You can sing. Here's why

Posted by Norman Bailey on Monday, July 7, 2014 Under: Voice Works



When I say 'I'm a singing teacher' many people reply, “I can't sing!” 

Now I'd have thought that would have been my perfect in.  But no.  For so many people their sheer terror at the thought of using their voice effectively, joyfully and confidently is something they'd rather not contemplate. 

I've been out and about promoting The Love singing method recently, so I've had the opportunity to talk face-to-face with people who haven't fully embraced the joys of singing.  What's even sadder was finding out how many people out there had been put off from singing at a very early age.  Which meant that for some people I met, many in their forties and fifties, past negative singing experiences had robbed them of them benefits of singing.  

I knew about this problem. I was just taken aback by the scale of it.   I used to say to new pupils that I should carry around a sealed envelope with the words, “When I was young someone I trusted told me I couldn't sing".  This was because for a great percentage of the people I've taught this is the case.  Somewhere along the line a teacher, a parent or a friend told them the sounds they were making didn't make the grade.

If you feel this applies to you, please think about the sealed envelope, realise that you are not alone, and maybe you should get out there and do something about it. You will be amazed the difference it will make to your life. 

 

In my post Why Singing Is Good For You I gave a quick rundown on how singing — just singing not performing — can change your life.   Amongst the things you'll gain are:

  • A happier healthier you

  • Longer life

  • the best free stress buster going

Seriously it's true.  I grew up in a culture steeped in Gospel music, so I was singing all the time.  And when we got together to party singing along to the latest hits was compulsory. And fun! Nobody ever told me told or anyone else to stop singing.  Not because we all had a great voices but because using your voices in an expressive manner was expected. And although many cultures do the same I was shocked to find out that many do not. 

I've found time and time again that people who are convinced they have bad voices actually have great voices but have been put off using them.  It's regrettable that you may have been put off by someone else's careless words.  What they said may or may not have been malicious.  An under pressure choir master, charged with putting together an ensemble in a short period of time may not have had the time to develop rough hued voice and would pick those ready to go. A stressed out parent may have been unaware of the damage being done by telling a child to be quiet.  

Everyone can sing

 The main reason people say they can't sing is because they sing out of tune but singing out of tune doesn't mean you can't sing.

I'm always going to stick to that assertion though many will disagree.   The only people who can't sing, in the conventional sense, are those with something to their oral apparatus.  It used to be that I would also say that you be in the same boat if you had something wrong with your hearing as well but I've recently started working with a young man, 10 years old, who was born deaf and has cochlea implants in both ears and he's showing remarkable promise.

I will always take issue with people who will tell a child they can't sing and insist that that's the end of it.  There are a great many things a child of five can't do doesn't mean they will never be able to do it.   Driving a bus, solving algebraic equations, and tying shoelaces are things on a long list of things a five year old can't do.  But, of course, It doesn't mean they' won't be able to do them.  But just like singing for them to become proficient at it they have to be taught it well.  

People will often say great singers are born that way.  It's certainly true that for some the ability to hold a tune and make sounds pleasing to others comes easier than others.  But for them to become fully proficient at it they will need many years of study and hours of practice.   And as much as we like to laud praise on the 'gifted' we do them a disservice by thinking that there talents come easy.   

So sing and enjoy it for its own sake and enjoy the benefits it brings.

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Storybookers

Don’t Judge A Library By Its Cover

I’d like to join the friends of Birmingham Central Library in mourning the passing of this highly emotive city landmark.  The building has sat empty since 2013, having been replaced by the Library of Birmingham, which is situated in nearby Centenary Square. Despite all protestations, campaigning and calls for alternative uses for the building the bulldozers have finally come to put the old place out of its misery.

The Birmingham Central Library building has always courted controversy and divided opinion.  The old Library, which dominated Chamberlain Square was opened, by then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, on a sunny Saturday morning in 1974.  Little did anyone know that the strength of feeling against the building would mean it would struggle to reach its 40th birthday.  

Prince Charles famously described it as looking like a place where books go to be incinerated and a former Birmingham director of planning labelled it a ‘concrete monstrosity’.  But there were many, including Turner prize winning artist, Jeremy Deller, who understood its appeal.  And so the battle raged between those who saw it as a blot on the landscape and those who believed its stark British Brutalist architectural style should to be honoured.

It’s worth noting that Birmingham born architect, John Madin, had no intention of building a 'concrete monstrosity’.  His original plans were for the building to be clad in Portland stone or Travertine marble.  But Birmingham City Council were reluctant to foot the bill and the concrete exterior was used instead.

Admittedly the library’s sub-Bauhaus design isn’t even my kind of thing, but I’d grown to like it.  Besides I wasn’t into it for its looks.  It was what lay within that sparked my interest.  Within those grey walls lay books that helped me get the life I truly wanted, rather than the one others thought would suit me best.  It contained a wealth of knowledge I couldn’t get anywhere else.  Without it I would have struggled to find the inspiration I needed to pursue my career in the arts.  

My dreams were kept alive by a Library that became my second home.  Inside I discovered the writings of great philosophers, historians, dramatists and political thinkers.  But it was when I came across the books on art that my life changed.  There were beautiful images of the great master’s finest works.  And I found information about influential past and contemporary art movements.

This was all before the internet, so without these books I would never have been able to find any of this.  I was inspired and soaked up all the knowledge I could. Those days, pouring through volume after marvellous volume, shaped how I viewed the world and how I saw my future.  

As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be an artist.   

Pursuing that particular path is tricky enough nowadays, but back in Birmingham in the 1970s I might as well have said I wanted to be an astronaut. I was two years out of school before I even found out there were art schools in Birmingham.  I’ll share that story with you another time.

Once I did find out about art schools I ditched my job in engineering, enrolled in Bournville School of Art and signed up for the artist’s life. There’s more to that story too and I’ll also share that with you another time.  

Occasionally I’ll walk into a gallery and find myself standing in front of one of the paintings I gazed at with wonder in my youth.  Once I get over the initial rush I smile and thank the Birmingham Central Library for what it gave me all those years ago.


 Out With The Old, In With The New

I paid a visit to the new Library of Birmingham last year.   I like it.  It was more like coming home than visiting a new building.  For a start, it’s attached to another of my old stomping ground, the Birmingham Rep.  When I reached the art department and found some of the books that I was inspired by are now on the new library’s shelves I felt a sense of continuity.  I was filled with hope that some young kid wanting to follow their chosen path would also be inspired.

Attitude to the creative industries is slowly changing.  The last few years as seen it become one of UK’s major growth sectors.  But there’s probably a young person somewhere having a hard time convincing people that they want to follow their dreams.  

 So before I go.  Is there something you need to know?  Are you looking for a nugget of wisdom that will transform your life?  If so, there might be a book on the subject available, for free, at your local library.   So why not pop down and see.

 

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