Do some people have more innate ability than others? Sometimes we call this natural ability “talent” and of course, some lucky people do appear to have it more than others. They seem to be born with a recognizable natural talent for singing.

Singing is a natural gift, but it also takes work to improve. An individual with a little bit of talent can go much further than someone with a lot of talent who doesn’t work to develop it. No matter where you fall on the talent spectrum, rest assured that your hard work and practice will pay off in the end.

Are there shortcuts to learning to sing or play an instrument? Yes, and that’s why we hire Teachers, to show us by example the kinds of proven practice and exercises most likely to help us grow as performers. Can you learn on your own? Yes, you can, and while it could save you some money it’s also likely to take much longer.

The cliché of the Four P’s applied to music and singing might read: Persistent Practice leads to Perfect Performance, and it’s true enough that anyone learning to sing should keep this in mind. The bottom line is that developing your singing talent will take some training, time, and effort, but will pay dividends, making all the hard work worth it.

Are voice lessons worth it?

Singer Adriana McPhee (American Idol) said singing lessons can be helpful for many people.

“Having a Voice Teacher and a weekly discipline is great,” she said. “People do all kinds of fun things to express themselves. People take pole classes. They do aerial yoga. They jump out of planes. Voice lessons are that thing for people who want to bring singing back into their lives. Getting back into voice lessons and just singing again is usually a wonderful thing.”

“The great thing about our world now is that you can work with anybody around the world on Zoom,” she continued. “So if you live in a small town and you don’t have access to a Teacher you like, you can find people and work with them on Zoom.”

Singer Michael Orland (American Idol) said lessons might be the best thing you could do for yourself as a singer.

“I think taking lessons is the biggest thing you can do for yourself,” he said, “because it teaches you to have a work ethic, which is so important in this business, and to be on the ball learning new songs, learning old songs, and just perfecting your craft.”

Now, let’s take a look at a few of the more common myths about learning to sing:

This is a common belief that really isn’t true. Or at least, the condition, called amusia, is exceedingly rare according to some studies, as it appears in only about 1.5% of the general population. Amusia can be the result of brain or neurologic damage or be a congenital disorder from birth.

People with this condition are unable to discern differences in pitch. Since it is so rare (about one person in 70), the vast majority of people can improve their ability to match pitch with guidance from a good Teacher and enough practice.

Research shows that children experience music starting in the womb. Listening to classical music can (temporarily) boost cognition and intelligence, sometimes called “The Mozart Effect.” People of any age can enjoy music, whether listening to it or creating it.

There are plenty of examples of people who came to a singing career late in life, and children of any age can be adept learners if the instruction is developmentally appropriate. This means you should ignore anyone who says you are too old or too young to learn to sing!

McPhee said it’s never too late to sing, you just “have to approach it with a beginner’s mindset.”

Orland said his friend would say, “If you can speak, you can sing.”

“It’s never too late to sing,” Orland said. “I think anybody can be taught to sing. …And I believe anybody can be taught. Especially if you want to do it. I don’t think it’s ever too late.”

Intuitively I think most people would know better than to believe this. People come in all different sizes and shapes, so the “best” way to sing for anyone is the way that leads to the best (or most pleasing) result, without causing damage to the vocal cords (more on vocal health below). Also, different musical styles and genres will call for different singing techniques.

Truthfully, all our ears work pretty much the same, although I’ve experienced some hearing loss with age and from playing in loud bands, so your ears probably work better than mine. When people say someone has a “good ear,” that just means they can quickly and accurately recognize and reproduce changes in pitch. This is something you can work on and improve over time with proper practice and training.

There may be some truth here for some people, but most people will progress much more quickly working with a good Teacher.

When you push, it increases tension in your body. You really don’t need to push for high notes. Good technique will allow you to sing high notes without pushing hard. Pushing hard can also damage your voice.

Untrue myths about learning to sing abound. These are just a few of the more common ones. If you really aren’t sure about something, it’s usually a good idea to ask an expert or two.

