How long does it take to learn to sing well?
This question gets asked a LOT. In fact, I can see it’s one of THE most searched for terms on the internet. And understandably so… how long DOES it take to learn to sing well?
People have set their sights on improving their voice, and rightly so. They want to know what’s involved, how long it’s going to take, how much time do they need to commit, etc.
Short answer: Most people can make significant improvements in 3 to 6 months with consistent training, while developing a truly polished, confident singing voice typically takes 1–2 years. The key variable is not talent — it’s focused practice, guidance, and how efficiently you train.
Long answer: Of course, I’m sure most reading this will grasp that there isn’t a single definite answer, as the nature of progress in any skill is dependent on many factors. But even accounting for all those “it depends” factors, there is a lot of predictability in the process of training the average voice.
So in this article, I’m going to get a bit more precise with the phrasing of this question. Then I can tell you how long certain things tend to take based on certain conditions. All this is based on my experience, and is based on the average rate of progress for the average voice.
A more precise question
When someone asks, “how long does it take to learn to sing?”, this is actually several questions all packaged up into one. Here’s how we break them apart:
- Point A – where is this singer presently at with their voice?
- Point B – where is this singer looking to get to with their voice?
- How quickly can we cover the distance between point A and point B?
To clarify, if all we are talking about is singing songs at all, then anyone who can sing in tune can sing. What we are going to get specific about today, is singing well. We’ll define this by both the singers’ standards, and the wider music world’s standards.
Point A: Where is a singer’s starting point?
In every initial consultation, we conduct an assessment on a singer’s voice to identify where their voice is at presently. All tone, range, power, control, etc is a by-product of good vocal function. Once a sufficient level of functional ability is a given, then a given style or aesthetic outcome tends to drop out without too much effort.
But EVERY singer starts out in a different place. I’ve worked with totally untrained singers, who have barely sung before, whose instrument is doing so little wrong that they are on their way to singing quite difficult material very early on. Their starting point – their point A – is way in advance of the average.
In contrast, I’ve worked with professional singers who are incredibly musical, and with plenty of training, but the way their voice is put together means their point A is sometimes behind the average point A… it’s their musicality that covers over this.
Most singers are generally biting off more than they can chew. Guitarists and cover artists are notoriously bad for this, insisting on singing songs in the original key, even when they don’t sound that great. Remember, there’s no prizes for singing a song in the original key, badly, only for sounding great.
So we must know where someone is starting out, and we must be realistic about what they can do at that stage to both continue to sing their desired material, while also deploying that material in a way that keeps their voice progressing.
Point B: Where does a singer want to get to?
This hinges heavily on their musical goals.
If I get the average male singer coming in, wanting to sing something like Buble, Sinatra, etc, then it’s going to be a shorter time frame. This is because the range demanded by the desired material is high but not excessively so.
For the average female singer wanting to sing Karen Carpenter, lower Adele pieces, etc, I’d expect a similar time period. Again, this is not saying such aspiring singers would be at their absolute best, but access to notes and a reasonably even tone could be expected within that sort of time frame. It’s an initial standard we are aiming for.
In contrast, if a male singer wants to sing substantially higher material, ala U2, or classic rock material ala Journey, or maybe even Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars, etc, we’ll be looking at a much longer time-frame to acquire that more advanced standard. Same would be true for the higher ranged equivalent female artists.
Bear in mind that if a voice is weightier than the average, it will take longer, as the extra depth and power in the voice gives more raw material we need to shape and hone to build a smooth and useable instrument. The lighter the voice, the less time it will take to access the notes, but the more time will need to be spent in making the voice sounding full enough to not sound weedy or thin.
How fast can we move from point A to point B?
This is down to frequency of practice, duration of practice, how accurately are they practicing the material they need to be practicing, and how receptive is their body to the new training regimen.
Some people practice extensively, but do not practice well, e.g. not doing strict voice work, insisting on keys that are too high, doing it whilst distracted, etc. Such singers are usually ingraining bad habits despite the long practice hours.
Others practice less often but are more effective and productive with their practice. Even 10–15 minutes of targeted, intentional practice a few times a week can move a voice forward enormously.
