No one would expect to pick up a guitar and play “Stairway to Heaven” well without first learning how to play guitar in general and also learning to play that song in particular.

Yet people do expect to be able to start singing a song well without ever training their voice in general or practicing singing that specific song. And when they can’t do so they say “I can’t sing!”

This doesn’t really make any sense.

The human voice is an instrument too and it can only be used to the best of it’s capability with practice. Yes, unlike a guitar, it’s an instrument that you’re born with – but it still requires practice to use properly.

No one should make the claim that they can’t sing without first really training their voice and practicing hard (just as hard as you would expect to practice to learn how to play guitar or piano.)

To be clear; I’m not claiming that everyone has the same quality voice only that training/practice is required to get the most out of the voice that they have. To continue with the instrument analogy you can play “Stairway to Heaven” on a cheap $60 acoustic guitar or a $3000 Martin and of course there’s going to be a sound quality difference between the two instruments. But far more important than the sound quality of the instrument is the skill of the player. And that skill is gained only through practice.

My big point is this: If you want to sing well, start practicing – stop expecting it to be some God given gift, it takes work! Check out some of the resources below to get started.

I should also mention that I think ear training is an important element with singing (and all parts of music, really.) It’s much easier to hit the right note, if you know what the right note is!