Tone Deafness, Part I

I'll spoil the ending of this post for you now, in case you're wondering. Yes, tone deafness exists, and no it's not "fixable" in all cases. But, yes, it is fixable in many cases and what it takes is rigorous determination, practice, and repetitive drill. It's not the drill and practice that are hard: it's the determination. Your mindset to "get" pitch will be your best companion in the journey toward singing on pitch.

My first "tone deaf" student was a woman in late middle age who studied with me for several years when I first opened my studio. She could hear a pitch and "get" to it eventually, but could not "go" to it by just listening and singing, and she had trouble staying on pitch once she got there.

This woman, "June," had the ability to sing on pitch. Her problem was not an innate inability; her problem was my doubt that she could ever do it. I had heard from so many respected voice teachers that tone deafness could not be fixed or "untaught." I let June get away with "near" pitches for the entire time she studied with me. I never asked her to work harder, or drill on pitches, or repeat small passages over and over until she had them. Like my well-meaning colleagues, I just thought there was nothing to be done. I humored June by being her accompanist week after week, insisting to myself that I was earning my living by providing her some enjoyment in singing. Did it really matter if she couldn't hit all the pitches?

My great regret is that I did not insist that June work harder, diligently, over and over, to get pitches right. Over the years I have come to know that working the pitches we sing over and over helps us "play them," much like a young child learns where to put his fingers down on the strings of the violin. At first the notes come out sharp, flat, scratchy, off; but eventually, they start to "hit," eventually they start sounding on pitch sooner, without the child having to hunt for and re-position his fingers. So it is with singers. We train our voices to hit pitch by continuing to sing the correct pitches. And if the pitches aren't correct at first, we must be guided by a patient teacher with a good ear to help us keep at it until the pitches are correct.

Recently I became the coach to a young man, "Mark," intently driven to be cast in his high school spring musical, a Sondheim show. His mother contacted me last July, telling me her son had been called "tone deaf" by several people and even by one voice teacher who refused to continue with him after a few lessons. I reluctantly took on the boy, and was surprised to find that he was even worse off than his mother had led me to think. He could only match pitch occasionally, and he only found pitches easily from about B3 up to about G3, so he had less than an octave of usable range. He would go "up" scales with me only so far and then would cave in and stop; not only that, after stopping he could not return to the pitches he had just moments before sung easily! It was maddening, discouraging, and embarrassing, to him and to me. He wanted a miracle from me; I didn't want to be the one to break his heart. I continued with him, knowing that the audition for the musical in January would perhaps tell him what I couldn't.

I tried to make a practice tape for him, but since he had so little range, many of my regular exercises just didn't work. We made a tape of specialized exercises: single notes drilled over and over and over. Then two notes, drilled over and over, then three notes. We kept on working through the summer, marking small improvements, as we stretched into four- and five-note drills, then up to the octave and beyond. He auditioned for the fall musical, an easy fluff piece, and was cast in the chorus (not really much of an achievement, as men are scarce as hen's teeth in high school musical choruses). His being cast in the chorus validated him somewhat and he became even more intent on his vocal training.

With new energy, Mark persisted, intent on being cast in the spring Sondheim show. He continued to work his erstwhile practice tape until one day he had enough range to put all 10 of my regular exercises on it. So I made him a new practice tape and he went away and worked and worked and worked. Each week, there was perceptible improvement. He went a little higher in his range. He stayed a little longer on notes that were a bit of a stretch. He was able to "find" where he was if he "fell off the horse," as I put it.

Recently, we didn't see each other for three weeks because of the holiday season. Mark returned for a lesson this week and absolutely blew me out of the water. This tone deaf darling who had first stepped into my studio a mere seven months ago, now had what you could only call a lovely, listenable baritone voice. And, most importantly, he was singing on pitch.

My willingness to insist that Mark drill single notes and notes in close proximity, and to keep going even if he thought he sounded awful, and Mark's courage to work, not give up, and keep his eyes on the prize are the two things that have brought us to this wonderful new discovery. From now on, when I get a tone deaf student who "can't sing," I'm going to say, "Yes, you can. It's going to be hard, it's going to be boring, and it's going to take a lot of work on your part. But, yes, you can sing."