que sera sera: Tuning your voice

Years ago I asked a music student what instrument she played, and the response I got was,

"My voice is my instrument".

I nodded politely, but had a curious and bemused feeling inside me. At first sight I thought it sounded quite pretentious, but now I see that she was completely right. *

We think that because singing is such a natural thing, and because some people are good at it that it's basically a quality that some people just have, sort of like blonde hair. This leads to laziness and people saying "I can't sing" and leaving it at that. Not true. You can sing. You have a voice, and with patience and hard work you can learn to master it and sound just as good as the best of 'em - and a thousand times better than you thought you could. No one is born knowing how to sing. You have to find your voice, and the more you engage in singing, the more likely you are to stumble across it.

For some people it comes easier than others, but ultimately it comes down to concentration and practice. Of course you need a qualified teacher to guide you, but even then you'll mostly end up doing a lot of plain (and even boring and tedious) voice exercises to improve - the equivalent of dribbling for 15 minutes around a gym, or spending two hours just taking shots, so that you can learn to be a good basketball player.

To master an instrument takes book learning of music theory, training at mechanical techniques, practice of the techniques, and of the songs, and especially, unending hard work in the form of practice, practice, practice. The voice is exactly the same. To be a successful singer, such that people will enjoy listening to, you have to first settle down and get the nitty-gritty:

How to breath properly.
What position to hold your body in.
How to tell if you're singing the right note.
How to sing the right note.
How to get a clear sound.
Etc, etc, etc...

And at the end, you have to keep all these in mind at the same time. I even think that in some ways it's harder to sing than to play an instrument - I mean, when your voice is your instrument, unlike with all other instruments, you cannot peer into your vocal folds while you're singing and check out what's happening.

As daunting as I think I've made this sound right now, I feel I have to point out that it's TOTALLY doable, and completely worth it. Singing is so much fun, and (this may surprise some people) highly therapeutic. After you've been in choir practice you are left with a feeling of headiness and wellbeing. Then you want to do it more and more. It's like an addictive drug, but with positive side effects instead of detrimental ones.

Hmm, I guess I'll end this with a song I like, which may or may not lead you to want to sing: