If I practiced enough or got the right type of training, would I technically be able to sing well like some of our greatest singers? Is there an anatomical difference in their vocals cords that differentiates singers from people who cant sing?
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Assuming you aren’t tone deaf, you could be trained to sing well. How well is subjective as it would depend on your anatomy. Everything from tongue size to diaphragm strength impacts voice capability.
Personal anecdote, but during college I had a friend who was studying to be a vocal coach. I had no intention of learning to sing, but he’d often use me and other friends to practice his presentations and such. Just for fun I started doing some of the simpler things he taught us when I was singing along to songs in the car, and they just became habit. I used to have no ability to sing whatsoever, but around a year or so later I had people around me making comments “Wow, I didn’t know you could sing,” and I was like “I didn’t know either!”
I’m not a vocal coach, so my ability to describe this will be sub-par, but some tips I remember from him anyone can do are:
* Focus less on copying the singer’s voice, and find your own. You’ll know it when you feel it
* Picture the notes in your head like guitar hero notes, and practice switching from one note to another quickly, and holding it solid. Notes shouldn’t “ramp up,” or “wobble.” If you miss and get it wrong, hold it anyways until the next chorus or whatever and try again. Training your voice to not constantly adjust and correct itself isn’t hard to do, but it makes a massive difference.
* If you’re into rock, screaming shouldn’t strain your voice at all. You should be able to talk normally immediately afterwards like you weren’t screaming at all. There are many different screaming techniques, but a common one is a vocal fry technique. Make that low popping sound with your voice (that low bubbling, frog like sound) and work on ramping that up and mixing it with your singing voice. Learning to scream right will both sound better and not destroy your vocal cords. NOTE: a lot of singers don’t ever learn to scream right (*cough cough*, Bert McCracken) and so are impossible to imitate. It’s also the reason they stop being able to scream after the first few albums.
I don’t know about everybody, but yes, most people. The voice is like any other instrument: you need training for it to sound good. (Source: personal experience!) There is this myth that some people are just born with perfect singing ability. Of course, talent varies, but if someone can sing well without any formal training, it’s usually because they have informal training and sing regularly in their everyday life.
Which brings me to my final point: yes, there is a small subset of the population who have no musical talent whatsoever and they will never learn how to sing (or play an instrument) no matter how much training or practice they get.
Personal anecdote, but during college I had a friend who was studying to be a vocal coach. I had no intention of learning to sing, but he’d often use me and other friends to practice his presentations and such. Just for fun I started doing some of the simpler things he taught us when I was singing along to songs in the car, and they just became habit. I used to have no ability to sing whatsoever, but around a year or so later I had people around me making comments “Wow, I didn’t know you could sing,” and I was like “I didn’t know either!”
I’m not a vocal coach, so my ability to describe this will be sub-par, but some tips I remember from him anyone can do are:
* Focus less on copying the singer’s voice, and find your own. You’ll know it when you feel it
* Picture the notes in your head like guitar hero notes, and practice switching from one note to another quickly, and holding it solid. Notes shouldn’t “ramp up,” or “wobble.” If you miss and get it wrong, hold it anyways until the next chorus or whatever and try again. Training your voice to not constantly adjust and correct itself isn’t hard to do, but it makes a massive difference.
* If you’re into rock, screaming shouldn’t strain your voice at all. You should be able to talk normally immediately afterwards like you weren’t screaming at all. There are many different screaming techniques, but a common one is a vocal fry technique. Make that low popping sound with your voice (that low bubbling, frog like sound) and work on ramping that up and mixing it with your singing voice. Learning to scream right will both sound better and not destroy your vocal cords. NOTE: a lot of singers don’t ever learn to scream right (*cough cough*, Bert McCracken) and so are impossible to imitate. It’s also the reason they stop being able to scream after the first few albums.
Personal anecdote, but during college I had a friend who was studying to be a vocal coach. I had no intention of learning to sing, but he’d often use me and other friends to practice his presentations and such. Just for fun I started doing some of the simpler things he taught us when I was singing along to songs in the car, and they just became habit. I used to have no ability to sing whatsoever, but around a year or so later I had people around me making comments “Wow, I didn’t know you could sing,” and I was like “I didn’t know either!”
I’m not a vocal coach, so my ability to describe this will be sub-par, but some tips I remember from him anyone can do are:
* Focus less on copying the singer’s voice, and find your own. You’ll know it when you feel it
* Picture the notes in your head like guitar hero notes, and practice switching from one note to another quickly, and holding it solid. Notes shouldn’t “ramp up,” or “wobble.” If you miss and get it wrong, hold it anyways until the next chorus or whatever and try again. Training your voice to not constantly adjust and correct itself isn’t hard to do, but it makes a massive difference.
