a guitarist, pianist, song-writer first and foremost and not give the focus to vocal development I could?
• Do I consider the process to be too long, difficult and arduous? (i.e. involving years of boring scale practice)
• Do I want a parental figure to coach me into getting ‘A’s? or someone to tell me how wonderful I am without having to solve problems or do things differently?
• Do I impose an unachievable (unnecessary) practice regime that I consequently don’t do?
• Do I have trust issues? (doubting my own opinions, or distrusting ‘experts’?)

The fundamentals of voice production can be taught in any genre. It helps if your teacher doesn’t force you to sing in a genre, or fach (vocal category – i.e. mezzo soprano) you don’t like.

Learning how to sing is like learning how to fish. The process itself is where the joy and revelation is found. A singing teacher is like a friend giving helpful relationship advice – it’s never too late to get good advice. We either adopt it or reject it. (Note: not all feedback is a criticism. There’s constructive and non-constructive feedback. Leave self-consciousness and ego at the door, replacing them with ‘a beginners mind’ no matter how experienced or smart you are). Embrace temporarily sounding bad and don’t take your progress ‘too personally’.

Learning good vocal production shouldn’t limit you into sounding like your teacher, sounding ‘straight’, ‘trained’ or take any of the character from your voice – quite the opposite. Once you grasp and start practicing the basics, you’re empowered to sound as you wish – with teacher as tour guide. You engage in the process and the teacher works ‘with you’.

Have an open mind and heart when trying new things (especially tasks involving physical co-ordination or a process that you might not completely scientifically understand). An over-analytical mind can get in the way. When you’re stuck, sing first, reflect later.

Consolidating theory into understanding and good technique may take longer than you’d anticipate. A teacher can ‘coach’ you: instilling confidence and keeping you on track, urging you to hang in there. Good teachers may have more patience with you than you have with yourself (and understand that when you say ‘can’t’, that it ain’t necessarily so). As Yoda say….”no try – only do”.

Many vocal problems are easily fixed (like blending registers to remove ‘break’s in the voice). We just need the ‘next step’ or solution. Denying that there is a problem, or getting defeated that ‘everything’s too hard’ happens when we work in isolation. We’re human – so, if it’s a problem for you – it’s a problem for everyone.

Debate exists on ‘what can or can’t be taught’. Some exceptionally good singers, who’ve never experienced vocal difficulty, have not had reason to contemplate their process (they have one, they’ve just never thought about it). For them, it is intuitive and some believe intuition cannot be taught.

Inversely, some academics believe that ‘theory’ is all – that studying harmony can help you sing harmonies. It can help, but, isn’t a prerequisite. Years of academic study is no substitute for gigging. Regarding artistic or personal expression – theory often flies out the window.

Singers claiming to be ‘self-taught’ have often spent years listening and doing. Listening to recordings and watching videos of their own performances and of other peoples to figure out ‘how’ they do what they do.

We’re in a constant evolution of ‘learning’ and ‘experiencing’. Whether we chose to process the data (doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t) is our choice. Paraphrasing a Chinese proverb: There are three kinds of knowledge: Imitation which is easiest, experience which is most painful and reflection which is the noblest by far.