Voice | Cool Music Finds

@mollys_music

Time after time, I get new vocal students claiming to be “tone deaf.” In all my years teaching, however, I’ve never encountered a single student—let me repeat that, not a single student—who’s actually been tone deaf. This isn’t to say that they all know how to match pitch when they begin voice lessons. In fact, typically, the ones who claim to be tone deaf don’t know how to match pitch. To any outside observer, they would, in fact, sound tone deaf. But within about a month of vocal lessons, they begin to match pitch. Within a year of lessons, many of them sound as good as any of my other students, and some go off and have performance careers! So if you’re wondering, am I tone deaf, the short answer is, probably not.

What Does Tone Deaf Mean?

Amusia, or tone deafness, only affects around 4% of the population, so it’s unlikely that you’re one of the 4%. If when you sing, you’re even close to hitting a lot of the pitches, it’s even less likely. But if you think amusia is a real possibility for you, the most definitive tone deafness test out there today is the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia. If you take this test and get diagnosed with amusia, you have my permission to skip the next karaoke event and legitimately tell all your friends that you’re tone-deaf.

How To Match Pitch

If, on the other hand, you’re one of the other 96% of the population, learning to match pitch should not take long, with a little effort. The first thing you’ll need to do is build some muscle memory for the correct pitches

Find a Voice Teacher

This is easiest to do if you have a voice teacher who can tell you when you’re on or off and whether you’re too low or too high. If you’re interested in online singing lessons, or if you’re in the Orange County area and prefer in-person voice lessons, we’ve got you covered, but if you do a little research, you’ll probably be able to find some in your area.

Get a Pitch Matching App

If time or budget make voice lessons too difficult to figure out, technology can get you a long way these days. There are many smartphone apps out there, including Do Re Mi Voice Training, the Theta Music Trainer online, and Pitch Perfect, for the Android. A simple pitch pipe would also do the trick! With these, you can determine whether you’re on pitch, above, or below the pitch and practice until you become more consistent.

Try This Pitch Matching Exercise

Here’s an exercise that can help you get started with matching pitch, but if you aren’t able to tell on your own how close you are, you’ll need either another listener or a pitch pipe or app.

Start by playing a pitch on a pitch pipe or musical instrument. If you can, find a pitch that falls in your speaking range, one that doesn’t sound very high or very low. Try your best to match it on your first try, but if this doesn’t happen, begin sliding your voice higher and lower like a siren until your voice sounds like it’s matching the instrument.

Try This More Involved Pitch Matching Exercise

1. We’re going to start, simply by singing “Do.” Women can start on middle C, since that’s often an easy part of their speaking range, and men can start on the C below that. Sing “Do,” and try to match your voice to the recording. Once you’re confident that you’re hitting the note correctly, move on to #2.
2. Now we’re going to add a note: Do-Re-Do (C-D-C if you’re playing the notes on an instrument). Continue working on this until you’re matching both pitches easily.
3. Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do.
4. Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Mi-Re-Do

You get the idea. Keep moving up the scale, but if you begin to feel like you have to reach for the pitches, back off. At this point, you’ll need to get some other things straight before learning to hit the high notes

Molly Webb

Molly is the founder of Molly’s Music. She is a dedicated singer and pianist whose musical journey spans 2.5 decades, with stops along the way to sing for the pope, pass Certificate of Merit at the highest level, study with Gwen Verdon and Ben Vereen, and record an original album.

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