Be the Star YOU ALREADY Are!

Q. Is there such a thing as being “tone deaf”?

A. No, singing and being able to hear notes (pitch) is a matter of training as any other muscle in the body. Some people can hear and find notes easier and faster than others. Everyone’s process is different. Everyone can learn to sing on key.

Q. Can everyone/anyone learn to sing?

A. Yes, everyone and anyone and can learn to sing well and with confidence. To date, I’ve served clients 4 to 84 years young. The younger the student, I tend to do a short series and then release them with some fun recorded vocal workouts to play with. Often they come back for more lessons later when they’re in grade school and still, others return in high school and as young adults simply picking up where we left off. More mature clients in retirement are frequently dealing with hormone and hearing issues. In fact, I had a client who depended greatly on his hearing aids. There were a couple of lessons when the batteries died and he had to rely on watching me and feeling in his body where and how the sound vibrated when using his voice – similar to Ludwig Beethoven, after he lost his hearing, pressing his head to his piano to “hear” sound vibration.

Q. What’s the best age to learn how to sing?

A. There are many thoughts on this question. In my years of teaching, since 2000, I have personally found certain windows in a person’s developmental age when things take off and move quickly when it comes to learning a skill such as singing. The first is between 9-11 years of age. By this age, an individual is reading at a significant level and most of the time socially engaged and excited about learning and trying new things. The next is 14-16 years. At this point, a person has gotten over certain feelings of awkwardness and is finding their way socially in terms of their natural interests and peers. Often this age group tends to be a little reserved but if they enjoy singing they still look forward to lessons, learning, growing, and sometimes even performing. Of course, it’s never too late to learn a new skill or start singing for fun as a new hobby, and I’ve helped many clients from young adults to grandparents gain confidence to sing at the next family birthday to performing or even starting their own band.

Q. Can someone be too young or too old to begin voice lessons?

A. Yes, I don’t believe that very small children, 5 years of age and younger need to be in regular voice lessons. At this age, a child’s attention span is very short while still developing their reading skills, and music should really be about play and fun and lots of movement. I tend to work with this population for a short time, creating a fun vocal workout for them to play with and then releasing them until they’re a little older. On the opposite end, as we mature and our bodies age, hormones or lack of them definitely affect our vocal cords. It takes a little more effort but is still certainly possible to sing our way into retirement and beyond.