* If you’re into rock, screaming shouldn’t strain your voice at all. You should be able to talk normally immediately afterwards like you weren’t screaming at all. There are many different screaming techniques, but a common one is a vocal fry technique. Make that low popping sound with your voice (that low bubbling, frog like sound) and work on ramping that up and mixing it with your singing voice. Learning to scream right will both sound better and not destroy your vocal cords. NOTE: a lot of singers don’t ever learn to scream right (*cough cough*, Bert McCracken) and so are impossible to imitate. It’s also the reason they stop being able to scream after the first few albums.
Professional opera singer here.
>If I practiced enough or got the right type of training
Yes, you could.
Everyone can sing, but your laryngeal muscles have to be built up just like any other set of muscles, and *very* few people have the self-control and dedication to build them up if they’re not naturally strong (and as with other types of muscle, there’s a wide variation on how people develop when they’re not focused on muscle development).
Your laryngeal cartilage also ossifies (becomes bone, essentially) around your early 30s, which permanently alters the way your voice works, one of the side effects of which is that if you haven’t been exercising your voice often previous to that, it will be almost impossible to significantly improve its flexibility.
Lastly, you use your voice a *lot* throughout your life, and you develop extremely robust muscle memory for that system within your body. All of that muscle memory affects your singing, and certain habits and memory patterns can make healthy singing much more difficult, again extending the amount of time it takes to learn.
Almost everyone can sing (“almost” because there are always biological outliers with insurmountable obstructions). Not everyone can learn within a reasonable timeframe/cost for them, and not everyone has the discipline it takes to actually spend that time/money.
Which is why I continue to get paid. 🙂
(I should add that I *also* do not have that self-control or discipline. I just lucked out on having naturally dense musculature and a propensity to scream/yell a lot as a kid. 😂)
I don’t know about everybody, but yes, most people. The voice is like any other instrument: you need training for it to sound good. (Source: personal experience!) There is this myth that some people are just born with perfect singing ability. Of course, talent varies, but if someone can sing well without any formal training, it’s usually because they have informal training and sing regularly in their everyday life.
Which brings me to my final point: yes, there is a small subset of the population who have no musical talent whatsoever and they will never learn how to sing (or play an instrument) no matter how much training or practice they get.
I don’t know about everybody, but yes, most people. The voice is like any other instrument: you need training for it to sound good. (Source: personal experience!) There is this myth that some people are just born with perfect singing ability. Of course, talent varies, but if someone can sing well without any formal training, it’s usually because they have informal training and sing regularly in their everyday life.
Which brings me to my final point: yes, there is a small subset of the population who have no musical talent whatsoever and they will never learn how to sing (or play an instrument) no matter how much training or practice they get.
Professional opera singer here.
>If I practiced enough or got the right type of training
Yes, you could.
Everyone can sing, but your laryngeal muscles have to be built up just like any other set of muscles, and *very* few people have the self-control and dedication to build them up if they’re not naturally strong (and as with other types of muscle, there’s a wide variation on how people develop when they’re not focused on muscle development).
Your laryngeal cartilage also ossifies (becomes bone, essentially) around your early 30s, which permanently alters the way your voice works, one of the side effects of which is that if you haven’t been exercising your voice often previous to that, it will be almost impossible to significantly improve its flexibility.
Lastly, you use your voice a *lot* throughout your life, and you develop extremely robust muscle memory for that system within your body. All of that muscle memory affects your singing, and certain habits and memory patterns can make healthy singing much more difficult, again extending the amount of time it takes to learn.
Almost everyone can sing (“almost” because there are always biological outliers with insurmountable obstructions). Not everyone can learn within a reasonable timeframe/cost for them, and not everyone has the discipline it takes to actually spend that time/money.
Which is why I continue to get paid. 🙂
(I should add that I *also* do not have that self-control or discipline. I just lucked out on having naturally dense musculature and a propensity to scream/yell a lot as a kid. 😂)
Professional opera singer here.
>If I practiced enough or got the right type of training
Yes, you could.
Everyone can sing, but your laryngeal muscles have to be built up just like any other set of muscles, and *very* few people have the self-control and dedication to build them up if they’re not naturally strong (and as with other types of muscle, there’s a wide variation on how people develop when they’re not focused on muscle development).
Your laryngeal cartilage also ossifies (becomes bone, essentially) around your early 30s, which permanently alters the way your voice works, one of the side effects of which is that if you haven’t been exercising your voice often previous to that, it will be almost impossible to significantly improve its flexibility.
Lastly, you use your voice a *lot* throughout your life, and you develop extremely robust muscle memory for that system within your body. All of that muscle memory affects your singing, and certain habits and memory patterns can make healthy singing much more difficult, again extending the amount of time it takes to learn.
Almost everyone can sing (“almost” because there are always biological outliers with insurmountable obstructions). Not everyone can learn within a reasonable timeframe/cost for them, and not everyone has the discipline it takes to actually spend that time/money.
Which is why I continue to get paid. 🙂
(I should add that I *also* do not have that self-control or discipline. I just lucked out on having naturally dense musculature and a propensity to scream/yell a lot as a kid. 😂)
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