In the last two posts I’ve outlined step 1 and step 2 to becoming a singer. Now it’s time for step 3 to help you grow and develop as a singer. No amount of singing lessons, choir rehearsals, warm ups, concerts, singing workshops or solo performances will help you to develop as a singer unless you are SELF-AWARE. This is something you can develop, and it’s vital if you want to grow and improve. If your choir leader tells you that you have tendency to tip your head back when singing, you’re only going to be able to correct that if you become aware of when you’re doing it. If your singing teach ..read more

Last week I wrote about the first step to becoming a singer. photo by Rex Pe You need to actually start singing! Now here’s step 2. Once you’ve started to sing on your own, you’ll probably find that you want to do more of it and perhaps want to develop your singing technique and vocal skills. The easiest way to do that is to JOIN YOUR LOCAL CHOIR. Lots of famous singers started out like that. It doesn’t matter what your taste in songs is, there will be a choir out there somewhere that will suit you. It might be a rock choir, a gospel choir, a church choir, a classical music choir, a world mu ..read more

People often ask how they can become a singer. Here are three simple steps to follow. Results guaranteed. It may seem obvious, or even patronising, but the first step to becoming a singer is to actually SING! I’ve often heard people say they want to become a writer, for example. I ask them what they’ve written so far. They say, nothing. But one day they want to be a writer. The first step to becoming anything is to start doing it. So many people dream of one day “becoming” a singer, as if it’s going to happen by magic. But you have to start somewhere, and put the work in. You don’t have to b ..read more

People often write to me asking me why it takes them ages to learn a song. photo by matea2506 They think it might be due to age, dyslexia, or all manner of other ‘problems’. But it’s probably simpler than that. In a choir, when you’re learning a new song, it may seem that all the other singers are catching on much faster than you are. Does that mean that you may have memory problems, or are just not a very good singer? Then when the song is being sung, you get lost and confused with the harmonies and have no idea where you are. It must definitely mean that you’re a really bad singer, or you ..read more

My partner is always sending me videos with ideas for singing warm ups, usually involving complex clapping or stepping. I tell her that they will be too difficult for the singers I work with. But am I being too safe and under-estimating the singers’ abilities? Over the years I’ve developed a pretty good idea of what the average group of random singers is capable of. I learnt the hard way by trying overly complicated warm ups! In my experience, most singers don’t have a highly developed body awareness. Most singers find unusual rhythms hard. And many singers aren’t really sure which is their ..read more

There is something special about a group of people singing together. photo by Jason Paris And it’s not just about sense of community and the health benefits. It really is a unique activity. Think of an activity that enables any mixed group of strangers of any age to create something beautiful together, as a team, in a matter of minutes. With no equipment, no previous experience, no special clothing, and anywhere you like. Thought of something yet? I believe there is only one candidate: singing together. More than that: singing together in harmony with no musical accompaniment. It’s probably ..read more

We went to the theatre the other day and we were the only people in the audience wearing masks. photo by Nigel Mykura But in all other ways, we were exactly the same as any other audience member. The same, but different. A choir works in much the same way. In some sense everybody is the same: people with a voice singing the same song as everyone else. Yet all choir members are individuals. They can differ in height, gender, clothing, voice part and so on, but put these individual differences don’t impinge on the overall function of the choir: to sing together harmoniously. Being in a choir i ..read more

Lots of people often tell me a similar story: someone they know is planning to go professional, but they can’t sing in tune. Should they be told, or be allowed to make a fool of themselves in public? Someone wrote to me recently with this dilemma: “A person I know sings really badly: flat, off-key, and loud. They have no idea how awful they sound. Their friends and family tell them that their voice is great, so they have recorded and uploaded dozens of songs to their YouTube channel and Facebook page. Recently they announced their intention to go professional with their singing.” “Should I ..read more

Not all songs are appropriate to sing in all circumstances. But how do we know when a song is ‘inappropriate’? Here are some guidelines. A teacher emailed me recently to ask for my advice. They had received a complaint from a parent about one of the songs that was going to be taught in class. The parent felt that the choice of song was ‘political’ in some way. The song was a well-know song of peace in Hebrew. I guess (they didn’t clarify) that the parent somehow connected the choice of song with the current situation in Gaza and Israel. The teacher concerned couldn’t understand how their cho ..read more

I’m always looking for new ideas for the warm up start of my singing sessions. But constant novelty is not necessarily a good thing. It can often lead to overlooking old, familiar, tried and tested exercises. I admit I have a low boredom threshold. I like to try new things all the time. Like many choir leaders, I worry that I need to entertain my singers and keep them interested with fun, new ideas and repertoire all the time. It’s a thankless task! But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of constantly chasing the new, focus on the things that work and that singers are familiar with. Sin ..read more