First off, Congratulations Emily on achieving your masters in voice and best of
luck with your future aspirations.
Your question was, >>> is there such a thing as "tone deaf"?<<<
From my experience I don't think it matters whether there is or isn't. Even
judging by the answers you got so far from fellow listers there is no concensus
about the matter, however, personally I remain convinced that there either is or
will be scientific evidence to prove that there is such a thing, no matter how
rarely it occurs in the general population. Lloyd and Randy's comments corelate
with my own knowledge of the matter.
One of the most frequent questions asked of me in telephone enquiries is "I've
heard it's possible to teach anyone to sing, is that true?" Immediately alarm
bells start to ring these days, I've had my fingers burnt once too often. I used
to be idealistic and energetic but too many lazy and/or "untrainable" students
have cured me once and for all. As a result I have for some time now made "the
first lesson" an audition process with a set of specific exercises and if a
prospective student can't "hold a tune" or pitch match then I offer them
alternative options with different professionals. I even tell them straight out
on the phone sometimes if they know they can't hold a tune then they can't begin
to "learn how to sing" until they have had ear training which takes time,
perserverance and dedication and I don't teach that anymore, I have too many
singers wanting lessons. Of course I do this as gently and as politely and
positively as I can, I am not in the business of crushing peoples hopes and
dreams, despite the fact that that type of enquiry now crushes my spirit just a
little more every time I hear it.
The reason I now turn down these students is the utterly debilitating amount of
energy it took to get through lessons for a far less than happy outcome. We
would work and work, sometimes (most times) I would let go of accompanying and
just let the student find their own pitch level. When they did this some
students could sing a tune perfectly, but the moment any accompaniment was put
with it, it all went out the window. In another example, over time I have had
four students now, 3 males, 1 female, who all sang a major third above the given
pitch no matter what. Another time I had two students come to me at the same
time, (not together though) both named Greg, both wanting to be able to sing
along to the guitar which they had been studying for about twelve months both
totally devoid of any inherent musicality or pitch recognition. (Meaningless
coincidences.) One of them went home and diligently practised every day and
every lesson some small improvement or breakthrough occured. The other never did
a thing in between lessons and appeared to have the attitude that as a teacher
it was all my responsibility to ensure his progress. It was like banging my head
against a brick wall. Long story short, after about 18 months and more, despite
the diligence of the practising Greg, the difference between the two was
minimal. They still were no closer to being ready to actually start learning how
to sing than when they started. I had worked extremely hard, gone to colleagues
for advice, mixed ear training with vocal training, done copious research,
(sadly there was only an embryonic internet at that time which I didn't have
access to), done everything I knew possible in fact, and the result was two
frustrated, disheartened students (and one teacher), who both decided (only
after some hard convincing from me) it was better to put their time, money and
effort into their guitar playing instead. One blamed me for my inadequecies, the
other thanked me profusely. It had gotten to the point though that I dreaded
lessons with these two as I was left exhausted and stressed after every lesson
and I did feel totally responsible for a long time.
There have been others of varying (dis-)abilities and I have approached them all
with the same diligence, seeking advice and help and constantly being creative
when the students were too lazy or bored with my "brilliant" or constructive
ideas. All with a varying lack of success. (By my own perceptions that is, not
all of them felt the same way.) Not one of this type of student has ever learned
how to hold a tune or even follow a simple five note scale. There is not much
vocal training can go on when even the most fundamental of exercises cannot be
carried out. Some of these could only follow the exercises when I sang them.
That at least was a start. But despite our best efforts they never went on to be
able to sing a whole song or sing in a choir or to an accompaniment of any sort
which is what they ultimately wanted me to do for them, as if by magic.
The other spectacular failures I have had were the few students whose range, no
matter what I/we did, did not, could not, would not, evolve past an octave. This
is a different kettle of fish altogether however.
Katherine mentions >>>>I think tone deafness is a matter of inability of the
vocal muscles to function, mostly due to inactivity/atrophy.<<<< If this were
the case Katherine then it is probable that their speaking voices and indeed
their ability to cough and to swallow would also be affected. Not quite that
simple I'm afraid.
Personally, I am glad I previously took these students on, if only from a
personal growth perspective. I am thankful that my successes far outweigh the
frustrations otherwise I would have given it all away a long time ago. Some of
my colleagues, whom I hold little respect for, were too elitist and arrogant
(and possibly lazy and uncreative) to have even taken this type of student on in
the first place. But while I was struggling with my principles they were
training "serious singers" which did make me envious. So make of it what you
will, I offer the example of my own experiences as a cautionary tale as much as
anything else. For what it's worth, I think there is such a thing as tone
deafness and there are other professionals better equipped to deal with it than
singing teachers. And true tone deafness, like colour blindness is not
"curable", rare though it may be. (If it can happen after a head injury then
surely you can be born with it too.)
What have other's experiences been?
Michelle
Reality is just a figment of your imagination.
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