And then there's "how to read a song", deciding which words are emphasized, where to breathe, modifications to fit your voice, etc.

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Background to my question: I was looking for music teachers for myself and my kids (guitar and piano), and I found two types:

1. Royal Conservatory Curriculum, Lesson 1, Page 1, firmly, formally, and without deviation: You MUST learn notation, theory, and proper everything, first. THEN, 5 years later, you get to have fun :)

2. Let's have fun! If you like it and stick with it, we can tackle advanced topics in a customized manner and see where it takes us :)

I find approach #1 is only valid for people who know they will go far and stick with it (either because their parents force them, or for some other, rare, intrinsic motivation); but it hugely discourages huge number of people who don't have such long-term motivation and dedication yet - it postpones the rewards and makes the initial curve super steep.

So my question is: For a completely casual, random person who sings terribly and wants to get "a little bit less embarrassing / dip their toes"; isn't pitch training usually the first step for them to enable their hearing, rather than the complex vocal techniques?

My take, without directly addressing your questions: "have fun" doesn't go very far, and you'll discover that if you want to be good at anything, you'll need to put in many hours of practice with endless repetition and go through setbacks and self doubt, none of which is fun. And for sure there are singers and musicians that never go through formal training, including at the highest levels, they are few, when most musicians you know have been learning music since they were kids.

My approach, from "nothing" to "beginner", is to give a taste of the "target" - how fun and rewarding it can be. A 7 year old kid who learns how to play Mario Galaxy theme on piano, gets motivated and excited, and then goes through the effort; vs the 7 year old who's sent to music lessons and they spend 2 months on perfect finger positioning for C-major scale. Similarly for adults and guitar - I find teaching them 4 simple chords and strumming which cover 40% of pop songs in 2-4 weeks, gets them hooked and willing to then invest the effort, vs starting with notation and theory and picking hand positioning etc on day 1.

As specific to singing matter at hand, it is my understanding that pitch training will have an immediate, early, quick, and lasting benefit (which is, however arguably, benefited by the app in the post), vs saying "well you can't sing if you don't also do these 5 intermediate-level things right away" (unfair representation, but I've been on the receiving end of it:).

I have a close friend who's an opera singer, and absolutely did proper training from early age, daily, for years -- but, most of us aren't and won't be; my primary point is that early stages of training/learning shouldn't necessarily be the same.

I completely agree with OP that breath management is the number one issue I hear in a beginner.

There are many more people who never make music because it wasn't fun when they tried than potential Mozarts and Beethovens.

Thanks for mentioning these!

0.2.0 is also out now https://singonkey.app/changelog

Nobody was saying “everyone who owns a Mac Mini” or “everyone who ever has published an iOS app” is ‘an Apple guy’.

And it makes sense, you can't add emotions until you cover some of the basics.

This app can work really well once you have breath and placement nailed down and you just want to focus on pitch, but it feels like it can me misleading to people to think they sing good.

> and in a very monotone way

You should hear me speak, people start yawning :)

OnKey intentionally ignores octaves when scoring so that you can sing inside of your range without straining your voice.

Transposition is difficult if OnKey isn't playing the song itself... maybe if it allows you to play your own mp3s later, then it could be done.

New version should install on a restart.

As an amateur musician who can afford private lessons, I cannot understate how important a teacher is in music learning. You can try to learn things on your own and mess with these stuff, but a teacher goes a long way. They spot your mistakes instantly and help you progress efficiently.

I understand that it is not financially viable to everyone, but seriously, if you are able to, get some professional guidance.

Let me know what features could move the app towards a more rounded tool for singing training!