Ever sung in a choir where they told you to sing up when the notes go up and sing down when the notes go down? If you want to be told how to sing well, you want to realise that music isn’t nebulous.
When the notes go up one must know how far to go up and that’s where “knowing intervals” is very important. Singing lesssons in the UK are still not always regulated so you want to be sure you find a good teacher.
Did you ever have somebody tell you that if you need to learn the intervals all you have to do is match the interval with the opening notes of a well known song? If you can reply yes to any of these questions, I have another for you, “Do any of these things work?” Intervals are awfully clean cut. You have to be able to understand sound and sing intervals. Singing music is poles apart from just singing one interval at a time. Particularly when sight-singing, one must be in a position to sing each interval after another without stopping.
How could anybody execute sight singing exercises if one must be continually pondering the 1st phrase of a song? Sight singing practice should be done just like language. Originally, you hear the words or the music, and afterward you assert the words or sing the song! The way that you learned language was to communicate first and then read and then to put it in writing. Music is the same way.
At first , you listen, then you sing, then you’re educated as to what the music “looks like” that you’ve been singing. That’s step one to reading. Then you can write the tune and then you can start to go back and “sight read” or “sight sing” that which is known to you! Now, so long as the music lessons are made for your level and so long as they progress in sequence, you can simply find out how to sing better.
Sometimes in a vocal music lesson, one doesn’t get sequential sight singing practice. Now and then, a singing teacher may suggest certain sight singing volumes, but how can one hear what one is having a look at unless they have first been trained? That’d be like exclaiming to a Mexican, here’s a Chinese book, go and read it.
