[HANASHIR:1940] Re: Can anybody learn to sing?

[Roslyn Schwartz <rs4...>]

My son has exactly the problem described (below) by Janice:  he has
great difficulty carrying a tune, and I discovered - when I tried to
teach him myself - that he literally could not recognise the difference
between a very high note and a very low one.

With very great effort, he could learn to copy simple tunes - David
Melech Yisrael for example - but he could not then generalise, to help
him in learning other songs more easily.

A few months before his Bar Mitzvah, I asked a singing teacher (who is
also a member of our congregation) if she could help.  I sat in on the
lessons, to learn her approach, so that I could work with him at home in
practice.  What I discovered was that she spent relatively little time
on the actual music he was learning - 10 out of 30 minutes - and most of
the lesson on focussed and specific exercises - 20 of out 30 minutes. 
A-B-A, A-B-A, B-C-B, B-C-B, C-D-C, C-D-C.  Ooo-eee-ooo.  Mouth open,
mouth closed, humming.  Directing the air to various different parts of
the mouth, nose, soft palate.  Feeling the vibrations in the chest,
nose, sinuses.  Etc. etc. etc.

This approach may be obvious to anyone with formal singing training, but
despite my many years of piano & other music lessons, these vocal
techniques were completely new to me.  

And within a very few weeks, the difference was obvious.  My son could
tell what he was doing, and what he was supposed to be doing.  He could
copy the Torah chant in five tries instead of fifty.  And he did a
terrific job up on the Bima!  (if I do say so myself!)

He will never be a vocal star, but he is able to enjoy music in a way
that he could not before.

- Roslyn


Janice Steirn wrote:
> 
> In response to Jess's question, I've worked with a lot of students learning
> to chant, and some seriously can't hear the difference between a voice
> going up or down.  These are the same students who can't seem to carry a
> tune.  I really think that there are perceptually (tune) challanged people.
>  If you can't hear, or discriminate tones, how could you learn to control
> your own voice?  Your voice wouldn't give you any feedback on whether
> you've moved your muscles the right way.
> 
> Since I don't professionally train voices, I don't know if there are some
> techniques to help people who want to sing but who are tone deaf.  I'm
> interested in other responses.
> 
> Janice
> 
> Dr. Janice N. Steirn
> Department of Psychology
> P.O. Box 8041
> Georgia Southern University
> Statesboro, GA 30460
> (912) 681-5505
> Internet:  JSteirn (at) GaSou(dot)edu