This is what everyone wants to know, and as should be obvious by now, it’s quite simple (though not easy): Learning how to sing well takes training and practice. This means hard work sustained over a long period of time. There are very few people who can open their mouths and sing incredibly well without any training.

So, how do you train to sing? Here are some the main areas to work on, and also a few related exercises:

Poor posture is perhaps one of the easiest and most important problems to fix since so many different aspects of posture can affect your sound. Here are some suggestions that can help to improve your singing when practicing:

• Keep your chin about parallel to the floor.
• Shoulders should be relaxed and held back and down, with the chest held high.
• Keep your abdomen (stomach) flat and firm, held in a position allowing for expansion.
• Keep your hands relaxed and still at your sides.
• Keep your knees loose and flexible, not locked.
• Your feet should be comfortably apart, one slightly in front of the other.
• Hold your body weight ever so slightly forward.

Common posture exercises: Stand with your back to a wall, placing your heels, calves, buttocks, shoulders, and head so they all touch the wall. Place one hand on the abdomen while breathing, to check that your abdomen is expanding and relaxing. Shift your body weight forward until you are almost standing on your toes. Try to feel yourself lightly bouncing on your toes. Next, let yourself slouch, then return to the correct posture, noticing the difference between each.

Most Singers learn and practice warm-up exercises before doing any real singing, and may also use the same exercises to cool down when finished. Some simple common warm-up exercises might include:

Humming doesn’t put a lot of strain on your vocal cords. With the tip of your tongue touching just behind your bottom front teeth, hum up and down part of the major scale with your mouth closed.

Take a straw and hum through it. Slide evenly and slowly from the bottom of your range to the top. Then you can hum a melody through the straw. (The technical name for this is straw phonation.)

Drop your jaw lower than you would for just talking and move it up and down. Don’t just drop your chin; it should feel like you are yawning with your mouth shut. You could also massage and stretch your neck and jaw muscles to get rid of any tension or stiffness.

Sometimes called lip buzz, this is an easy exercise. Vibrate your lips as you blow air through your mouth and nose. You can do this while humming a scale or sliding pitches as well. There are also tongue trills, which are similar, except your tongue will vibrate against the roof of your mouth.

Make an “eeee” or “ohhhh” sound while gradually sliding through all the notes for two-octaves. Glide up and then down. You will notice the change from your chest voice to your head voice and back. Siren exercises use an “oooo” sound and move the pitch slowly from the lowest note of your range to the highest and back. The sound is continuous and covers the tones between the notes. The slides and glides are sometimes also called a portamento.

Other common vocal exercises focus on breathing, such as paying close attention to how the diaphragm moves, exhaling on a hissing sound, or counting slowly to 10 for each as you inhale, hold, and then exhale slowly in a controlled way.

Learning to sing scales using solfege syllables (i.e. do, re, mi, fa, sol, etc.) increases your ability to recognize the notes you hear and then be able to reproduce them with your voice.

Most musicians practice sight-singing and singing music from the written notes on the musical staff in order to improve their facility and ease of singing successive notes in a scale, or making larger leaps in pitch. Starting with limited tone sets (small groups of 3-5 notes), you can improve your reading and singing ability simultaneously.

This means sitting at a piano or a guitar studying the relationship of notes to each other in chords and scales. There’s some terminology to master, but it doesn’t need to be difficult or extremely advanced (though music theory is a fascinating subject for deeper study).

Learning basic theory means understanding, analyzing, and being able to recognize various forms in music, such as major and minor scales, basic triads (3-note chords), 7th chords, tensions, modes, and also rhythmic patterns and constructs. You can take a class, read a music theory book, or watch some excellent online videos to learn music theory.

Learning basic theory can be fun and will definitely improve your music and singing abilities. You can also use your theory knowledge to improve your ability to more accurately sing more complicated and challenging passages, such as arpeggios (broken up chords) and larger intervals.

