https://majoringinmusic.com/world-voice-day-singer-myths/ Music school, Music major, Music career Tue, 19 Aug 2025 18:37:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://majoringinmusic.com/world-voice-day-singer-myths/#comment-105006 Tue, 24 Apr 2018 22:26:28 +0000 https://majoringinmusic.com/?p=17483#comment-105006 I have been a professional singer and singing teacher for over 30 years–and have perfect pitch–of which I am very glad! However, I did learn fairly early on that it was going to be essential for me to also acquire the skill of relative pitch, especially since the bulk of my performing career was as an ensemble singer. I quite often worked with ensemble directors who would make snap decisions–at times, even in the middle of a performance or recording session–to transpose a piece up or down from the indicated pitch! Had I not had good training (based on use of the solfege system) in sight-singing, those moments would have been terrifying! As it was, they would induce just a little angst, until I told myself to just ‘switch off’ the perfect pitch and go with my relative pitch. I certainly advocate sight-singing training for all students who come to me wanting to train their voices and especially if they want to sing in groups or ensembles!

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