You Cant sing…or can you?

My official profession will always be that of a Vocal coach & therefore the question I’ve probably most often been asked in my adult life is “can I sing?”. I’ll elaborate further on this later but what concerns me more is how the general public defines this.

With shows such as Idols, SA’s Got Talent & Pop Stars out there, my observation is that like a couch commentator would spurt out expertise on a sports match, we, the public love to do much the same with the poor saps singing their lungs out on the tv.

For many, its simple. Either you can sing...or you can’t. As a vocal coach it just is not that simple. Before we look at who CANT sing, lets 1st define who CAN sing. In reality, most of us can sing. It requires 2 simple things: singing in tune (singing all the right notes) & singing in time. What separates those who can sing from those who are great singers is tone, style, control & that unexplainable thing people often refer to as “the X-Factor”. My point is that most of us can sing. Very few of us can SING! If someone, a potential student comes to me with the “can I sing” question, the chances are I will say “yes you can sing”. From there it’s a case of do you have potential to be a great singer & then working on all the extra technical & musical bits & effectively polish a rough diamond.

My point is we cant always just simply say “you cant sing” to someone who can sing in tune. Chances are we’re depriving our country of great future stars potentially by being so black & white.

So who CANT sing? We’ve all heard these people. If we take the 2 main requirements, the 1st singing IN tune, someone who cant sing would sing OUT of tune. This means that the note they were supposed to hit is something completely different. They literally clash with the music when singing & often the effect on our ears is that of pain, a horror movie scene that we wish would end! Yes, I now you know this feeling. The 2nd requirement, singing in time. If you take someone who can keep a beat when they dance compared to someone whose steps do not coincide with the music, its a similar a thing when a person sings out of time. The person cannot sing in time with music. Though not as painful as an off tune singer, it would qualify that person as someone who CANT sing. 

I’d love for South Africans to change the culture we’ve become so accustomed to & instead of looking to rip apart someone who could, with work become our next big thing rather encourage practice to be the best you can be & a culture of never giving up!!