What about the guy or gal who wants to simply learn how to sing?
For a long time I thought about writing a book on how to sing, but simply couldn’t figure out how I was going to get it out. It really was a big mystery to me on how to write a book that could teach people to sing. I mean how do you use a book to teach something that should be taught by singing? How do you get someone to understand singing by reading instead of listening?
There are scores and scores of books out there on singing. All claim to be the best and only guide to learning how to sing. Most of them are complex, confusing, technical, mystical, advanced, or all of the above and more.
Granted, there are some that actually do have legitimate data to share and communicate fairly easily. They do actually teach some how to sing better. Yet those same methods don’t work on others. Why?
Notice that I used the phrase “how to sing better”. What about the guy or gal who wants to simply learn how to sing?
Well, in reading them myself, the answer became clear. Although the books were written with good information, they were still to advanced for the student, albeit basic for the writer. And the writer assuming the reader would already have a firm grasp on the basics, lost those who didn’t. And sadly the information goes unlearned and the would be singer gets no better, or worse, gives up.
With that realization, I was able to see how the teachings could work with someone who already understood the underlying basics of singing and who already had a passable ability to sing on pitch and in time. See? I even went and did it myself! I know what ‘pitch and time’ are, but what about the guy who never learned the basics of music and singing?
Pitch is simply being in tune and singing the right notes. ‘In time’ means to keep good rhythm and with the beat. But what if you have never experienced those things? How would you learn those abilities or get better at them? Would you even know what they mean?
How many people thought the movie Pitch Perfect was about baseball when they saw the title for the first time?
So, I started cutting under the basics to the basics of the basics and focused on starting from there. And low and behold, I was able to describe how to sing on paper.
I was able to see how I could teach someone to sing without saying a single word or singing a single note. And whats more, I started noticing the missing ingredients that ‘accomplished’ singers were missing in their own basics. Gaps if you will.
Well, then I realized that I could write a book that not only could teach people how to sing who couldn’t, but also help those who can sing be even better!
So I did.
Michael Graves
