According to popular belief, it makes no sense to take up singing if you don’t have outstanding talent from the start. We hasten to reassure you: this opinion is wrong. In fact, there are not so many people in the world who are 100% “bearish” about singing. Almost all of us have minimal vocal talent, and in most cases, we can train our ears.
It’s not that difficult to check whether you have singing abilities and what level they are at:
- Think about whether you’ve ever been told that you have a nice singing voice, for example, when you were singing along to your favorite song or having fun with your friends at karaoke. If so, the chances that you have really good vocal skills increase significantly;
- Record your voice on a dictaphone – take your favorite song, find the backing track on YouTube or any other specialized website, and sing for 30 seconds. You can record vocals without accompaniment, but if you haven’t had any a cappella singing practice, it can be a challenge. Listen to the recording, evaluate your timbre, sound clarity, and accuracy of the melody;
- If you are not too sure that you have correctly assessed your data, sign up for a lesson with a vocal teacher and let him or her listen to the recording. Most likely, this will not be enough, and you will be given a few simple chants to evaluate your range and asked to sing a song live;
- You can also check your range on your own if you have a piano, synthesizer, or smartphone app. Playing along with yourself, sing the lowest note you can play without strain, and then gradually work your way up to the highest note you can. Don’t try to outdo yourself and sing notes that go beyond your current range. Without the guidance of an experienced teacher, you can easily ruin your voice. You will always have time to expand your range competently and correctly in the process of learning: few people are able to sing three or four octaves at once without preparation and training.