[FULL TRANSCRIPT]
So a really common question that I often get is, Is it even possible for me to learn how to sing well, even if I am a total beginner or I am this age or I’ve never really sung before, I can’t sing, I have no talent. And to me, that’s kind of like asking somebody, is it possible for me to even start working out if I’ve never exercised before?
And of course, the short answer here is yes. Yes, it’s possible, but I know that that’s not going to be enough of an answer. So in this podcast episode, I’m going to be sharing three compelling reasons why if you have a voice, you can learn to sing and also why you should learn to sing. Even if you are somebody who has never thought about singing before, because if you are somebody who wants to have a greater mastery over your voice, when you are speaking, then singing is actually one of the best things you can do.
And in this episode, I’m going to dive into all of that.
The goal for this podcast episode is to help alleviate any doubt, concern, or hesitancy you may be feeling about learning to sing or learning how to use your voice better.
Also, I really want to help open up your mindset around singing and how, how singing can actually seriously benefit you in your personal development and your personal growth as well.
There’s a misconception that you have to be born talented or you have to start from really young in order to be a good singer. Now I’m not going to lie, if you grew up training or you grew up performing in front of live audiences. on a regular basis since you were young, then you’re definitely going to have a head start, but that’s the same as doing any kind of sport or any kind of artistic craft, right?
The more exposure you’ve had with that activity from a young age, then the more time you’ve had to develop your skills in that arena.
And so yes, just like sports, it does help if you start early, but unlike sports where there really is a time limitation when it comes to, um, an athlete being at their peak, right at their peak, singing is actually something you can pick up. And get really good at and learn to get really good at at virtually any time in your life.
Now, obviously, if you are in your 90s and you’re just starting to learn, um, and you have aspirations to cut a record deal and start touring around the world, then it might be a little bit more challenging, but hey, who knows, right?
, but here’s the thing, if you are already using your voice to communicate, right, then it means you already have some kind of control over your voice as an instrument, as something that you manipulate in order to express what it is that you’re thinking and what you’re feeling.
And so singing is just an extension of that. And so this leads us to reason number one, why anyone who speaks can and should learn to sing. The human voice is anatomically designed for both singing speaking and singing. Both of these activities require the use of the vocal folds or the vocal cords we need to utilize resonating chambers and the articulators, which is the components inside of our vocal tract used to form words and sounds. And both activities require us to utilize airflow to produce sound. sound, right? To create sound. Now, oftentimes though, we think of singing as something as completely different, like a completely different category of activity than speaking, but actually it’s helpful to recognize that it uses all of the same equipment.
It uses the same equipment, essentially. The key difference between singing and speaking is that singing requires greater intentional control.
And really the purpose of singing is typically about emotional expression through melody and rhythm. Okay. So that’s really when it comes down to it, that’s the only difference. We’re using all of the same stuff, right? But singing, with singing, you are using it with a little bit more intention and control, and you are matching your sounds to a melodic pattern and a rhythmic pattern.
So again, if you, If you are already using this equipment, all you have to do really, when it comes to singing is learn how to use it a little bit differently. And that’s really it. Singing is just an extension of speaking. And so we think about it that way. It makes it a little bit easier. It doesn’t feel like such a big jump that we have to, Oh, This singing thing is so difficult, right?
Of course, it is challenging. I’m not saying it’s not going to be challenging, but we are already utilizing this stuff anyway. So, learning to sing is just really going a step further.
Now related to this is a reason why you should learn to sing, even if you were somebody who has never really thought about singing before. It’s because when you learn to sing, your speaking skills actually improve.
But the interesting thing here is that it doesn’t really work the other way around. So if you are just spending your time learning skills for speaking and learning how to use your voice better for speaking, it doesn’t naturally, um, translate over to singing.
But if you learn singing skills, not only will you learn how to sing. Sing, but you will actually be able to translate those skills into speaking with far greater ease.
And this is something that we do regularly with many of our students who come for us for singing lessons. They realize that there’s this wonderful benefit or bonus that their, their speaking voices start to get conditioned and start to improve as well.
So you may be wondering, well, how does that happen? How can singing actually improve my speaking? Well, that probably requires a whole other video to dive into, but what I can say that I think is helpful is to think of it like stretching for the body.
So we know that stretching is good for us. Right? It improves our flexibility and enables us to have greater range of motion when we are stretching regularly, as long as we’re doing it safely and appropriately, then you’re going to be more flexible. You’re going to move better. You’re going to have better circulation.
Um, you can prevent injury. Now, singing is actually very similar in this way. Singing expands your vocal range and it strengthens your voice, but it also teaches you how to manipulate your voice and use your voice. in a way that’s safe. Also, when you have that greater range of sounds available to you in your voice, it actually opens up your ability to communicate in a far more expressive and engaging way as well. All right, so that’s the first reason why you can and should learn to sing. You can learn to sing because singing really is just, if you think about it, an extension of speaking. So if you are already using your voice to communicate, then you are already using the same stuff that you need for singing.
