No – of course you haven’t, because the person who consistently sings off key also sings with a restricted sound. It may be forced, held-back, pressured, tense, wobbling or restricted in some [...]]]> Have you ever noticed that a person who is out of tune actually has a warm, beautiful, free, effortless, confident, resonant voice?

No – of course you haven’t, because the person who consistently sings off key also sings with a restricted sound. It may be forced, held-back, pressured, tense, wobbling or restricted in some other way – in all cases the sound is restricted and is not free!

Imagine a properly tuned guitar with strings that are somehow restricted from vibrating freely. Here it is easy to see and understand why it does not generate a pleasant sound. Just as a guitar string is able to vibrate freely when there is nothing hindering it, your voicebox is able to generate pleasant sounds when there is nothing restricting it (like all that trying and worrying about singing in key which happens to use the wrong side of your brain for singing).

In this light a very effective approach to singing in key is to discover your true voice so that you can release the sound and sing with freedom and confidence. You can do this on your own through trial and error; in your exploration you will eventually discover that singing on key is more a muscle concern than your ability to hear musically. Unfortunately doing this on your own means that the price you pay in terms of time and the risk of more problems is quite high.

Thus finding a good vocal technique teacher who understands your problem and situation, and, one who can teach you to release your sound through proper technique, would be the most beneficial way to discover and develop your true voice. This is by far the most efficient and therefore best approach for you to be able to truly sing with the freedom you want – and naturally be in key!

The best way to overcome difficulties with singing in key is to get singing lessons – here’s why.

Singing in key, or with correct pitch as it is also called, is one of the main concerns and goals for singers of all experience levels. Obviously this is [...]]]> How to sing in key?

The best way to overcome difficulties with singing in key is to get singing lessons – here’s why.

Singing in key, or with correct pitch as it is also called, is one of the main concerns and goals for singers of all experience levels. Obviously this is important because singing in key is what makes singing different from speaking. Folks who sing out of key get noticed for their not very pleasant sound while the voices of those who sing with proper pitch are welcomed and applauded.

So how do you learn to sing in key?

Many people who have difficulty singing in key have been told that they are tone deaf. And although that is possible in very rare cases; it is simply not true for the vast majority of people because the fact is that most of the world’s people sing naturally; for example: music making and singing is common to most religions and indigenous cultures.

The problem of not singing in key is generally understood as a situation of not listening to yourself. Thus a common prescription for resolving this difficulty is to develop your ear and fine-tune your ability to hear musically. The outcome of this approach is that you practice singing scales and intricate patterns of notes while being mindful to ‘hear the note in your head before singing it’ as a means of developing this skill.

However there is another approach (part II tomorrow).