If you sing in the bath or shower, find yourself drawn to karaoke, or, perhaps, sing along to the radio or television or to your own guitar chords, then maybe you have a voice that you wish to develop. 

Luciano Pavarotti once said that ‘...singing is merely an educated scream.’  I have certainly heard a lot of screaming in karaoke nights and in all the various talent contests that have sprung up on the back of the televised singing shows.  Sadly, these programmes do not show what is really involved in the process of learning to use the voice.  They seem to promote a ‘quick fix’ desire in singers. 

The human voice is an instrument.  Like all musical instruments, it must be practised and nurtured over a long time scale.  If we think of great instruments, such as a violin made by Stradivari or Amati, we know how much love and care has gone into their construction.  Equally, anybody lucky enough to own and play one of these treasures goes to great lengths to look after it.    

Each of us possesses the most natural and beautiful instrument of all, the human voice, the only instrument capable of producing sound and words simultaneously.  Should I have singing lessons?  An athlete or ballet dancer has to train and perform certain exercises every day.  A dedicated singer also does the same.  The voice should not be overused, however, so exercises for singers should be introduced and practised under supervision of a qualified instructor.  We, as singers, try to nurture and coax our voices over time to increase in strength. 

We also look after the instrument by taking complementary physical exercise, eating and sleeping well and not smoking.  Singing lessons with a qualified teacher are a sensible option for anybody who is half serious about reaching their full potential as a singer.  This is true for all styles of singing, irrespective of a person’s age.  It is never too late to learn how to sing.