We just need to extend that a little bit more. And you should learn to sing because singing is kind of like stretching for the body.
It is really good for your vocal instrument when you are practicing exercises and you’re learning how to use your voice more effectively, you’re going to become a far more effective and expressive communicator.
Now you might be thinking, yeah, okay, but. I’ve heard myself saying it’s not good. So let’s talk about why it’s challenging to make that jump right from speaking to singing.
So earlier we talked about singing as being an extension of speaking, but then if that’s true, why is it so difficult? Right? So we’re going to talk about that here.
Essentially there are only two things that are getting in the way of your ability to learn how to sing well. Only two things. Number one is your habits. Okay, so we’re going to talk about that in a little bit. Number two is your mindset. That’s it. Your habits and your mindset.
And your habits and your mindset are connected. very intricately. So your mindset includes things like your beliefs, your feelings about your voice, what it means for you to be heard, your previous experiences when it comes to using your voice in a public setting, all of this, all of these experiences, thoughts, and feelings, and beliefs contribute to you.
You’re the mindset that you have about your voice now it is related to your habits because if you are for example feeling really insecure or Unsure or doubtful about your voice then those feelings or those thoughts or beliefs that you have about your voice have been About being not a, not a good singer or not having the natural talent for singing, all of these thoughts and feelings and beliefs are going to actually trigger physical behaviors in you that cause you to restrict your voice.
So if I’m thinking I have a bad voice, then when I’m speaking publicly or when I’m singing, I’m not going to behave in a way that’s very open and expressive.
In fact, I’m probably going to want to protect myself because you know, I’m, I’m subconsciously afraid of. the sound that’s going to come out or don’t like the sound that’s going to come out. So then I’m going to start behaving in ways that actually limit the voice because I’m trying to protect myself.
So this is just a quick example of what I mean by the mindset being connected to the habits. And so when I talk about habits, I’m talking about unhelpful habits that get triggered that actually limit your voice. And so squeezing the throat, holding yourself back, tension in the, in the body and especially in the upper body, restricted breathing.
All of these are, um, unhelpful habits that actually are not conducive to speaking effectively or singing with expression and with power and freedom.
so if we understand that the only thing getting in the way of your ability to sing well is your habits and your mindset, and those two are, those two pieces are very, very connected to each other, then the, the, the reason why you can learn to sing is because habits.
are not fixed in stone, right? They’re not. We know that habits can be changed. Now, the more ingrained habits that we have, of course, are harder to change, but they are not, it’s not set in stone. It’s not impossible.
And so if we bear that in mind and we realize, hey, the only reason I’m not able to use my voice the way I want to is because of these habits that are being triggered by my thoughts, then we can see that. The way forward is actually simply to change our habits because what happens when we change our habits?
We change the way we’ve been doing something over and over again We just make a shift and then we have a different outcome every time right you change your habits your results come out differently.
So singing works exactly the same way. This is the foundation of how I’ve been training my students and how I encourage the coaches that I work with to train their students. Look for the habits, shift the habits, and you will get different results So this is why you absolutely can learn to sing.
You can learn to sing. because you can shift habits. Habits are not fixed in stone. All of us have the ability to make little changes in the way that we’ve been doing something to have a different result. So if you can do that in your day to day life, you absolutely can do that in singing, which means, yes, you can learn how to sing and learn to do it better and better.
Now, why should you do it though? Can we know that we can do it in this regard, but why should we do it? Well, if we think about it, we all have habits. All of us do. Every single one of us has habits when it comes to using our voices, right? We have our own idiosyncrasies, our own ways of communicating and expressing ourselves, whether that is consciously known or not. But if you can learn to identify the habits that actually have been limiting you.
Just think about how much better you will be at using your voice to communicate effectively, whether that is in a professional or personal setting. Just think about how much more powerful you can be as a communicator, how much more expressive and engaging you can be as a speaker. When you actually learn to identify these habits that you didn’t realize you had, that actually have been holding your true voice back.
for example, that tone that you don’t like in your voice or that nasal sound or that raspiness that you don’t like, you can change that
or the tiredness and fatigue that you experience after a long day of back to back meetings or presentations, then, you know, that’s highly indicative of habits that you likely have that are causing you to speak in a way that is not sustainable. So through singing, you actually can learn how to shift those specific habits.
All right, so that’s compelling reason number two, why if you have a voice, you can learn to sing. It’s because singing, the process of learning how to sing is all about identifying the habits that have been holding you back and shifting them
and you should learn to sing because if you can identify those habits that have been unknowingly holding your voice back, just think about how much more powerful you can be as a communicator.
, now this leads us to reason number three for why anybody with a voice.
can and should learn to sing. Earlier I mentioned that the key difference between singing and speaking is that singing really does require greater intentional control and focus because it’s singing is really about emotional expression through melody and rhythm. So things like airflow or breath management, matching pitches, following the beat.
