OVS Blog

"You were a little pitchy there..."

Ouch. Maybe you've heard that on a popular singing show, or maybe it's been said to you. The reality is that everyone has a pitch issue at one time or another. Maybe it's because we're sick, or tired, or maybe it's a time of technical issues. You see, pitch issues are not always what they seem. They usually don't mean that you can't hear or match pitch, and they definitely don't mean that you can't or shouldn't sing.

"Wait...you just said that it usually doesn't mean you can't hear or match pitch." Yes, usually. There is such a thing as a diagnosis of Amusia which affects only about 4% of the population. A person with Amusia is truly tone deaf. Typically someone with Amusia not only has challenges matching pitch, but they also often struggle to even hear and recognize a familiar melody. So, if you can hear the melody of your favorite song and you can recognize it even if the words are too low, you likely don't have this condition. That means that you can work on and improve your pitch matching!

I also mentioned technical issues. Technical issues often masquerade as pitch issues. Thinking that a technical issue is a pitch issue can result in overcorrection or over-compensation, which might include taking the pitch too high or low, adding too much air pressure and/or over-recruiting muscles to try to correct the "pitch issue." Rather, if we can recognize the technical issue for what it is, the pitch will most often even out as a result of re-directing the technical problem. You could also replace all of this with tension issue, rather than technical issue. As with many other things in singing, issues stemming from an area outside of the voice box are often to blame rather than something specifically related to the singing mechanism itself.

Another example of something specific that can affect pitch is a simple misunderstanding of what pitch is expected. This happens often when working with a track or accompaniment with a more difficult introduction. One that doesn't give you the pitch before you begin singing. Issues in finding which pitch to begin on can be overcome by working with the track to learn how the introduction (or interlude) relates to your beginning pitch.

I have worked with many, many people over the years who have struggled at one time or another to accurately match pitch. Every single one of those students has made improvements on matching pitch or correcting the underlying issues that were appearing as a pitch matching problem. I believe everyone can make some improvement with this ability if they're willing to work at it, and that means that you can, too!