“Vocalists must study music and know everything an instrumentalist needs to know.” -Jane Monheit
This quote seems obvious to many musicians. Why wouldn’t vocalists study all the same things that an instrumentalist would? Often, I have come across a good amount of singers who struggle with things like basic music theory because they focus more on the performance aspect of singing, and not the actual reading and writing skills necessary for music-making. This doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it can cause a lot of potential issues both on and off stage.
Whether they will admit it or not, non-singing musicians are aware of the negative stereotypes associated with vocalists. Singers can quite often be considered “divas,” having unreasonable requests for fellow band mates and stage crew members; not being very cognizant of other musicians and how to communicate and/or work with others. Not knowing how to read music is another common notion that instrumentalists can have about vocalists (I am speaking from my own personal experience; if you or others have experienced something different, I apologize if it appears as if I am generalizing), and quite often, this thought alone can ruin a working relationship between a singer and other instrumentalists because they can come across as condescending, not asking for the singer’s musical or stylistic input.
Communication is key for vocalists when they perform, so why wouldn’t we want to know the language in which we’re communicating so that we can relay our messages better? Music is a language. We must be aware of not only how it works for when we perform, but also so that we may create our own musical ideas to communicate with others. If I always have to rely on someone else to write the music for lyrics I write, it will take twice as long for me to finish a song as it would if I knew how to just write the music by myself.
As vocalists, we should know how to do everything an instrumentalist knows how to do because we should be able to be viewed on the same level as they are both on and offstage. It not only makes it easier to create our own music and communicate to our audiences and fellow musicians, but also makes us more versatile and competitive as musicians and working, ambitious individuals.