Does Singing Get Harder With Age?

Not really, not for the reason most people think. Age itself is not the big issue. Your overall health is.

If you struggle to breathe, you will struggle to sing. If you spent years putting strain on your vocal cords through yelling at football games or concerts, or even just talking in an unfavorable placement, that habit takes real work to un-train. If you are going through hormonal changes in perimenopause or menopause, that can affect your voice in as much as it affects your energy levels. None of that means you can't learn to sing. It just shifts your path.

Either way: there is likely no better activity for your health and mental health than singing. So my answer is still, give it a go.

The Real Advantage Adults Have

Adults who have a clear sense of self, know how to organize their time, are willing to take risks, and are self-motivated learn faster, because they are more consistent. I'm not saying I haven't seen the odd teenager show up with those skills already in place. But usually I'm building them alongside vocal coordination, which takes longer.

What Actually Determines Success

The real determining factor at any age is how humble and teachable you are, and how willing you are to experiment with sounds and get it wrong for a good while.

Remember, when you're learning to sing, you're learning to use muscles you can't see, touch, or really feel at first. You have to build the neural connection before anything else, and that doesn't happen in 30 days. It takes time and repeated, consistent action. See this blog post.

Think of the toddler you've heard trying out their voice in Costco at full volume. They have zero issue exploring the full range of what their voice can do. In fact, the more they get shushed, the funner the game becomes.

We train ourselves, as a society, to believe only certain sounds are acceptable to make when other humans are around, and to someone with really sensitive hearing like myself and my autistic sons, I'm grateful for the effort to keep public screeching to true emergencies. However, that mental barrier gets in the way of vocal control far more than age ever does.

When you are learning to sing, you are learning to use muscles you can't see, touch, or really feel at first. It takes time and repeated, consistent action to build that coordination.

What Makes Learning to Sing Easier

• Musical background. If you already read music and have training in intervals, chords, and ear work, you'll move faster. Your voice is designed to respond to clear input from your ears, so the better you can hear and tell sounds apart, the better your voice and body coordinate.

• Willingness to try weird sounds. This one can't be skipped.

• Embracing the neuroscience. Building a connection in the brain takes time and repeated, consistent practice. There's no shortcut around this part.

• Adult skills. Knowing why you're here. Being self-motivated. Being organized with your time. Showing up prepared.

• Trust. Trust that your teacher isn't leading you on, that they know what they're doing, and that they'll give you feedback that's both honest and useful.

Don't Let Fritz Win

In the end, don't let your doubts stop you. We call our doubt voice Fritz. Fritz is trying to protect us from pain. But if it were up to Fritz, we'd never try anything new.

So thank Fritz for trying to keep you safe, then go take the first step. Schedule a trial lesson and see if you like it.

Give it a go! Schedule a Trial!

Age makes very little difference. Diligence and humility do. These students started in their 40's and 50's.