Some people’s bodies are incredibly responsive to being shown good technique, and their voices can advance rapidly because of how fast their body seems to take on new muscle memory. Others find their body is more stubborn, and it takes a LOT more repetition (done correctly) to elicit the same kind of response.
Conclusion
Short version: The simpler the material, and the more close-to-the-average someone’s voice is, the less time it takes to sing material well.
If I’m working with someone every week/most weeks, and they are putting in a few hours practice a week outside of sessions, I’d expect them to be getting to that initial standard in a year or two. Their tone would need improvement to do the material justice, but in terms of access to the notes and having an even consistent tone, I’d expect this within that time frame.
To be clear, most will acquire the notes (at least in exercises) far sooner. Typically this happens within the first few months of starting work on their voice. But to make those notes feel comfortable and sound/feel as easy as pie, that takes time… it’s totally worth it, but it’s not an overnight transformation.
To get to the more advanced standard, e.g. jazz, classical, rock, higher pop, etc, will typically take a few years more, sometimes many more years of work, as we need that initial standard as a foundation to build from. Remember, we are not talking about just squeezing out notes, grinding or blasting out those climaxes. We are talking about truly training the voice to acquire and never relinquish the range, because it’s done correctly and easily. As such, there are no shortcuts.
Caveats
All of the above is based on an “average voice“, though no voice is truly “average“. Everyone’s is lighter/weightier/fuller/smoother/more biting/more textured than the average voice. If anything, the more “average” the voice, the less interesting it is to listen to.
Furthermore, most people who work on their voice regularly become hyper-aware of what they struggle with. Even when no-one else hears it or feels it. Singers who take their voices seriously become even more dedicated to improving their voice. They end up ironing out all the things that bother them about their voice.
Even when they can sing much much higher, they are still lingering in the range that is most manageable for them. This compounds their vocal quality in a useable range so that no sing ever sounds bad or feels wrong in their voice.
I trust that these rough time-frames give you an understanding as to the speed at which we can acquire notes. But please note that it takes longer to truly own those notes and your voice, and to make them feel as effortless as speaking. Believe me when I say, that feeling is an amazing one. It really is wonderful when you can have a bash at almost any song and figure out a version that makes you sound great.
If that’s something you’re looking to get to, and you’d like to start work with me, you can book yourself in right here.
A while ago I wrote an article on what I love about getting sick. But there is an ENORMOUS drawback about getting sick enough I can’t sing… beyond the obvious not being able to sing. And that is not being able to sing and work on my voice every day seriously impacts on my mental wellbeing. When I get to sing everyday, the mental, physical and emotional levelling that occurs is really quite remarkable. The difference in my mood when I can use my voice well vs when I can’t… I am GRUMPY when I cannot sing or work on my voice. The answer has actually been revealed in many studies done over the years. So I thought I’d cover a few of these here, some of which are quoted from this article. Your brain gets into a higher state I notice how elated and positive I feel before, during and especially after a good session of singing and working on my voice. But is it just in my head, or is something else going on? Continue reading “Singing, Mental Health and Physical Health” This week I was having a discussion with a client about their struggles with having a weak voice. Many people who come to me for voice coaching suffer from similar complaints of their voice feeling weak/not strong enough, though these are often in different arenas. Some are professional performers who experience vocal decline in power/tone. Others require their voice for speaking and communicating within their job and notice it cannot deliver what they are looking for. Many are in choirs or sing for pleasure, and they’ve noticed their voice change for the worse over some period of time, and they want to remedy it. The exact traits of a weak voice are fairly identifiable for most, e.g. However, we need to put this in greater context, in that all voices are unique and different. Even WITH training and maximum vocal development, some voices will be lighter and quieter than others and others will be louder and weightier than others (and some will be in-between). Some voices when trained perfectly will have more breathiness in their tone, others will have less/none. We perceive this as vocal weakness when these traits seem EXCESSIVE. But what factors can cause this? Continue reading “Weak voice: What causes someone’s voice to weaken?” I’ve talked before about the worst voice I’ve ever worked with, but recently I’ve been thinking about the better voices I’ve