# Can a person of average talent learn to sing opera well through proper training?



## Jordan Workman (May 9, 2016)

Can even an average person learn to sing well through training/vocal exercises if they do the right vocal training for their voice type or is becoming a good singer something only very few people can do? (By good, I mean capable of singing professionally. And by average I mean possessing average genetic potential/talent when it comes to singing as opposed to exceptional natural ability with little effort right from the start. So basically a typical beginner as opposed to either a prodigy/exceptional one or a terrible one/someone who starts off with far less ability than most beginners do.)


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Jordan Workman said:


> Can even an average person learn to sing well through training/vocal exercises if they do the right vocal training for their voice type or is becoming a good singer something only very few people can do? (By good, I mean capable of singing professionally. And by average I mean possessing average genetic potential/talent when it comes to singing as opposed to exceptional natural ability with little effort right from the start. So basically a typical beginner as opposed to either a prodigy/exceptional one or a terrible one/someone who starts off with far less ability than most beginners do.)


I think one needs some talent or inclination and, most of all a good teacher. I know of a very very rich man who loved opera, and who studied for years and never became "good" as much as he tried. The vocal material just wasn't there. The voice was unprepossessing and no amount of training changed that.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Jordan Workman said:


> Can even an average person learn to sing well through training/vocal exercises if they do the right vocal training for their voice type or is becoming a good singer something only very few people can do? (By good, I mean capable of singing professionally. And by average I mean possessing average genetic potential/talent when it comes to singing as opposed to exceptional natural ability with little effort right from the start. So basically a typical beginner as opposed to either a prodigy/exceptional one or a terrible one/someone who starts off with far less ability than most beginners do.)


I agree with MAS, but singing professionally is very broad. For example a bass with average talent can likely sing professionally regionally, and perhaps beyond if he has other standout traits, because the voice type is rare. However, a lyric soprano of average talent has no chance.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Most people don't have the range to sing opera. Of course, there was Florence Foster Jenkins who had the range......


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

It also takes extraordinary ambition to take on an international opera career. Some people take on a concert singer career. I'm thinking of someone like Maureen Forrester, who didn't take on much staged opera (not that she wasn't capable). Some singers, like Anita Cerquetti didn't want "the life," bowing out early.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Jordan Workman said:


> Can even an average person learn to sing well through training/vocal exercises if they do the right vocal training for their voice type or is becoming a good singer something only very few people can do? (By good, I mean capable of singing professionally. And by average I mean possessing average genetic potential/talent when it comes to singing as opposed to exceptional natural ability with little effort right from the start. So basically a typical beginner as opposed to either a prodigy/exceptional one or a terrible one/someone who starts off with far less ability than most beginners do.)


'Average' people, like those you describe, arguably fill out the ranks in lots of opera houses you know but in what were described as comprimario roles rather than as the protagonists.

The comprimario singers are often musically accomplished, if they are clever they use their voices according to nature, can appear frequently throughout the opera seasons and in normal times can make quite a good living.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Singing in the chorus is also a good alternative if the voice is not of star quality.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Jordan Workman said:


> Can even an average person learn to sing well through training/vocal exercises if they do the right vocal training for their voice type or is becoming a good singer something only very few people can do? (By good, I mean capable of singing professionally. And by average I mean possessing average genetic potential/talent when it comes to singing as opposed to exceptional natural ability with little effort right from the start. So basically a typical beginner as opposed to either a prodigy/exceptional one or a terrible one/someone who starts off with far less ability than most beginners do.)


The fact that you ask this on a public forum says it all, try asking your teacher.
I guess you want to be famous.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I will answer your question by asking another:

Can an average person learn to sing if you give them a microphone?

Operatic technique can be learned by almost anybody with the patience to study it. However, it merely provides the singer with a method to project their voice. Their voice may not be particularly interesting and there are so many other elements to singing that it's difficult to know before someone has lessons what their abilities and potential might be.

N.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

In answer to the OP - not a snowballs chance in the Sahara.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

One would assume that learning some lied-, chanson- , ayres- and song singing would require less for a start; then one might try ensemble pieces perhaps, and perhaps-perhaps strive further. These are also genres that one can invest a lot of personal interpretation into.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Most people don't have the range to sing opera. Of course, there was Florence Foster Jenkins who had the range......


Maybe she had but the result didn´t sound pleasurable at least she could do what she wanted to and I don´t have to hear it. Most people know if they sound horrible so why wasn´t she contained with singing in the bathroom.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

There are quite a few singers of exceptional talent who can’t sing opera well.  What chance is there for those of modest ability?


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

The Conte said:


> I will answer your question by asking another:
> 
> Can an average person learn to sing if you give them a microphone?
> 
> ...


This is very true. When I was younger I wanted nothing more that to sing professionally. The nicest thing a singing teacher ever told me was that I had a voice to curdle milk. No amount of teaching would ever change the fundamental fact that I have a truly awful voice when it comes to singing. I've stuck to being an instrumentalist (amateur only), and accepted the simple fact that no amount of training could alter the fundamental sound of my voice to a degree where anyone would actually want to listen.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Aerobat said:


> This is very true. When I was younger I wanted nothing more that to sing professionally. *The nicest thing a singing teacher ever told me was that I had a voice to curdle milk.* No amount of teaching would ever change the fundamental fact that I have a truly awful voice when it comes to singing. I've stuck to being an instrumentalist (amateur only), and accepted the simple fact that no amount of training could alter the fundamental sound of my voice to a degree where anyone would actually want to listen.


OMG I hope the teacher chose a more tactful of telling you that :lol: I'd die!


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

Bonetan said:


> OMG I hope the teacher chose a more tactful of telling you that :lol: I'd die!


It did me a huge favour! It brought home that I was better focusing my energies on something that I could be successful at. Brutal, but very effective and stopped me wasting time and energy on something that I would never succeed at.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

After a lot of work and training an average person might be able to become a member of a opera chorus in a community production.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Aerobat said:


> This is very true. When I was younger I wanted nothing more that to sing professionally. The nicest thing a singing teacher ever told me was that I had a voice to curdle milk. No amount of teaching would ever change the fundamental fact that I have a truly awful voice when it comes to singing. I've stuck to being an instrumentalist (amateur only), and accepted the simple fact that no amount of training could alter the fundamental sound of my voice to a degree where anyone would actually want to listen.


Some of my favourite singers could curdle milk and that's why I like them! It's clear that some people take to singing more naturally than others though.

N.


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## russetvelvet (Oct 14, 2016)

If you work quite hard you can get into the chorus for some local production, even that is quite difficult, and to have any role worth noting takes serious commitment and at least a bit of talent. It's not a rewarding career for the average person, it is going to be better for them to sing for fun with their friends and forget about unrealistic ambitions.


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

The Conte said:


> Some of my favourite singers could curdle milk and that's why I like them! It's clear that some people take to singing more naturally than others though.
> 
> N.


I think I might have been in with a chance as a stand-in vocalist for a death metal band. Anything more than that wasn't going to happen!


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