WORSHIP LEADERS
SONIC SOUP - WORKING WITH “ PITCHY ” VOCALISTS ( PART 2 ) | Grant Norsworthy
I ’ d hoped it would never happen . But it finally did .
The band I was coaching this evening had four singers - three girls and a guy . I can ’ t tell you anything much about the voices of the three girls . I was hardly able to pay them ( or the rest of the band ) any attention . I was completely distracted by the voice of the lone male .
While he had the song ’ s lyrics nailed , enthusiastic facial expressions , great mic technique and even some appropriate arm gestures , I quickly noticed a problem . A big problem . He could not sing . Throughout the whole song , he had “ sung ” ( pretty much ) the same , loud , low , droning note . A note that was completely unrelated to the key of the song we were singing . His voice was beyond pitchy . Atonal might be the better description .
I was at this team ’ s Rehearsal / Workshop in my role as More Than Music Mentor . It was my job to give constructive feedback . Offer suggestions for how they could improve their sound . I glanced at the team leader who was squirming in her seat , staring back at me , and giving me a kind of nervous , knowing grin that seemed to say , “ This is what I invited you here to deal with .”
How was I going to deal with this ? I knew I had to say something . But what ?
Only about 4 % percent of people are , what ’ s called , tone deaf . They do not possess the ability to hear their singing as sharp or flat . They have no , or very little sense of pitch at all . When ( and if ) they sing along with musical accompaniment or other singers , they might happily belt out their own atonal version of the song bearing very little , or no pitch relationship to the sounds around them .
Most of the people with this condition ( known as congenital amusia ) understand that they