worked with. I wanted to write about the “best” voices I’ve ever worked with, but realised that’s not a helpful definition. So instead I wanted to discuss the singer with the biggest range I’ve ever encountered. About 10 years ago, I was working with the singers of a boy band. They were all about 19/20 years old, and all really good singers. Each had their own thing they did well, and each contributed something the other couldn’t. Now, when we do an initial consultation, we do an assessment on a singer’s voice. From there, I can explain what is going well, what is not going so well, and what we need to do to improve their voice. I will then often go into a lip bubble or other equivalent warm-up if the singer’s voice permits. With one of the singers, our first session had an assessment that was fairly normal. We identified some issues he had, and we went into a warm-up from there. And when we did the warmup, his voice kept going up without issue. And up… and up… His voice kept going up to such an insane degree, we ended up at D6. For those who don’t know, that’s above soprano high C. Most female singers would kill to be able to get up there with the ease this GUY was able to get up there. It was bonkers. Continue reading “The Biggest Range I’ve Ever Worked With” An email subscriber sent me a question last year about advice for keeping their voice clear for singing. I’ve also seen a lot of people finding my website searching for exactly the same reasons. Hence, I thought it was worth covering my thoughts on it this week. Most of you will have some idea of what I mean by “keeping your voice clear” for singing, but before we dive in, there’s some background info you’re going to need. Mucus is the primary issue we face as singers for keeping our voices clear for singing. It’s what primarily clogs up our throat, voice and sinuses, and makes our voice feel claggy and horrible. But here’s the thing: mucus is something our body generates to protect us. Consider this: Here is a cross-sectional view of the vocal folds. See that outer layer? That outer epithelial layer is essential a lining of mucus to protect the inner layers of the vocal folds from damage. It’s mucus that is MEANT to be there. When that gets stripped away or irritated, the body will generate more mucus to continue protecting the vocal folds. Mucus is something our body generates to protect itself. Snot in our nose, post nasal drip from our nasal cavity and sinuses, etc is all intended to capture germs and microbes and enable your body to discharge them. Without that, we’d get very ill indeed. Mucus in the nose, throat or vocal folds is generated to lubricate and protect us from germs or irritation that could wreak more havoc than just feeling a bit gunky. So mucus itself is not an issue… it’s EXCESS mucus that we desire to minimise. But we also need to be cautious about trying to clear it aggressively (e.g. excess coughing/hacking), as that will only exacerbate the issues. Now that we’ve got the background, let’s talk about some things I find very helpful for keeping my voice as clear as possible. Most of these are prevention rather than cure, as by the time we actually need to shift it, it’s usually too late to dramatically improve things with a sinus spray, lozenge, or staying off caffeine. 1. Drink lots of water You can also leverage the heat of drinks to your advantage. Cold drinks are good for soothing the voice, and hot drinks are good for shifting mucus. But be aware, as cold drinks can also make mucus seem more stubborn to shift, and hot drinks can also aggravate your throat if too hot – the challenge is to deploy the tools you need as and when you need them. Continue reading “Keeping your voice clear for singing” I came across this video from content creator Rick Beato this week on AI in music. In it, he plays some clips of AI generated songs, where the AI had been tasked to copy and recreate the style of a famous artist. Most of these are from modern singers/rappers like Drake, but some of these include an AI generated version of Kurt Cobain singing Chris Cornell’s ‘Black Hole Sun’. Beato closes the video by sharing his thoughts on the commercial direction AI generated music is going to take the music industry. Have a listen and see what you think: I’m still distilling my own thoughts on AI in music, but one thing does spring to mind with the modern music examples. Namely, that the fact the AI could copy the modern music so closely but be less convincing with the other examples. To me, this touches on the the formulaic, often indistinct and (frankly) dehumanised nature of a lot of modern music. Consider this: in music of years gone by – even as recent as the 2000s – rhythm and tempo would vary. Chords would be voiced differently or with different intensity as the song progressed. Sometimes notes would be played sung ever so slightly out of perfect tuning, but would sound consonant with the piece as a whole. These things occur because musicians are only human. In contrast, modern music is increasingly ‘locked to the grid’, i.e. the tempo is mathematically locked in and perfect. It never wavers. The drum beats land in exactly the same place every time. The tone and timbre never fluctuates. Every note is autotuned/heavily tuned to be perfectly pitched. Nothing pitched will lie off the