VOCALS
SINGING STARTS WITH LISTENING | Renée Maranan
Have you ever listened to a song you’ ve known and sung for a long time, only to realize that you’ ve been singing one part of it completely wrong?
I see this often among my students. A singer hears a song and tries to learn it quickly by singing along to it a bunch of times. But because there wasn’ t enough time spent on listening to the melody or lyrics closely, they missed a certain melodic detail or misheard a certain phrase, and their brain filled in the gap with something else entirely different. The difficult thing about this is once this incorrect melody or phrase is learned, it takes much more energy to correct than if the singer had spent the time they needed to learn the song correctly in the first place.
Why does this happen? Sometimes it’ s because singers are in too much of a rush. Maybe they’ re under a tight timeline, or they’ re just too excited about the new music. Either way, I’ ve found that singers often skip the step of listening intently to the songs they want to sing because they just want to get singing already.
Another reason is that some singers have equated the process of learning a new song with the act of singing along to the new song. When I ask students how they learn new repertoire, they usually say they just“ sang with it a bunch of times” with the track or the music video. The problem with this approach is that it conflicts with the way that we have evolved to learn singing.
Before we were singers, we were listeners Studies have shown that the vocal learning process begins with auditory input. We don’ t come out of the womb knowing how to sing automatically. The earliest months of our lives are spent listening to other people speak and sing. Our brains then process these sounds, inflections, pitches, and patterns, and then we test them out ourselves with our own voices. I will never forget the first time I heard my own daughter singing her earliest nursery rhyme – and the joy and applause that she received because of it! – which then resulted in more experimentation and more learning.
What about sight reading / sight singing? Of course, sight reading or sight singing is very useful, and in some cases may be necessary. Still, there are elements of a musical or vocal performance that can’ t be read from a page. Listening is still the best way to capture the fullness of a song – after all, music is meant to be heard!
HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO LISTEN INTENTIONALLY WHEN LEARNING A NEW SONG:
Listen to the whole song. I think of this as laying the blueprint for the process of learning the new song. Notice the overall sound and feel of the music. Listen to the melody and the lyrics, using sheet music or a lead / lyric sheet as a guide. To fine tune your listening skills, you can try observing specific attributes of the song. Is it in a happy( major) key or a sad( minor) key? How does the groove and rhythm feel in your body? What is the overall shape of the melody? Is it bright or dark, smooth or choppy, light or heavy?
Practice singing it in your head. Try singing along to the song mentally. That’ s right – don’ t sing it out loud yet. This mental practice helps to engage your mind in a way that will help you to learn the song with greater accuracy.
Learn it in smaller pieces. Breaking up the song into smaller sections will make the learning process more manageable. You’ ll retain more, you’ ll reproduce the melody more accurately, and you’ ll be able to correct any mistakes before they get ingrained in your mind.
Get a sense of the central message and emotion. Connecting to the heart of the song actually helps to set a foundation for singing. It can also help melody and lyric retention when they are associated with feelings and intentions.
Rest and reflect. Not only does this make the learning process more effective on a neurological level, it also makes the experience more prayerful. Don’ t skip this step!
Put it into practice The next time you have a new song to learn, try intentionally listening to it first. Use the strategies outlined above and observe: how did it change the learning process for you? How did it affect the way you interpreted and connected with the song? When we incorporate listening into our process of learning new songs, not only do we improve as vocalists, we also grow as disciples and servants – and this is well worth the time that it takes.
Got a singing question? Send an email to hello @ reneemaranan. com with“ WM Vocals Question” in the subject line!
Renée Maranan Renée Maranan is a vocal instructor, voice teacher trainer, and life coach, with over 25 years of experience working with singers, vocal instructors, and performers from all over the world. For more vocal help, visit her www. reneemaranan. com or follow her on Instagram(@ reneemaranan).. www. ReneeMaranan. com Instagram @ reneemaranan
44 March 2026 Subscribe for Free...