Enunciation is crucial for good singing. Learn to speak your words clearly. Pay attention to your diction, as listeners need and want to be able to understand the lyrics you are singing. Study what other Singers do with words, for example during a run or a cadenza. Learn interesting words you can use when riffing on a phrase (a dictionary and thesaurus might be useful for this). Words matter, learn how to use them in both your speaking and singing voice.

Vocal range is simply the notes one can sing from lowest to highest. It’s important to know your range so that you can choose which parts to sing in a vocal arrangement, or change the key of a song to match your range, so you can sing it most comfortably.

It’s not hard to figure this out. Make sure your voice is warmed up before you start. Using the piano, start in the middle and sing up the scale using the syllable “ahh” to reach the highest note you can sing comfortably, then take note of that. Next, sing down the scale similarly so that you can find the lowest note you can sing, and take note of that. The distance between the highest and lowest notes is your range.

There is actually some controversy around this point. Some Teachers don’t really believe there is such a thing as head or chest voice. It’s all just your voice. What people call head voice is actually your falsetto, and something just below that is sometimes called passagio, which loosely translated might be interpreted as a transition. (Note: Italian is the international language used in most written music.) When you sing, your body creates various overtones, or harmonic resonances, which could be interpreted differently with different people.

In the same vein, some Teachers avoid labeling Singers with certain ranges as soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, or bass. We may all know what these terms mean when we hear them, but some would say that they just aren’t that useful in actual singing or in learning to sing.

Others might disagree with this opinion. I’ve always felt that the voice has unique characteristics that will vary widely between different kinds of Singers and styles of music, and labeling them as one thing or another will eventually defy all reason and purpose. I’ll leave the arguing to others.

Paying attention to these aspects of vocal performance could really help you to improve your singing. There are many more additional, useful areas and exercises for singing than I have room for here, but these could at least be a good starting point. The goal should be to integrate vocal exercises into your daily practice so that it becomes habitual. Look for the kinds of exercises that appeal to you, and then evaluate over time how they are helping you to improve.

It goes without saying that keeping your voice healthy is of paramount importance. Yet, there are so many people who seem to ignore this or don’t know how to recognize the signs of impending damage to the vocal cords.

As a frequent auditioner and Music Director, I hear it all the time; the damage manifests as an unhealthy rasping or cracking sound or obvious inconsistencies or weaknesses throughout a Singer’s range. I can also see it visually at times, as the Singer will have an unhealthy posture, jut their chin out severely, or actually wince in pain.

I always talk to these folks about getting help with a medical intervention, as some kinds of damage can be permanent or require invasive surgeries to fix. And in addition, they need to unlearn whatever techniques they are using that contributed to the damage and get some proper advice and training to learn how to sing properly without damaging their voice.

Here are a few pointers for maintaining your voice in good condition:

The best drink is water, so try to drink 6-8 glasses every day to stay hydrated. You can also use natural remedies such as breathing steam and drinking warm water or (non-caffeinated) tea with honey in it. Watch out for medications that can dehydrate you, and also avoid drinking alcohol or drinks with a lot of caffeine. Use a humidifier in your home.

Sometimes called vocal naps, take time away from speaking and singing for a few hours each day. Try to avoid screaming or shouting, and if your job requires you to talk on the phone all day, take ten minutes rest every three hours if you can. Also, avoid clearing your throat often, and speaking or singing loudly.

Gently warm up your voice before and after singing. Start with simple exercises such as humming or lip trills (see above), then progress gradually to more complex scales and melodic patterns. Pay attention to any tension in your neck and jaw, and loosen up with some easy stretching. At the end of the day, or after a performance or rehearsal, do some similar exercises to cool down.

Some things are common sense. Get enough rest, eat a balanced diet, exercise, don’t smoke (or be around second-hand smoke), wash your hands frequently so you don’t get sick, and avoid spicy foods which could cause acid reflux. If you have any chronic medical issues, get the proper treatment.