piano keyboard. Vocals all echo what the last number one hit did, rather than tread new ground. Artists are turning increasingly to computers and software to either generate these notes, or iron out the portions that were generated by real musicians. Caveat: To be clear, I am not trying to say modern music is worse than older music – you can make that aesthetic judgment for yourself, and if you like a lot of that music, feel free to enjoy it. What I AM saying, is that modern music and the way it is produced, has ironed out so much of the human elements that make music actual art (making it distinct from just being a commodity/product) and we are already turning to computers to make our current crop of number one tracks, that it stands to reason an AI would be able to synthetically generate a convincing facsimile of such dehumanised art. Virtually none of the components that make art a human endeavour seem to remain in modern commercial music… so why would you need a human to do it? Other to maybe give the AI some modest direction? All of the above are just my musings on the human elements (that in my opinion cannot be put ‘in the box’) vs the dehumanised elements that now populate increasing amounts of commercially produced music. Maybe, the more convincingly an AI can generate a piece of music that harkens to a particular artist, the less human/artful that original artist’s style actually is in the first place. Food for thought, and I’d welcome yours. The last 3 weeks have been horrific. A sore throat started at the beginning of my holiday, and just kept ramping up and ramping up, until I needed an anaesthetic spray just to numb the pain in order to sleep! Cue a trip to the doctors and antibiotics for a tonsillitis-like illness, and I’m finally coming out the other side. So please know, I do not enjoy being ill and I do not wish it on anyone, whether it’s very severe or a mild cold. But the reality is, every one of us will get ill from time to time. Those of you who have worked with me for a while will know I am no exception. My voice is pretty robust, but every so often, I’ll get hit by something more severe that knocks my voice into an unusable state. From then it will take time to recover physically then rebuild the voice. And THIS period of recovering and rebuilding is something I absolutely love to go through. That might seem a little masochistic but here are the reasons why: Many stronger and more experienced singers get away with a fair amount when they are healthy. What I mean by this is that they are doing things that would be detrimental in weaker voices, or running their voice to the edge when they sing, and it’s only their relatively good health and fortunate physical robustness that prevents them slipping into a vocal hole and struggling to get out again. But when we get sick, we lose that edge. We lose the bandwidth that allowed us to get away with so much, and we have to rely on our muscle memory… this is supremely revealing. It shows us what we REALLY can do and can’t do. When we get sick, we’ll really expose when we’re actually forcing notes, because we just won’t be able to make it happen. But perhaps you’ll find notes you were worried you were forcing are actually fine. You simply don’t get this window into how accurate you’re actually being until you have your tolerance/bandwidth for error taken away through ill health. When you are recovering and rebuilding your voice, this is a perfect time to cautiously go through your voice and see what works and what doesn’t. Continue reading “What I love about getting sick” Happy Easter! If you’re anything like me, you’ll have been trying your best not to tuck into your Easter eggs early. Normally for big holidays I just send a well wishing email to all my subscribers, but a few people had asked me “Mark, is chocolate bad for your voice?“. As in all things, the real answer is “it depends“. There are certainly worse things to eat/drink for good singing, e.g. copious amounts of alcohol, anything dry and sticky like peanut butter/porridge, or anything that might give you reflux like spicy foods/curry. Some people will know that when they eat chocolate, they notice their voice tends to feel mucous-y and gunky. Maybe not to an extreme degree, but enough that when trying to sing the gunk seems to get in the way. Continue reading “Easter Classic: Is chocolate bad for your voice?”Singing, Mental Health and Physical Health
But why should this be?
Weak voice: What causes someone’s voice to weaken?
Traits of a weak/weaker voice
– lighter or thinner timbre,
– excessive breathiness,
– instability in the tone,
– quiet speaking or singing volume, etc.The Biggest Range I’ve Ever Worked With
Many years ago…
Keeping your voice clear for singing
Some context
My protocol for dealing with mucus/gunk on the voice
The more hydrated your body is, the thinner and easier to shift the mucus is. So drink lots of water. That way, whether the mucus is essential for protecting your body or not, it should shift more easily. The Future of AI in Music (Rick Beato)
What do you think?
Truthfully, I don’t know where it’s all going
What I love about getting sick
I do not wish illness on anyone
1) Your tolerance for error is MUCH smaller
Easter Classic: Is chocolate bad for your voice?
But is chocolate bad for your voice?