Take it from someone who hasnt had a single singing lesson in his life, doesnt have a great voice but still has clocked a few thousand hours of singing in front of an audience… YOU DONT HAVE TO BE BORN WITH IT!

Ok… so some people are born with it. They CAN sing by DEFAULT! Not me… all I had was a squeaky voice and a love for music. But that love for music helped. For starters it helped build an understanding of music. You start understanding the rudiments of music. The rhythm, the melody, the key, the chord progressions etc.

I realized I had an interest in using my voice! I wanted to sing.

The key to singing is the same as anything else. Its about PASSION… HEART… SOUL… BLOOD… SWEAT… TEARS… and phases of silence when you eventually lose your voice for a day or two…

So… singing… hmmmm…
Visualize singing in a band context. The guitarist picks, bends, taps and does other things to a bunch of parallel stings to produce music. The sounds are produced by VIBRATING strings. The drummer pummels skins. The sound is produced by vibrating membrane. The piano player bangs keys that trigger hammers to whack strings and cause them to vibrate. A saxophone player blows air to produce music.

A Singer Uses His Or Her Larynx Or Voice Box To Produce Music
Your voice box coupled with some other organs are what help you produce noises that can range from melodic to something that sounds like the cry of a hyena on heat. The other important bits of your body that contribute to the whole cause and these include the lips, tongue and lung.

Breathe… breathe in the air…
To be able to sing and sustain notes, you need to start pampering and conditioning your lung. Regular breathing exercises help. Yoga works wonders. Once you develop your lungs, you’d be able to regulate the flow of air within to produce and sustain great notes.

Listen! and then sing along…
Slip in a CD or tape of a song that you like. Listen to it. Feel it. Try to identify each instrument. And hum along. Slowly join in and try to sing with the singer. Try to emulate the highs and the lows.

The ear and the mouth are bonded. The ear provides the mouth with food for thought and vice versa. So LISTEN, LISTEN and LISTEN!

You’ll slowly start opening the doors for your voice box to experience a world of sounds.

Shadow boxing is the key
Deceptive topic heading but the intent is clear. Stand in front of a huge mirror, grab a comb as your pretend microphone and sing. If shadow boxing works for boxers, mirror singing works well for singers.

Break out of the shell
Next time the family throws a party, showcase your voice. Liven up the place and do your confidence a world of good. Confidence is a great thing. And its good to test your skills with known entities – you can get away with a few bum notes here and there.

Observe how they do it
I once saw a music teacher sing on stage. It was fascinating. The veins in her throat stood out. And you could see that her sound wasnt coming from the throat. It was coming from deep inside. From the very depths of her soul. Over the years I’ve seen many people perform on stage. Great singers. Their commitment and dedication made me feel miniscule. But it also inspired. It also taught a lot.

Exploring a passion
Now that I’ve passed all the paths I’ve tread to reach where I have, heres the piece of advice I have to give – if you have a chance to get vocal training (singing lessons) take it. A trained voice can do much more than an untrained one.

Pack these in your bag
* Fitness – both respiratory and the body as a whole – is essential.
* A passion for music
* The patience to listen!
* Determination to keep practicing
* A will to learn from others

If you are one of those people who are dead serious about being a good singer – invest in a tape recorder. I still have a dozen odd tapes of my own voice. Listening to myself has helped me improve my vocal range and fix flaws (even though there are tons more)

You don’t have to be born with it. You just have to discover it… and BUILD IT!

Finally, KEEP TELLING YOURSELF ’’I AM THE BL**DY BEST’’

~finis~

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Footnote: The genre that I sing is HARD ROCK. It places a lot of stress on the vocals. I used to lose my voice pretty often, till I discovered green tea and the virtues of honey. I also keep a bottle of DABUR’s HONITUS – a cough syrup made out of honey and other natural stuff like TULSI. Its great and completely non-toxic