Ok let me be very clear about this. Everyone, no matter how naturally gifted, will improve immensely with the aid of some singing lessons. I don’t say this from the point of view of being a singing teacher. I come from the place of being a singer. It stands to reason that a singing teacher should have some natural singing ability. You can’t really teach people to sing or do anything unless you yourself have mastered it yourself. Makes sense right? So, from the point of view of being a singer I can tell you this. I sang for YEARS without any training. Ostensibly, I could say that ‘it didn’t hold me back’. I mean, I could ALREADY sing, without any lessons, so what would be the point then of having them, right? Wrong. Very very wrong. When I first started teaching, about seven years go, the last thing on my mind was improving MY voice. I mean, the lessons are not about MY voice. They’re about helping other singers to reach their full potential. So, armed with some (very effective) techniques I learnt years of experience in the business I set about the task of starting my own singing teaching business. Fast forward 7 years and I can absolutely testify to this. No matter who you are, or what your ‘starting point’ is, you will benefit from lessons BECAUSE after teaching these methods and techniques over and over again several times a week I started to notice a marked improvement in my own voice! Yes. It was undeniable. I mean I still sounded like me, but just………..better. I felt vocally stronger, could sing with a bit more ease and power and that in turn, made me feel quite a bit more confident. It really hit me one day, I was in the middle of teaching a particular technique and I thought, wow, these techniques actually work really really well !!! I could feel it for myself and needless to say I have noticed incredible improvements in the voices of most if not all of my students no matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ they were to begin with. Christina Aguilera is a naturally gifted brilliant vocalist. No argument there. She’s not the only one of course but I’ll use her an example. Irrespective of her natural obvious talent, she trains with her vocal coach every day. Why? Because she wants to be as good as she can be. Simple as that. Now when I was young, there just wasn’t THAT much choice of teachers and or techniques available. I went to a lesson in my twenties and the teacher told me to ‘not stick my chin out’. That was it. It’s just that they didn’t have these new amazing techniques in those days. There’s alot that can be done to improve anyones natural ability and no matter who you are, you’re only going to be better if you learn how to properly use your breath, how to warm up, how to care for your voice, how to sing high notes, how to improve your tone, your power and more. Celine Dion is another great example of a very naturally talented singer who trains daily to keep her golden pipes in pristine shape.
If you’re serious about singing, you need a teacher. Absolutely no doubt about it. And if you put it off and then eventually do have lessons, you’ll kick yourself for not doing it sooner. I see this time and time again. Find a teacher you like then go from there. Just keep in mind though, it can take a bit of time to forge a bond etc. After all you and your teacher are strangers so be prepared to give it a bit of time. Good luck!