Always wanted to sing... but you were afraid you may be "tone-deaf"?

Here are three thoughts to show that the goal of singing is attainable.

When I was in high school, I read a book about the Elizabethan composer William Byrd (check him out on YouTube!*). I don’t remember all the details of his long life and successful career, which was sometimes marked by potentially dangerous political and religious tensions (Byrd was a Catholic in Protestant England not long after the time of Henry VIII). What has stayed with me over the years is a simple but catchy quotation, attributed to Byrd:

                      Since singing is so good a thing,
                     I wish all men would learn to sing.

We can learn three things from William Byrd’s quotation.

To begin with, there are two key words in this quote. The first is all. Byrd’s wish is not that just some of us, but that everyone should learn to sing! He is saying that all people can do this. After all, the ability to produce sounds at varying pitches for various durations of time, and to shape them consciously in a esthetically pleasing way, is a basic feature of the human voice.

The second key word is learn. Like any other skill, singing needs to be learned. Even the most naturally talented singers need teachers or coaches to realize and refine their abilities. The same goes for instrumental musicians, athletes, and anyone else who wants to develop a particular skill. We can all learn how to use our voices and become better, more competent, and more confident singers.

Finally, Byrd streses singing. He doesn’t “wish all men would study saxophone.” Of course he couldn’t have said that because Adolphe Sax didn’t invent the saxophone until the 1840s. But he could have said “shawm” or “sackbut” (older forms of the oboe and trombone), or some other instrument.

For William Byrd, singing is the most basic and essential form of music making, so that’s what he recommends—for everyone! And I agree! Don’t you?

Enjoy how the music of a composer born nearly 500 years ago comes alive on YouTube!

*selected recordings of music by William Byrd:

Keyboard music (played on the piano)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDhHkGoFewE

Keyboard music (played on the harpsichord)       

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRbKMqZyfq0

Songs                             

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4-hGmZ5NcU

Mass for 4 voices

(and also check out Byrd's masses for 3 and 5 voices!)  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXeT2HWpwc4