hey chris liepe here can anyone learn to sing and sing well
before i answer this question i'm making this video because i get a lot of comments on
other videos and these comments go something like this
how to sing like freddie mercury step one you can't or it might be
how to sing like chris cornell step one don't even try or another comment that's more
generic might be you either have it or you don't or singing you either can or can't translated
you're either naturally born with a great voice and to be a singer you're naturally born with a
with a singer's voice and if you don't have that voice without trying then
you will never be a good singer that's what these are all sort of saying
you right
those were
days and martha all i had was you and all you had was me
there was no tomorrow we packed away our sorrows and we saved them for
and i sort of get the comments you know how to sing like jared leto dot dot dot
return return return gap you can't or whatever i sort of get those because
most it's easy to go down the road of like well you're never gonna sound like this guy so why
try but in this particular case there's this sort of defensiveness that comes off in the comment and
also a a defeatist mindset that really permeates everything that i'm talking about
i'm going to elaborate on this in a minute but first of all if we're studying another vocalist
we're pulling from the things that they do and how they sound
but we're not trying to be that vocalist if i am going to train like dwayne the rock johnson i'm
not i fully am aware that i'm not going to look like the rock but i might train and do some of
the things that he does pull some lifestyle habits from him or some some weightlifting techniques or
diet techniques so that i can see what happens with my own body if i go on a similar routine
so those comments how to sing like yes everybody can pull everybody can sing like someone else
everybody can can do things like another person this is possible you'll get different results
because you're a different person but you'll be better for it you'll be a better more self-aware
person by internalizing the habits and or what you perceive to be good traits in another person
in another singer but let's go back to the first group of comments those people who say
basically if you aren't a good singer you'll never be a good singer or you either have
it or you don't you know that kind of thing in order to fully illustrate the ridiculousness and
self-defeating mindset that this kind of way of looking at singing suggests and how
poisoning it can be i want to use a couple other commonly learned skills and draw some parallels
now really there's an admission to these this you either can or you can't or you have it or you
don't there's an admission and they may not think that this is the case but what they're really
saying is one i don't have the knowledge or i have no idea where to start to take this voice that is
not a singing voice and i really may have a little bit of desire to but i'm almost i i'm too lazy and
i am i'm willing to just cut it off uh and just just put that out there so that i have an excuse
to be to not grow in that area of of life singing in this case common grumblings i hear
i can't carry a tune to save my life i know the quality of my voice and it's horrible
my problem is i just hate the sound of my voice and nothing i do
can ever change that everyone tells me i sound bad when i sing or even when i talk and that i
sound too nasal and that i don't know what i'm doing so i'm not even going to try i'm going to
listen to those people who care about me if you really feel that way then yeah choose not to sing
go do something else but if you're choosing not to sing or you're not interested or you really think
you're you're horrible and there's no hope for you why are you watching a video or why are you
engaging with a vocal coach or another singer or musicians there's got to be a little bit
of something there riding a bike you either can or you can't you either have the balance or you
don't you either know how to ride a bike or you'll never be able to ride a bike what it's true that
if you don't know how to ride a bike you can't ride a bike this is a true statement it's also
true that if you haven't learned the balance to ride a bike you can't ride a bike so if you
haven't learned to do something you can't do it this is true but we don't say like oh you know
i can't naturally jump on the bike and so uh i can't ride a bike either however you
don't that's just we we've shown that over and over again right now you may not end up being
once you learn how to ride a bike you may not ride your bike professionally or be someone who rides
your bike all the time and is very good at it a certain type of bike riding you know maybe you're
a mountain biker or whatever b and that's where we can we can get into comparisons and and um
you know not not being willing to to deal with your own experience and and singing
or doing whatever you're doing merely for the wonderful shared experience of
doing whatever you're doing but with the right steps and education and discipline and practice
you'll learn to ride a bike and you could be really good at riding a bike good enough to
enjoy it and do things with it with with yourself and with others shaving oh you either know how to
shave or you don't that's true you if you don't know how to shave you don't know how to shave
and and if you try to if you just pick up a razor for the very first time and you start
without knowing how things are supposed to work
you probably cut yourself in fact while you're learning you'll probably cut yourself you probably
will learn all sorts of other things like how often should you shave well then that depends on
on how fast your hair grows and what what the oils are like in your skin and what kind of
razor you're using there's all sorts of these intricacies that you discover along the way
as you put yourself out there as willing to become a student in this particular area ah i'm
not going to learn how to shave because i could damage my face yes you could damage your face
but if you if you go through things mindfully and carefully and you're willing to
learn about your body and how to take care of it then you'll probably be fine
i know these sound ridiculous which is this is on purpose i want them to be ridiculous
because people apply the same thing to singing i love this one tying your shoes if you think
about tying your shoes it's not a natural thing at all it is something and you know having two
kids that i've had to help tie their shoes for years but also teach them how to tie their shoes
this is something that you you have to learn the coordination and you have to carefully
you know with fingers that are not designed to loop things in and around you you have to do
things in a certain way to get the right knot and the right lengths of the bows and the extra and
all that stuff and there's so many things that oh this pair of shoes ties different than this
pair of shoes and i tie my shoes differently when i'm in a hurry and and then they come untied and
there's all sorts of little subtleties but at the end of the day tying your shoes though a somewhat
intricate process can be something that ends up happening because you've worked to learn it
and improves your quality of life especially as a kid once you once you pass over from
having to be dependent on someone else to tie your shoes versus tying your own shoes and being able
to do it yourself driving a car this is another great one too especially a manual transmission
car the first time you get in a trans a manual transmission car and you try to drive it
it's very tempting to be like oh wow that's really awkward and not natural and we
but you know what once you learn all the intricate considerations and
sort of muscle memory aspects with your own muscles and the muscle memory of the car and the
clutch and the transmission and the interaction with the the torque curve and all these things
that are happening in the manual transmission once you really learn all these balances
it's one fun dance can anyone learn to sing and sing well yes you may not be a professional
singer or a famous singer or a prolific songwriter but if you want to learn to sing
if you're inspired by other singers and you want to be able to inspire others through your voice
there is there are lots of ways to do that and i can help you as a vocal coach that's what i do
join my free course let me help you get into some conversations on my youtube channel join my
free singing facebook group yes there are lots of singers out there who are naturally talented and
seem to just kind of open their mouth and amazing notes come out and they've already learned how to
do these runs and they can sing really high and they can they can express really really well
and and it just seems like they just have it and so i get it i get it where you know you've
got this 15 year old who opens their mouth and sings amazing and and you know you might be over
here monotone and not able to even hear pitch going yeah yeah you either have it or you don't
i get it but it's not true it is a defeatist mindset that is easy to fall into
but if you want to sing
don't say that don't let that be where things stop and if you don't want to sing rather than saying
either hub or you don't just say i don't want to learn just say that or don't say anything at all
if you want to learn how to sing and sing well check out my good singers versus bad singers
video also on youtube but learn to be expressive and emotive with the way that you speak
with the way that you interact with music so here's the first step simply put on some
instrumental music and start expressively speaking over it don't try to hit pitches don't try to be
good just be expressive yeah it's gonna feel a little goofy it's gonna seem a little goofy
but what makes a great voice
is the fact that that vocalist knows how to first and foremost be expressive and relatable with
their voice as an instrument yes but this is the first step so throw off that defeatist mindset
experience your voice for an expressive instrument that it is throwing off
all comparisons throwing off all self-doubt and see what happens