I attended a 45th reunion for a class that graduated in 1961. Great fun and a wonderful bunch of “kids.” One of them was Neil Lieurance.
I was completing my second year of teaching in 1961. Didn’t know much but it was exhilarating and I was still feeling elated and a sense of “Wow! I’m actually being paid to do this!”
One guy , no, not Neil, but (as it turns out) his cousin, Bob Rockett, got up and said, “I still remember Mr. Meharg telling me just prior to the spring concert that he would give me a C as a final grade in choir if I would stay home during the spring concert, but that he would flunk me if I showed up.” I don’t know if he was playing for a laugh (he got it) or if this really happened. It could have happened. I wasn’t very careful in such matters back then.
A friend, Olaf, who is in the tech services business in Toronto, sent this message to me a couple of days ago…part of an online conversation we were having. Olaf, aside from his computer work, sings in a band called “Vile Richard.” But this is what he said about his long time girl friend:
I can't get Lisa to sing at all. When she was six years old she sang in a choir for school. Just before they went into a competition, her teacher pulled her aside and told her that while all the other kids were singing she should "mouth the words". She took it very personally and that was the end of her singing career. I guess it would be quite a blow to one's confidence!
It’s a story I’ve heard dozens of times! It’s a story I wish were not true. And, I’m so, so, sorry…but it may be a story a student of mine could tell. In my egocentric rush to have “my kids” sound good, I could easily have shushed a few like that, especially in my days of teaching elementary school music.
Not long ago I became acquainted with a fellow attending my church who asked me if I could help him sing better. He had acting experience, was not afraid to speak in front of crowds but, literally, was ashamed that he couldn’t “carry a tune.”
He, like Lisa, had been told a long time ago that he couldn’t sing. I met with him. At first I thought he was right…not even close. He had a low voice. I found his note on the piano and we experimented with moving on up the scale from there, and finally, with singing a familiar hymn an octave lower. With patience and practice, this man can sing. Even if he sings the melody an octave lower than most men, he’s singing.
I know virtually nothing about the brain, ear, vocal mechanism connection and how pitch discernment and tone matching takes place. I’m convinced, however, that virtually all people can be taught to sing. Some may take longer to develop the skill than others. Some may need friendly and oh so kindly help.
I urge us all to vow to never tell anyone…no matter what age, but especially children…that it would be better to “mouth the words” this time. We can’t control what family members or others might say to them, but how devastating to hear a trusted “professional” imply that “you can’t sing.”
I’d love to hear your story. How do you help a youngster (or oldster, for that matter) learn to “carry” that tune…and how do you do it without the slightest hint of injury or hurt? We'll publish your ideas if you give us permission.
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Web/Editor's note:
Two weeks after writing and posting this article, I received the Colorado's ACDA newsletter, Colorado RE:View, edited by Timothy and MB Krueger. MB had written the following on much the same topic. With her permission, I include this. I believe you'll find it good reading. See "Are Some People Really Tone Deaf" below.
Howard Meharg
On Thursday, October 23, Margie Boulé. columnist for The Oregonian, wrote "Note to teacher may well grow into a cascade of tunefulness." This wonderful article on the same subject, speaks of a Portland Community College teacher, Anne Weiss, who believes anyone can learn to sing...and goes about to prove it. Please take a look: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/margie_boule/index.ssf?/base/living/1224635110175800.xml&coll=7
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Are Some People Really Tone Deaf?
MB Krueger, Newsletter Co-Editor
W e’ve probably all dealt with it: conducting a non-auditioned choir that includes someone who just can’t seem to match pitch. What do you do with such a singer? Hide them in the back? Kick them out? Ask them to mouth it? Live with the distracting dissonance?
Your answer may depend on what kind of time you have. It has been my experience that it is possible to dramatically improve a person’s pitch matching skills with some one-on-one time and patience.
As a choral conductor, singer, and educator, it always breaks my heart to hear comments from someone who has given up:
“You don’t want to hear ME sing!”
“My music teacher told me to mouth it in 2nd grade.”
“I used to sing all the time, but my parents/spouse/children told me to stop.”
Singing is so personal. If you don’t like the basic sound of your violin, you can save up your money and buy a new one; but your voice is part of who you are, so it may feel as though any sounds that are less than perfect diminish you as a person. That’s a lot of pressure, and it can cause some people to label themselves as tone deaf and be done with it.
My experience has been that those who think they are tone deaf simply haven’t learned how to use the full range of the voice. Because of this, they have very rarely heard themselves actually sing a correct pitch, so they also have almost no sense of what it sounds and feels like to sing in tune.
In most cases, I find that inexperienced singers try to sing at the same general pitch level they use to speak. For most of us, the pitch at which we speak is in the bottom third or quarter of our singing range. In my own voice (I’m a mezzo), I tend to speak at and below middle C – let’s call that “first gear.” For me, second gear might be from middle C to the middle of the treble clef staff; third gear might be the upper half of the staff; and fourth gear the top of the staff and above. I find that using this “gear” terminology with inexperienced singers gives them a new way to think about using the voice. When they fall back into old habits (singing in first gear), I simply remind them – “No, that note won’t work in first gear. You need third gear for that pitch!”
In using this approach, I do a lot of demonstrating, and it’s not all pretty! I think it’s important for a singer to know that a sound that is unattractive the first time can grow in beauty the more it is used and exercised. Along with “shifting gears,” the inexperienced singer will also be dealing with improving habits of breathing, support, placement, diction, resonance, etc., and it’s a lot to think about – it takes time before everything works together. For this reason, it is so important for the singer to give him/herself permission to be imperfect and to keep trying.
One example of impatience in this process is one I’m sure we’ve all fallen into – pounding out the desired pitch on the piano louder and louder hoping that the singer will really hear it and match it this time. Instead of trying to make the inexperienced singer match the piano, I’ve found it to be very effective if I can get the piano to match them. If the singer can sustain any pitch long enough for me to find it on the piano and play it with them, then they have suddenly heard what it feels like to match pitch. If I then move by step in either direction, they can generally go with me and continue to match pitch.
A process like this might take only minutes with one particular singer and hours with another, but in my 18 years of teaching, I have had only one student who did not respond and improve within a semester. Of course, he’s the one I will always remember and regret – if only I had a little more time . . .
MB Krueger
Director of Choral Activities
Metropolitan State College of Denver
Co-Editor of the Colorado RE:View, the newsletter of the Colorado chapter of ACDA |
