We have a resource now that only a few years ago didn’t exist that makes it hard to be unfamiliar with singing. Between iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, and dozens of other sites that have music on them, as well as individual vocalists’ websites and all the various social media that we use, it seems you could hear just about any style from any era since we began making recordings if you were looking.
There is also a huge amount of information about voice training on line, mostly for purchase, but some for free. Just recently someone sent me a website that says your voice is either “passive” or “active” and if it’s passive, you can find the switch to turn it on……..from them. WOW!! Imagine what it’s like to be able to learn to sing in this “magic” way!!!!
There are all sorts of gimmicks in this world, online and off. PT Barnum had it right over a hundred years ago when he said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”.
If you are the kind of person who wants a “get rich quick” scheme (not counting winning the lottery, which is a legitimate way to get rich quick), you might also be looking to “get to sing quick”. Even if you are very talented, like Whitney Houston was, you need training or a mentor and time to learn and develop and gain experience. No one gets to be really great without work, but if you are willing to spend money, someone will tell you that they can “make you famous” if you just buy their materials.
What would be better if you are an aspiring vocalist is to spend time listening to whatever you can find so you educate your ears and your taste. There is so much out there that’s free and useful, particularly things from the past. If you want to be a very good vocalist, listen to everything. Listen to the things you like and the things you do not usually want to hear. Listen to people you have heard about but also find people that you don’t know at all. If you like rock, listen to country. If you like musicals listen to bluegrass. If you like opera listen to jazz. If you are a pop fan listen to old style folk music. Open up your ears, and if you can find videos, open up your eyes, too.
Back in the day when you either heard it on radio or TV, or you bought the sheet music or you bought the record or later the cassette or the CD, you had to build your experience through some consistent approach. Now, if you want, you can listen on the computer, on the phone, on the tablet, on the mp3 player, at home, on the road or even in your pool or at the beach. There really is no reason not to be an “educated listener” and that will help prevent you from being an uneducated consumer of vocal training or instruction.