If there is a family of very good singer, is it more reasonable for me to assume that
a) The musical talent is heriditary
b) The musical nature of the family has seen to the training and exposure of the children to music from an early age
Realistically i believe it to be a mixture of both, but which explanation has a bigger role to play? If it is passed on by genes what exactly physically makes for a “good” set of vocal chords…is there even an objective measure for such a thing?
I think it’s both. Or at least it can be.
My mom is a very good singer. She was has classically trained and has always sung (she had a good chance to go pro, but considered herself too flakey to pursue it). She also plays the piano well.
My dad could carry a tune but never learned to play an instrument. All my sisters and I can sing well enough (can carry a tune, were in church choir, etc.) but never had the “fire in the belly” to really get into singing. Likewise, we all learned how to play the piano and had some natural talent for it, but never pursued it too much.
In general, at our best, we’re fair to middlin’ singers and musicians. We were given lessons, encouraged to learn, and are passionate about listening to music. Music is a big deal for our family.
Contrast that with some friends of ours, who loved music too. Quite as much as we do, I think. The parents (or at least one) was tone deaf. Neither parent really played an instrument well. They loved listening to music, but I don’t think that innate talent was there as much. Their kids also love music, but at least one is also tone deaf (though I think is in denial about it). I think that they will eventually learn musical instruments and possibly do well, but my hunch at this time is that it won’t be so innate for them.
So in our family, it was exposure, education, enthusiasm, and innate talent. It all helped. Granted, none of us kids are great musicians, but it’s certainly part of us. Learning wasn’t that hard either—I remember tinkering on the piano when I was in kindergarten and figuring out the beginner piano music book on my own. It seemed so logical to me. When I tried to show a “non-innate” musical person some basics on the piano, they looked at me like I was speaking Martian.
I do want to add that I think talent is overrated. Talent is great and it can really help, but if you’re too uninspired or lazy to do much with it, you’re never really going to get too far. For instance, I love music and on my best day I have a tolerable ability, but I’ll never really go very far with it because I simply don’t want to work that hard at it. Compare that to how I feel about drawing and art—my real obsession—and there’s a big difference. I have some innate ability for art, but I love it. A lot. I’ve spent hours and hours and hours practicing and drawing. So naturally I’m better at it than I am with music, because I’m willing to work at it. Interesting, my mom draws well too (I think I “inherited” some of her ability), but she doesn’t seem to have the fire in the belly about drawing as she does with music.
I should also answer this directly, and pass on some things that my mom has always told me.
There is a body type that seems to be better suited for singing. (Something with the lungs and diaphragm.) If you can’t carry a tune, obviously you’re screwed. She says that there’s something about the shape of the face (wideness of the head) that sometimes helps. I don’t think she means this to be taken literally—we all see singers of all body types and they all sing well. But it was something that she believes might sometimes be an element.
She says that training is a lot. She knew this one guy at college (where she studied music) who had a pretty weak, limited voice. However, he was really smart about choosing the right kind of songs (that didn’t go beyond his limited range) and he knew how to “sell” a song—give it emotion and character. She said that when you heard him sing you forgot that he didn’t have a physical advantage in regards to his voice. He may have been shortchanged in regards to his voice, what he did have, he worked to the hilt.
She knew another fellow student who was blessed with a lovely voice. She seemed to have a great natural gift in that voice. However, she could not seem to get any emotion in her singing. She just couldn’t get it. The teacher would try and try to explain how do it, but she absolutely could not. Some singers just “feel” the song and their emotions pour out through their voice—strong harsh tone in one part of the song, soft tone on another part, whisper in yet another part—but this did not compute with her. Could not do it. She just had this beautiful but cold voice.
So essentially, you can have the physical blessings of a good voice, but if you cannot learn how to express emotion with it, you’re never going to be much good.
This is true with art, as a matter of fact. Good technical skill but nothing to say is pretty boring. Mediocre skill but lots to express does a lot better. Hell, sometimes no technical skill is not an impediment.
I can attest to that, while i don’t have a whole lot of natrual singing talent i can still do musical theatre (on a community level) quite succesfully. Just hide behind a character voice, use emotion where needed and know my range/ what i’m capable of… and not be afraid to ask a director to change the key of a song. It helps constantly being around great singers and having a “good ear”.
Still i feel i have the passion and drive to be a great singer, just wasn’t born with a remarkable singing voice…suppose nature just screwed me.
Well, I was lucky to snag my mom and ask her about this issue.
She’s from the “old school” of singing—don’t know what methods are being taught now—but she said that her singing teachers really helped bring out the best in her. My mom’s voice was improved a great deal with proper training.
She also says that some teachers have screwed up ideas. (She knew of one guy who had his voice ruined because he was pressured to use a destructive technique by a flakey teacher.) She also tells of a looney music director who insisted that everyone sing too loud—my mom damaged her voice in some way because of this and had to stop singing for a while to recover.
Anyway, in conclusion, my mom says that understanding how to sing (expressing emotion) is far more important than technical skill. She also wants me to say that she’s just sharing her opinion, as a fellow singer. She does not claim any special insights—just her own experiences.
You say that have a “good ear.” This is a good thing! You also know how to sell a song. It sounds like you’ve already got a lot going for you. And besides, if you haven’t had formal training, (I don’t know if you have or not) then perhaps you have more innate vocal talent than you give yourself credit for!
