If You Can Speak, You Can Sing
“If you can walk, you can dance. If you can speak, you sing.”- African proverb
I am often at parties or dinners where my profession comes up:
“And what do you do, Spencer?”
“I’m a vocal coach.”
(Well, let’s be truthful here...I’m not actually at a swanky party at all. I’m standing at US Customs and Immigration at Vancouver Airport begging them to let me into their country.)
Anyways, my response usually provokes a perplexed smile. “A vocal coach? Is that like teaching Scottish accents to actors? I saw this thing on Entertainment Tonight...”
“No, that’s a dialect coach. I teach people how to sing.”
This usually elicits a laugh from the border guard (not a good sign) at which point he dives into Story #1: he saw this guy on American Idol...and the guy thought he could sing...but he was terrible...and everybody laughed at him....and do people like that ever come in my studio and can I teach them to sing?
Or...Story #2: he sang in a choir when he was young...and someone said he was tone-deaf...and everyone moved to the other side of the room when he sang...and was he tone-deaf and could I teach him to sing? (Story #2, especially if accompanied by tears, is always a sign that things are looking up.)
My answer to both stories is always the same:
If you can speak, you can sing.
There is no one who is tone-deaf. (“Well, you haven’t heard my Aunt Clarice.”) Learning to sing is like learning to ride a bike...they are both learned coordinations. One just involves training smaller muscles.
If you have trouble singing, you just are untrained...that’s it. Many of us have bought the myth that singers are born. You can either sing or you can't, and that's it! As though God hands out voices like celestial “Duck, duck, goose.” “Here you go Stevie.. a-a-and Luther...and skip Spencer. There you go, Luciano.”
Great singers are born with an extraordinary sounding instrument, but they still have to train it. Some are able to self-teach to a point, but did you check the “Endorsements” page? Celebrities need coaches too, just like the rest of us!
A world-class voice is a combination of a great-sounding instrument, natural facility, quality vocal training, and a lot of perspiration. These are rare combinations which is why we celebrate them when they come along. But even if you aren’t destined to be the next Mariah Carey or Steve Perry, you can still improve what you have. You will love singing a lot more when it isn’t so darn frustrating.
At this point, I usually hand the border guard my business card, collect my passport, and make a mad dash to my plane. The guard calls out after me, “Thanks for the tip, mate!” in the worst Scottish accent I’ve ever heard.
- Spencer Welch, May 2007
Spencer Welch Vocal Studios
“If you can walk, you can dance. If you can speak, you sing.”- African proverb
I am often at parties or dinners where my profession comes up:
“And what do you do, Spencer?”
“I’m a vocal coach.”
(Well, let’s be truthful here...I’m not actually at a swanky party at all. I’m standing at US Customs and Immigration at Vancouver Airport begging them to let me into their country.)
Anyways, my response usually provokes a perplexed smile. “A vocal coach? Is that like teaching Scottish accents to actors? I saw this thing on Entertainment Tonight...”
“No, that’s a dialect coach. I teach people how to sing.”
This usually elicits a laugh from the border guard (not a good sign) at which point he dives into Story #1: he saw this guy on American Idol...and the guy thought he could sing...but he was terrible...and everybody laughed at him....and do people like that ever come in my studio and can I teach them to sing?
Or...Story #2: he sang in a choir when he was young...and someone said he was tone-deaf...and everyone moved to the other side of the room when he sang...and was he tone-deaf and could I teach him to sing? (Story #2, especially if accompanied by tears, is always a sign that things are looking up.)
My answer to both stories is always the same:
If you can speak, you can sing.
There is no one who is tone-deaf. (“Well, you haven’t heard my Aunt Clarice.”) Learning to sing is like learning to ride a bike...they are both learned coordinations. One just involves training smaller muscles.
If you have trouble singing, you just are untrained...that’s it. Many of us have bought the myth that singers are born. You can either sing or you can't, and that's it! As though God hands out voices like celestial “Duck, duck, goose.” “Here you go Stevie.. a-a-and Luther...and skip Spencer. There you go, Luciano.”
Great singers are born with an extraordinary sounding instrument, but they still have to train it. Some are able to self-teach to a point, but did you check the “Endorsements” page? Celebrities need coaches too, just like the rest of us!
A world-class voice is a combination of a great-sounding instrument, natural facility, quality vocal training, and a lot of perspiration. These are rare combinations which is why we celebrate them when they come along. But even if you aren’t destined to be the next Mariah Carey or Steve Perry, you can still improve what you have. You will love singing a lot more when it isn’t so darn frustrating.
At this point, I usually hand the border guard my business card, collect my passport, and make a mad dash to my plane. The guard calls out after me, “Thanks for the tip, mate!” in the worst Scottish accent I’ve ever heard.
- Spencer Welch, May 2007
Spencer Welch Vocal Studios