Professional Singers often speak in a low, breathy voice, to avoid overusing their vocal cords. They practice good breathing and posture when speaking or singing, supporting the voice with breath from the chest and not speaking from their throat. They practice exercises to learn how to control their breath and are mindful of how they use their voice, for example not cradling the phone in their neck when talking. They also avoid talking in noisy places where they might strain or push their voice.

Consider using a microphone with amplification if talking to groups. Rest your voice for part of every day. Train like an athlete, to improve muscle tone and strengthen your breathing technique. When you are sick, spare your voice from singing, and don’t talk or sing if you are hoarse from a cold or infection. Keep your throat and neck muscles relaxed when singing.

Most of these habits are adopted by professional Singers and Speakers to protect their voice, and many are just basic common sense. Don’t abuse your voice!

You may find the US Dept. HHS National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders’ article on “Taking Care of Your Voice “ and University of Saint Augustine’s article on “10 Do’s and Don’ts for Maintaining Good Vocal Health” useful.

While anyone can suffer from stage fright, and even many famous musicians do, Singers seem to feel especially vulnerable. It might be because they are usually out front and center, and also because the voice is the only instrument that is internal to the body.

Unlike a Drummer, who sits at the back of the bandstand and can hide behind their drums, the Singer has nowhere to hide. They often feel as if the moment they begin to sing that they are being judged by the audience, or even by the musicians in the band. To me, Singers are heroes, because it takes heroic effort to overcome all of this.

The feelings of exposure and vulnerability cause many Singers anxiety, to the point where it can interfere with their ability to deliver a top performance. This then leads to a doom-cycle of more anxiety and underperformance. While even the top pros can suffer from this kind of anxiety-induced cycle, the real question is: how do we “fix” it? What are the techniques Singers use to overcome these feelings of inadequacy and fear while singing in front of other people?

Orland said putting on confidence, even if you don’t feel it inside, is important to singing well.

“…Having confidence, even faking it until you believe in yourself, is so attractive when you walk into the audition room,” he said. “People are judging you. They’re watching how you walk in. They’re watching how you put your stuff down and how you talk to the Pianist. Stay in your own space and don’t let them psych you out.”

Singing can be a psychological battle, and like anything requiring some amount of skill, you need to be able to get into the “zone” where you can do your best work. This can definitely take some preparation and it’s also where sometimes a Vocal Coach could be helpful.

Having good vocal technique can help, as it’s something you can always rely on. Having a solid plan for a performance is another way to be prepared for the inevitable feeling of butterflies in your stomach. Being prepared to work through any mistakes is also something you can work on in your daily practice. Mistakes happen, don’t let them stop you in your tracks.

Be clear about your goals with singing. Pay attention to any self-talk and try to change negative thoughts to positive affirmations. Notice and avoid limiting beliefs and consider that creative people have always struggled to bring their dreams and goals to fruition. Take some kind of action towards your goals every day. Keep your singing and music goals clearly in front of you, and find the time and energy to work towards reaching them.

The bottom line with stage fright is that if you know your material cold and have a great plan for performing it, you can overcome most of the anxiety you will face every time you step onto the stage. It’s even possible to harness any residual energy from anxiety and channel it into a positive outcome for your performance.

Being present and being your authentic self will also help see you through the inevitable ups and downs of performing. Realize that there are good days and bad days, and some in-between days as well. This too shall pass. Console and reassure yourself by acknowledging you’ve done everything you possibly could to deliver your top performance. And finally, keep doing it. Persistence really pays off here.

Ultimately, if you are training to be a Singer, you will want to cultivate your experience performing in front of audiences. This is the best way to learn what works for you, and what will please your audience the most. With practice and experience, you can watch yourself improve over time. Like everything else that’s worth doing, learning to sing can be demanding and rewarding at the same time.

There’s nothing to stop you, so find your inspiration and get busy learning, practicing, and improving your singing right away.