These are definitely skills that you will need to learn in singing. And I get that this itself can seem very intimidating for people who have little to no experience when it comes to musical training. A big thing that took me a really long time to learn about singing is that all of these skills that I’ve mentioned, Airflow control, matching pitches, singing on beat, rhythm, following the rhythm, all of these skills get so much easier to learn.
When you work on improving one thing first, and this one thing is you’re listening, that’s it.
Now here’s what I don’t mean when I say listening.
I don’t mean being pitch perfect or being able to identify a note just by listening to it being played on the piano. That’s not what I mean at all. When I say listening, I’m talking about the appreciation of sound. So it’s kind of like training your eye to appreciate a piece of artwork. , so imagine you visit a museum and you see a painting for the first time, then you may appreciate. the art piece, of course, but you won’t appreciate it as much as you would if you’ve trained your eye to really notice the subtle nuances of color, for example, or the refinement of the brushstroke or the, the little details that can be so easily overlooked.
, it’s also similar to having an appreciation of wine. One of my students owns a wine school and is a highly respected wine educator. And I enjoy my wines, but when I’m having dinner with her and we have a bottle of wine and she’s telling me about the vineyards and the soil, uh, from the, from these places and the climate and how the climate changes the taste, then it completely, uh, opens up, uh, my perception and suddenly that glass of wine tastes a hundred times better.
And so similarly, A huge part of learning to sing involves singing. refining your ability to listen. Now, when you know how to hear the nuances of vocal tone or vocal coloring, the textures of the sound, and you learn to listen to the rhythm of the music and the movement of the melodies, and you practice listening with this kind of intention, your ear will improve.
And when your ear improves, Everything else gets easier.
So if the idea of having to learn about pitch and rhythm and all of these musical terms intimidates you or overwhelms you, then I encourage you to just ignore all of that for now and focus on one thing first. Train your listening . And I know that may seem, um, like nebulous. Like, well, how do I do that? There is a process. It’s actually very simple. It doesn’t take long at all. And this is something that I do with my students inside of my programs.
you do this for a period of time and all of a sudden you will start hearing things you never, you never would have picked up in the past when it comes to music and singing. Um, and then you will find that pitch suddenly improves, your rhythm improves. All of these areas are so much. Easy, easy to adopt and learn when you improve your listening first.
Now you might be thinking, well, I am tone deaf. I highly doubt that that’s true. Firstly, because here’s the thing. If you can hear the difference between me speaking low like this, I’m speaking very low versus me speaking high and I’m putting my voice higher.
This is low and this is high. If you can hear that difference, you’re not tone deaf. Okay,
So that’s the third reason why you can learn to sing.
It’s because if you can distinguish between me speaking high like this and me speaking low, then you are already, you already demonstrated that you have the ability to train your listening. And so if you can do that, then you can do the next steps. And it just becomes easier from there. Train your listening and everything else becomes easier to learn.
Now, Why should you do that though? If you are not somebody who has ever thought about singing in the past, why is it a good thing for you to actually go through this process and learn to train your listening skills? The big reason here is that it deepens your appreciation of the arts and enhances your ability to express yourself.
And this is so important. This is actually, I feel like is so, um, undervalued. It’s so easy to forget the importance of expressing ourselves. beings, we have an innate need to communicate. to bond with other people, to, um, express ourselves, to communicate, to, to show the world who we are.
And this expression is really crucial for our emotional wellbeing, our mental wellbeing as well. And so not only will singing help you to appreciate, expression as an art, it will help to encourage you to do it more yourself because it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day responsibilities of life and the day to day tasks that we need to do, that we neglect spending time to really open ourselves up and to really express how we are feeling, to process our emotions, and singing is is such a fantastic way to do that because it’s so directly related to our emotions, right?
It’s We can immediately feel the impact or the result of singing on our well being.
Not only is singing such a powerful way to process our emotions and to express our deepest selves, but it’s a way to bring communities together. Because when we sing together, or when we listen to somebody sing, and we are really knowing how to appreciate what they’re doing, it really does foster that, a deeper connection with the people around us.
And not only that, when you are learning to sing, You now know that you are also becoming a better communicator. You’re learning to use your voice as an instrument. So that’s going to be profoundly valuable for you in your personal relationships, in your professional relationships, in your career, and in your aspirations and in what you want to achieve in this world too.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and that it has inspired you to know that. You can learn to sing and you should learn to sing. There are so many benefits, beautiful benefits of singing.
Um, even for those who have never thought to sing ever in their lives before, uh, I highly encourage you to give it a try you will not regret the insights that you learn. So if you are interested in. Diving into singing. I have two options for you. You can join my free singing community. That’s called My Singing Life.
But if you want to take a step further with me, you can, of course, upgrade to my singing membership, which is called singers connect. And if you want to work directly with me on a one on one basis, I only take a handful of clients every single year to work privately with me. Then, um, you can do so by booking a call with me on my website, KrystalDiaz.com.
All of the links. I will post inside of the show notes or in the description if you are watching this on YouTube. Please leave me a comment. Hit subscribe, hit like, all the things. And I will see you again next time.
