wanna sing?

If a person wants to be great at the piano, they usually begin by taking piano lessons. Ditto any other instrument. If a person wants to learn French, they usually take it in school or move to Paris, or get themselves a tutor. Right?

But for some strange reason, there's been quite a bit of brainwashing going on for quite a while on the subject of singing around this planet. Thank you Simon Cowell. There seems to be this very strange opinion going around that a person is "either born with a voice or they're not." And if they're not, well, they should even try.

Well, how bogus is that!?...'cause think about it. Aren't we usually best at the things we spend the most time doing? Not always, for sure, but a lot of the time. And aren't we usually best at things we know something about, we have an education in? So why oh why are we simply supposed to know how to sing?

Yes, some people are "naturals", but so what? That doesn't mean everybody else should shut up.

"Can I take a few singing lessons, dear parents?" asks hopeful teen with an average sounding voice. "No, sweetie. There's nothing special about your voice. Wouldn't you rather play the piano?"

UGH!!! The worst thing you can ever tell a person is there's nothing special about their voice!!! It's their only voice you're talking about, for pete's sake--and it's attached to their soul! A much better answer would be, "Okay, dear. Let's find you a fun teacher and see what you can learn--I bet you've really got a great voice hiding in their somewhere!"

Now that is an answer.

Pick Your Style as you Pick Your Teacher

If you want to sing, if you're aching to sing--get yourself some lessons, pick up some tricks. You may just be surprised at what you end up sounding like with a little practice! Voices can improve a lot with practice. Sometimes the plainest sounding voice can even turn magical.

But there are different kinds of tricks involved with different kinds of singing--be warned. The right teacher can hand you lots of perfect tricks and watch you blossom--you may both end up saying "OMG!" quite stoked, in unison.

The wrong teacher can leave you sounding different than you want, though, so be careful. There is formal singing and street singing and a lot of different styles in between! Find the right teacher before you commit! Don't learn French from a German.

And btw, there are some universal tricks that are pretty much the same across the board--no matter what style of singing you're thinking of doing. You've got to BREATHE and your vowels have to be pretty. Two things to pay special attention to--as we explain in the video below.

Hope it enlightens.