Comments on: The Good Singers Vs. Bad Singers Debate

By: JDintheOC

JDintheOC — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:46:38 +0000

One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. What sounds good to one person, won’t necessarily sund good to another. Hence the saying…To each his own.

By: Matt Cordell

Matt Cordell — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:18 +0000

Bob Dylan is a bad singer. But it is not his singing that makes his music so beautiful. It’s the lyrics and his incredible ability to write songs. Bruce Springsteen is the same way.

By: Matt Rushton

Matt Rushton — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:34:20 +0000

That’s a good point Rob and I do agree with you. Everyone who wants to sing, especially in a band should do everything they can to improve their singing technique. My point is don’t give up working at it and trying to improve just because you might think you’re a bad singer or if someone else has told you that you can’t sing. I’ve played with too many musicians who won’t even try to sing because they believe they’re bad singers.

So you’re right, trying to sing and improving singing technique is definitely the way to make the most of what you have.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:01:38 +0000

Matt, I know you’re not saying Bob is a bad singer, but I’m saying that.

I agree that people shouldn’t be put off singing by other peoples evaluations of your skill- but that doesn’t mean there aren’t techniques to be learnt, and a certain amount of dedication involved in practicing them. I wouldn’t call them a “set of standards” though.

Singing is like any instrument, you can either learn to do it well, and practice hard, or you can just say “this is what my voice sounds like”. Even if you sing with proper technique you will sound like your own voice. I just don’t think people should get away with saying “oh, well this is how I do it.”, when, in reality, they could be improving their technique.

By: Matt Rushton

Matt Rushton — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:31:41 +0000

Rob, I’m not saying that Bob Dylan is a “Bad” singer. I’m saying that labeling a singer as either good or bad is unfair because every human voice is unique. It’s like labeling snowflakes as good or bad. Bob Dylan is a unique singer, as are we all.

Now, that being said you could put in place a bunch of technical standards like being able to hold a note in tune or singing a scale over a certain number of octaves. But the point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t let someone elses evaluation of your singing skill deter you from trying to sing. Singing is still an art form and as such shouldn’t be held to a set of standards and rated.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:41:38 +0000

Granted, singing is about emotional response rather than skill, but there are still certain techniques to learn.

Yes, Bob Dylan is a bad singer- but this has almost nothing to do with how popular he is. I think the two things become confused too often.