First, you don’t have to able to sing well in order to be a great composer. But learning to sing and hum your musical ideas have so many benefits.
The human voice (even when humming) is by far the most expressive musical instrument in the world. Not because of the range, because most average singers have less than 2 octaves in tonal range. What then?
The Amazing Human Voice for Music Expression
- More Dynamic Range than any other instrument (from silence to loud fortissimo)
- The only instrument that can do legato and glissando through the whole register
- Amazing Vibrato Control (speed, depth etc.)
- Incredible Control over Slurs, Bends and Transitions
- Extreme Tonal and Texture Variation (especially with lyrics)
- Great Accent Shaping (dynamics, consonants vs vowels etc.)
There is simply not other instrument that can get anywhere near the emotional control over the sound texture and notes as the human voice.
Why Singing and Humming is Great for Composers
- Quickest Way to Brainstorm and Sketch Musical Ideas
- Amazing for Recording the Melody with Voice first, then the instrument
- Great Way to come up with Memorable Melodies (Hum-ability factor)
- Superb for Feeling the Emotion in any Theme and Melody
- You can record Vocal Ideas on the Go on your Smartphone
So there you have it. Even if you don’t want to become a “good singer”, simply learning to hum melodies with decent pitch, and more importantly added emotion, can be hugely beneficial for the songwriting and music composition process.