Can a BAD VOICE learn to sing and sound good?

I recently came across this post on Reddit. And as I was reading, there was ONE very specific line that caught my attention.

I wanted to talk about this because I know a lot of us reading this today feel the same way.

Especially for those of you who are on the fence of wanting to learn to sing.

And I get it!

What’s the point of learning to sing, if I have to be born with something “special”?

That no matter how much I trained, I would still sound bad…

Well what if this wasn’t true? In fact, I will break the 2 biggest misconceptions down and also share an exercise to start improving the sound of your voice.

P.s. Real quick! For those of you who don’t know me. My name is Ivan, I’m a Voice teacher who works with students all around the world via Zoom Lessons. On this newsletter my goal is to make learning to sing simple. If that’s up your lane! Consider subscribing.

Misconception 1: You need to be born with a specific vocal tract/vocal folds

This is simply not true. Whilst there are some variances in the shapes of our throats, the thickness of our vocal folds.

The voice box of a singer versus someone who can’t sing is anatomically quite similar! I’ve even seen people study the voice by looking at a cow’s larynx because they are that similar.

Why is this important?

Singers don’t have some special neck. Most of what you consider a “good voice” comes from FUNCTION. I.e. learning how to use the muscles/ligaments correctly!

Simple things like

Getting their vocal folds to stretch, come together, balancing out your airflow…

And most importantly doing this with precision!

So I would encourage you to make this distinction in your mind. The reason you don’t have a good voice is simply because you’re untrained.

Misconception 2: My speaking voice just naturally sounds bad.

Now some of you might argue… Well Ivan.

That can’t be true.

Have you heard my SPEAKING voice? My voice naturally sounds flat. It sounds whiny. Whenever I listen to my voice on recording is SOUND awful.

Recognise these 2 things.

Most people hate the sound of their own voice. And also your own ears might not be the best judge.

The reason is you’ve spent most of your life listening to your voice in a particular way. When you speak, there’s two ways for sounds to travel.

One is through the vibrations of your muscle and bone which travels up to your inner ears. The other is through air.

For most of your life until you started recording your voice. You’ve been listening to BONE CONDUCTIONS whereas other people have been listening to it via AIR.

Try reframing this in your mind with me. You don’t “hate” the sound of your own voice. You’re simply just NOT used to it.

Nope! Ivan my voice genuinely sounds bad

There definitely is a possibility that your voice ACTUALLY sounds bad. Maybe it’s whiny, maybe your articulation isn’t good.

Remember this:

Natural = Habits

The way you speak is a combination of the speaking habits you’ve picked up in your life. Maybe it’s from your parents, your friends, your favourite TV show.

This is promising, because habits can change.

For example, I actually receive a lot of compliments about my speaking voice. I’ve had friends, colleagues compliment the way I sound.

But this wasn’t always the case! When I was a lot younger and definitely before I started singing lessons. I used to have this weird asian accent which was almost borderline whiny to listen to. Even my girlfriend who has heard them both mentioned I sounded really weird before.

You see, the voice is really capable of change.

All it takes is proper training and guidance.

If you aren’t singing the way you like. Don’t blame it on genetics. That’s the easy way out.

Sure, some other people might have had it easier. And maybe it’s a bit harder for you like it was for me.

But it is definitely possible.

Okay! Let’s dive into a simple VOCAL exercise to help move your voice in the right direction.

Whilst there can be lot of different habits/coordinations to develop for a GOOD sounding voice. Let’s focus on two.

1) Get GOOD cord closure
2) And doing this whilst keeping your throat relaxed

Why? Having both of these ingredients create a full sounding voice. One with clarity AND also warmth to balance it out.

EXERCISE: NG to VOWEL

1. We’re going to find a really nice buzzy quality on NG. This is your cords closure properly

2. Now let’s see if we can relax our throat. Try add a bit of a sigh feeling and finding that NG

3. Now that we’ve found both clean cord closure AND a relaxed throat. Try holding out this feeling and dropping the tongue only as much as you need to get to your target vowel.

Remember: You need to have both the cord closure AND the relaxed feeling. Both of this create a more pleasant sounding voice.

That’s a WRAP

So hopefully you realise that there’s nothing genetically different about you. The only thing holding you back from a good sounding voice is consistent vocal training and getting the right advice.

Remember,

“Don’t Be Upset with the Results You Didn’t Get, With the Work You Didn’t Do”
- Luke Campbell (British Boxer)

Get started with your voice! And if you feel stuck, don’t feel like you have to do it on your own. Reach out for a voice lesson. 

🌍 Book Private Singing Lessons here: https://calendly.com/singingsimply 

🌍 Step By Step Singing Course: https://www.singingsimply.com/courses/singing-fundamentals 

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