The ability to sing, is it something you're born with or is it learned?

Question

Or is it a combination of both?

Do you have to have natural talent to sing well? Can you sing at a professional level without taking lessons?

Answer 1

i think that it is a combination of both.
you have to have "potential" (capabilities of improving or being great with some work) and natural talent, and then it may be neccessary to fine-tune it, or improve the technicalities of your voice (breath support, open vowel sounds, posture, etc) so you can reach your full potential.

Answer 2

I would say that yes, you can sing at professional level without taking a single lesson - like Jewel or a few other pop singers. However, you won't last a very long time without knowing proper technique. Just the same as you can be a natural born fighter, but without going through training you could get seriously hurt.

With any discipline, you need to take the steps so that you don't injure yourself or learn something that wreaks your natural talent. In singing, you can develop vocal polyps, nodules, etc...

You also need training to help you discover your true voice, learn the tips and tricks to sing a difficult song, but most importantly you will learn how to breathe correctly. Without this fundamental step you can't support your tone and have true control over the dynamics of your voice.

In short, yeah, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.

Answer 3

most of the other folks who have answered have it right- a combination of both. we are also all born with legs, except for a small percentage, so theoretically we can all run fast. Most of us don't. Yes, training will make us go faster, and we will get a feeling for what it could be like, but we will never make it to the Olympics. Maybe a local track meet, and won't we be happy to go that far. Maybe just a good daily jog, and we'll be happy to do that. The factor is in the build of that person's body, and how well they tune into it.
The same goes for singing- vocalogists ( voice scientists)
measure the effective length of the voice from the vocal cords ( those little, less-than-an-inch-long ribbons) to the lips. Inside the pockets of the throat and mouth are areas where the sound can and does bounce around enough to enhance the initial little sound created by the vocal cords into something that can be heard on the outside. If a singer trains to tap into these pockets of resonance ( called formants) it's like having a sound technician built in. That's what opera singers go for. It's what gives them the ability to be heard over the orchestra without mikes.
It takes time and patience to train this way, because not only do these pockets change in size with the notes, but also with the vowels we sing. So that the vowel "i" on the note d has to have a different feeling/position than the vowel "ooo" on a Bflat. ( Kinda like learning the times tables with your mouth?) And then do it in other languages as well.
If someone dedicated enough takes the time to do this, chances are they will come away with a beautiful voice.
Maybe good enough for the community or college production, and won't that be a blast! Maybe just enough to sing at parties with friends. The factor is a special configuration in that person's build that gives their voice something extra.There are very few of those people. The rest of us are happy to get along having trained, and keeping up our training, in order to maintain a professional level.
A perfect voice? What's that? Since we are "only" human, I don't think it exists. that's for those who have gone past being human...
Best wishes and keep on singing

Answer 4

I think its a combination of both because i've sang ever since i was a little kid i remember singing at talent shows since i was like 7 yrs old and ever since i was little to me singing was something i really loved and well when i decided to join choir in high school i was actually better than the ones that had been in choir for a long time already and my cousin sings like wow she can really impress people and she didn't need any lessons of course getting lessons makes u a better singer....

Answer 5

well, thats kind of hard to say, I am a singer, everyone tells me I am really good, i have been singing since i was two years old, and i have had some vocal lessons. that had strengthend my singing skills by a lot! I can sing a lot of hard songs, but it's becuase I sing inside my room every single day for 3 hours! If i dont do it, I feel like I am forgetting something, If you want to get good in singing, sing all the time, and if you dont want to take singing lessons, sorry, you are going to have to, its basically manditory. it really depends on how well trained you are, i belive that everyone can sing if they have enough practice, my voice is natural, but I no another girl who had started singing when she was about ten, and she's almost as good as me, but it's because she has been taken lessons all the time, she gets better everytime I hear her, so there's you answer! I hope it helps!!!!! :)

Answer 6

One can be born with the ability to sing. Others can learn to do so. Natural talent helps, of course, but everyone could use lessons to improve their voice. It takes practice to develop one's voice.

I think it may be possible to sing at a professional level without taking lessons, but natural talent would have to exist in great abundance. Everyone, even the best vocalists, could use lessons in developing their voice. I'm not saying it's impossible, just improbable.

Practice makes perfect.

Answer 7

It can go either way. Sometimes there are people who are amazing and have never even seen a voice teacher before. On the other hand there are people who go to a voice teacher with a weak sounding voice who come out with strong powerful voices. That was my case.

I think the best answer is to take voice lessons. Even though you may sound very pretty and talented there is ALWAYS room for improvement and more to learn.

A voice teacher teaches you to use your instument the proper way, how to take care of it, and teaches you different scales and warmups that will help you. Everyone has thier own special needs that sometimes only a voice teacher can hear.

There is somthing called a break in everyones voice. This is the part in your voice where you switch over from your powerful chest voice to your light airy head voice. A voice teacher will smooth that out for you so you dont have a break anymore.

Best of luck

Answer 8

Generally some people are born with it & some just aren't. But during early & intermediate childhood any exercises done in singing whether technical or not will use & exercise the vocal chords which will help to build the childs skill & enthusiasm while they are at such an age that such factors are still influenced. Some singers are simply really good because they sing all the time & enjoy it, regardless of lessons taken. Some singers who have taken dozens of lessons may not have that much skill at all, but that's just genetic I supose.

Answer 9

It seems that to be a good singer you have to be born with a good ear, that is the ability to match pitches or sounds with your voice. Pitch matching is a vital key to singing in tune, and that's about half the battle.

In addition it helps if you are born with a pleasant timbre to your voice, that your voice isn't naturally raspy or harsh or shrill or muffled.

If you have those two prerequisites, and then add voice lessons and even a little formal musical training on things like theory, you will have the basis for a very enjoyable life long experience singing.

Answer 10

Many people are born with the ability to sing well, but it is also something that must be learned and built upon. The voice is an instrument, if I may, that has the ability to be conditioned and accustomed a certain way. This is apparent in different types of vocal use. One is not generally born woth the ability to belt or opperatic voice, these things must be learned.

Answer 11

I actually say you are born with a voice that is in tune ie the ability to sing To sing you have to have talent persistence & luck & the last question Do you really think Mick Jagger & the Rolling Stones had lessons in singing? No