Such conceit knows no bounds
People who realize – or at least think – they are musical, often claim: „I hear everything!“
However, the conviction behind this statement often has little to do with reality and is, moreover, dangerous.
Conceit is the mortal enemy of healthy self-criticism
Someone who is very sure of himself, is usually incapable of healthy self-criticism.
For example, it’s very difficult to explain to that kind of a person that they are singing out of tune, because they are convinced they’re musical, hear everything and consequently cannot possibly be singing incorrectly.
More than once, I have been faced with such „hear-alls“ in the studio, and it quickly became clear that the combination of conceit and shortcomings would make it impossible to make a decent recording.
How does such conceit arise?
How can somebody become so fatally deluded?
As in life in general: The less you know, the less you know what you don’t know. So it’s not surprising that the „hear-alls“ are mainly to be found in the ranks of the amateur music-makers.
In the middle of an unmusical environment, „hear-alls“ are like the one-eyed man among the blind.
But in practice, those who are stuck in this kind of self-delusion are not able to work constructively to develop their own abilities.
How can anyone open his ears to new things when he already believes that he hears everything?
Of course, since EVERY human being is unique, everyone has a different perception of things. So the “hear-all” mistakenly deduces that his/her different perception is something special.
There’s no progress without self-criticism!
The only way to sing in tune, improve your rhythm and phrasing and generally optimize your singing is to keep your ears open and critically analyse what you hear.
The moment you become too sure of yourself, all progress will cease. Which is why even singers with decades of experience can give catastrophic performances that are not even remotely reminiscent of good singing.
Hi-end = „hi-ear“?
The high-end sector, too, is crawling with freaks who claim to hear all kinds of things that would never withstand a blinded test.
Suddenly, cables or connectors “make sounds” and the stereo for €20,000 is of course better than the one for €2000. It must be, because it costs so much.
I have carried out multiple tests under optimal conditions and discovered that it’s complete nonsense. Many speakers that cost only a few hundred Euros sound just as good as those that are tenfold more expensive. The same applies to microphones.
Conclusion
If you want to learn to sing, stay modest and open-minded and be prepared to take into consideration that you may not always hear everything perfectly.
Only as long as you are, and remain, open-minded, can you absorb new things and draw benefit from them. A beginner who already hears everything will remain a beginner for ever!