Yes, anyone can learn to sing: why being tone-deaf is mostly a myth

Each week, Good Weekend’s how-to column shares expert advice on how to navigate some of modern life’s big – and small – challenges. This week: How to sing in tune.

“Everybody can sing in tune,” says choral conductor Elizabeth Scott firmly. “It’s just that some people might need more help to be able to harness that ability.”

According to Scott, who teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the key to the exercise is listening. “It’s about connecting your ear and your vocal cords. And some people do that absolutely naturally. They hear a sound and they can imitate it.” Others aren’t born with that gift. “But it’s possible to learn how to do it.”

Where to begin? “Humming is a good way to start discovering what your voice can do,” says Scott, herself a fine soprano. “Play a note on a keyboard – it can be a piano app on a phone or iPad – and then slide your voice up and down until your humming disappears into the sound that the keyboard is making. That’s likely to mean you’ve found the note.”

The technical term for this is “matching pitch”, and it’s the first step towards singing in tune.

Scott doesn’t underestimate the challenge involved for some. “I’ve had students where I’ve thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is going to be really hard work.’ I play a note for them on the piano and they sing something completely different. They can’t hear whether they’re singing higher or lower.”

She understands, too, that many of us – even normally self-assured individuals – are crippled with shyness when it comes to singing. “Children sing a lot,” she says. “It’s such a natural thing for humans to do. But as we get older, we develop a fear about singing in front of people. People feel quite naked and vulnerable when they sing.”

For those glumly convinced that they can’t hold a tune, Scott has counterintuitive advice: join a choir. Singing in a group is a great way to build confidence, she says. Safety in numbers! “No one’s going to laugh at you. And people will help you.” The mere act of making music together hones the participants’ vocal skills and pitch-matching ability: “Am I singing the same sound as the person next to me, or am I singing something different?”