Thanks for the input and compliments:) I consider myself a slightly above average singer, it’s just that the bar for me is set so high by my close friends who are AMAZING musicians. Some of the things i hoped to hit on in this thread were what you were talking about earlier…the pysicality of good singers and such. Even given that the passion of the performer is the most important aspect, i am still intrested in the “natrual talent”
If musical talent is a heriditary trait (and i think we can all agree it is) what is it about the vocal chords, or perhaps diaphram that makes for that natraul talent?
I think it’s mostly genetic. As far as what it is (vocal chords, etc.), beats me. As with most talents, though, I believe you either got it or you don’t. I could no more be taught to draw than my husband (who is a very talented artist) could be taught to sing.
Ever met someone from a musical family that couldn’t sing? Sad, isn’t it? If the talent came from environment you’d think they would at least be able to carry a tune or harmonize or something, because you know they grew up around people who sang all the time.
Sometimes talents “hide” in DNA, I think, and skip a few generations. That’s why every now and then you’ll see one person in a family, say, be able to draw and nobody else in the family can, but suddenly Grandpa reminisces about the pictures his Grandmother used to draw by the fire back in the day.
One thing I’ve noticed about “good singers” is a lot of them aren’t that great. They’re average singers who THINK they can wail, and the confidence they have in their ability seems to rub off on other people.
I will wait for my mother’s input on the voice thing, (she’ll be along shortly ;)) but I must strongly disagree about how you can’t be taught how to draw. You might not be able to draw as well as your husband, who has an innate talent, but yes, you can learn how to draw. Many people have done it before you. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, while it has its detractors, has helped a lot of people become fairly decent at drawing. One of my teachers was a former student of the author (Betty Edwards) and he taught her techniques in his class. His students improved remarkably. I already knew how to draw when I read her book, but some of her techniques really rang true with me. She explained and taught some things that I instinctively figured out on my own when I was a kid. That’s how come I could draw. Because I was innately able to figure out these particular methods.
That’s what I meant about “talent is overrated.” It’s one of those issues that really gets to me sometimes. People talk about how you were born with talent, and while there is some truth in that (take my family, for instance), even a little sliver of talent can be brought out, nurtured, if the person puts in that effort. And like with me and my musical talent, I could be quite good at it, but I won’t put in the effort.
As far as my art talent goes—sure, I was born with a talent. I loved to draw when I was age 4. Obviously something was going on there. But I worked very hard to get where I am with art, and when people tell me that I was “born” with it (as if that is all there was to it), they’ve got it all wrong. I didn’t start out drawing the way I do now. It was a lot of work. I loved doing it, because I loved art, but it was still effort and work.
Some people seem to think that I never had to put in any effort because I had this elusive, magical thing called “talent,” but that’s simply not so.
Okay, my mom’s answer (standard disclaimers apply: she’s just giving her opinion, she’s not an expert, methods may have changed since she was in school, etc.)
Physically, there seem to be some advantage to a certain shape of mouth, frame, etc. But not all of the time. She says that it’s more than just physical, it’s inside of you, kind of spiritual. (Like any other “talent,” I suppose.)
However, she points out that the famous guitarist Segovia had fingers that were too short and he was told that because of this, he wouldn’t ever be remarkable enough in guitar. He was determined to work around this problem, and he obviously did!
You’re already read my rambling about talent. I don’t know how much of it applies to singing, but I do know that effort and a good spirt and “feel” for your creative work (whether it be music or art or anything else) is extremely important. Skills can be learned, and handicaps can be worked around—at least to some extent. It sounds like you’ve got a good “feel” for singing. I think you’re probably ahead of the game. Good luck to you!
I can’t speak for singing ability, but for overall musical talent?
My birth mother: concert violinist and pianist
My birth father: music professor/pianist
My adopted mother: her father played the accordian. She has no musical talent whatsoever, can’t find a note to save her life
My adopted father: learned to play the clarinet by ear, but also cannot find a note to save his life
My adopted sister: played the guitar, flute, saxophone, piano, trumpet, and attempted to sing. None of it worked out.
Me: accomplished flautist, played in numerous orchestras and symphonies. Still play professionally sometimes. Can sing decently well.
There has to be a fair amount of nature involved. My parents never pushed me to into music, it was a desire I had to be involved. They just paid the bills. They did foster a greater appreciation of music than they maybe did for my sister through taking me to concerts when I asked, but it was never forced.
My dad has a set of 5 girl cousins who are all musically talented. More of them than not make a living playing or teaching music. Most of them are married with children. At least one of the fathers is also musical. It is always fun to recieve Christmas letters from the grandmother listing all the grandchildren and their instruments. (At last count, they were up to an average of about 3 instruments per teen). My mother’s favorite memory from early in her marriage is visiting their house and hearing piano quartets. To produce a piano quartet, take two baby grand pianos, place in living room. Place two people at each piano and play a song.
To my mind, that family illustrates the likelihood that both environment and heredity play a role. Anyone can learn to play one instrument, especially something like the piano. I can’t imagine learning more than one, and playing it past high school, without some real interest. On the other hand, being around people who play multiple intstruments (and earn a living that way) makes it more likely that you will percieve playing multiple instruments or earning a living that way as a normal, desirable thing to do.