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…
People have set their sights on improving their voice, so they want to know what’s involved, how long it’s going to take, how much time do they need to commit, etc.
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, and then 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:
1) Point A – where is this singer presently at with their voice?
2) Point B – where is this singer looking to get to with their voice?
3) How quickly can we cover the distance between point A and point B?
All three of these questions need to be framed correctly to arrive at a more complete answer about learning to sing well.
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, 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 byproduct 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 way 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 sound not 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 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?
So now we know where someone’s starting point is, we need to highlight someone’s vocal 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 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
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 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 inside of a year, maybe two years. 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 far sooner, typically within the first few months of starting work with me. But to make them feel comfortable and sound/feel as easy as pie, that takes time… but is totally worth it.
To get to the more advanced standard 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 – we are talking about truly training the voice to acquire and never relinquish range, because it’s done correctly and easily. There’s no shortcuts.
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. As a result, more singers who take their voices seriously become even more dedicated to improving their voice to iron out all the things that bother them about their voice. So even when they can sing much much higher, they are still lingering in the range that is most manageable for them, compounding the 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 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. When you can have a bash at almost any song and figure out a version that makes you sound great, it really is a wonderful stage to get to.
If that’s something you’re looking to get to, and you’re not yet working regularly with me, you can book yourself in right here.