June 27, 2025
Often, after I tell someone I’m a voice teacher, they reply, “Oh, I’m tone deaf!”
Now tone deafness is a thing, but it affects a tiny 1.5% of the population. If you have trouble singing, tone deafness is probably not your problem.
Usually, after a bit more conversation, I find out that “I’m tone deaf” is short for
- I have a hard time singing in tune.
- When my family hears me sing, they tell me to stop.
- People make fun of my singing.
- I can hear that I’m not matching pitch and it drives me crazy.
- I’ve tried to sing in tune and nothing’s worked.
YET, I would add. Nothing’s worked yet.
Because if you can hear the difference between a statement and a question, and if other people can tell when you’re asking a question, your brain understands pitch.
To show you what I mean, check out this video from Gloomhonk. It does a great job of illustrating how speech has pitch, and it might also tickle your funny bone.
I firmly believe that if your brain understands pitch, you can learn to sing in tune. Really and truly. It might take a while, but your brain is already wired for singing because you can speak.
In a few weeks, I’ll be offering an online class called From Silent to Singing especially for folks who don’t sing, or who sing very little, because they’re afraid of singing badly.
Do you know anyone like that?
Please forward them this post and ask them to email letters@mvmusik.com so that I can send them more information about it. Thanks so much! They will thank you, too!
This weekend, I’m celebrating both 10 years of marriage equality and the first time I heard an American President sing in the middle of a speech.
In reflecting on that moment, President Obama said, “I knew that if I just hit the first bar, then the organ was gonna come in behind me. The clergy would stand. The congregation would join in. That it would no longer just be about my voice, but it would be about all of our voices together, lifting each other up.”
However nervous or awkward you may feel in the moment, your singing has the power to lift another person up, even many people up. Today, find a moment to sing out. The world can take it. The world will be better for it.
Warmly,
Michèle
