Singing Mr Brightside in the shower could have you convinced The Killers need you on their next tour.

But if it was that easy, we’d all be earning millions and living a pop star lifestyle.

Comparing our bank balance to that of, say, Beyonce, does raise an important question. Does every person possess the basic physical tools that enable them to sing, and sing well - maybe with some training? BBC Bitesize asked two experts for their opinion.

Professor Janis Kelly is the chair of vocal performance at London’s Royal College of Music, as well as an award-winning opera singer. Her career as both teacher and performer gives a unique insight into the process of training a voice. In Prof Kelly’s view, if you can’t hit those notes now, there’s only a slight chance the right vocal lessons will improve the situation.

Hope for the tuneless

But before anyone who’s been booed off the karaoke despairs, all is not completely lost. Dr Filipa Lã is a singer who has also studied the science behind the singing voice. She believes those who sing out of tune can be taught to get notes in the right places, as long as the basic mechanics in the throat are in good order.

She says that someone’s larynx, the home of the vocal folds (where our voices are produced), is as individual as a fingerprint and to approach singing with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ style of teaching doesn’t take the needs of each person into account. If it did, more of us would be singing in tune and well into our old age. Dr Lã explained: “From a physiological point of view, to sing in tune, you have to have good coordination, not necessarily perfect balance, between three parameters.”

The power of three

The first of those three is subglottal pressure. This is the energy we use to make the vocal folds vibrate and produce our voice. Increasing subglottal pressure produces a louder sound, while decreasing it softens the voice.

The second thing to take into account is the tension in the vocal folds and how they stretch. Hitting high notes involves more stretching than lower ones. There is no recognisable difference between the larynx of a successful opera singer and someone who rarely sings, although in a singer’s case, the muscles surrounding the mucosa, the part of the vocal folds which vibrate, will be more actively used, in the same way leg muscles are on an Olympic sprinter.

Thirdly, the adduction (coming together) of the vocal folds has to be kept under control. Too much adduction can produce an unpleasant sound, known as pressed phonation. A trained singer has good control of the flow coming through their vocal folds and will be able to produce a more beautiful sound known as flow phonation.

Dr Lã believes that making physical adjustments within the larynx to coordinate subglottal pressure, vocal fold tension and their adduction can produce a breath control which helps most people sing in tune.

Having an ear for it

Prof Kelly agrees with Dr Lã about the importance of that control, but doesn’t believe it’s something everyone can do. She added that singing ability must also involve the relationship between the ears and the voice.

If you can hear a melody, then sing it back at the correct pitch, you’ve got the foundations of a strong vocal. Struggle at that point, and it’s unlikely you’ll ever get the chairs turning for you on The Voice. Prof Kelly observed: “That’s a basic thing. If you can’t do that, that’s like trying to play a guitar with all the strings not in tune.”

A glottal glossary

Larynx: Also known as the voice box, it's a hollow organ. The home of our vocal chords, it also forms an air passage to our lungs.

Subglottal pressure: The air pressure in the lungs which provides the energy to produce our speaking or singing voice.

Vocal fold tension: The vocal folds are a pair of flaps in our larynx. They vibrate as air passes through them, producing our speaking or singing voice. Adjusting the tension in the folds, using the muscles that surround them, can make a musical note higher or lower.

Adduction: Bringing something towards the midline of the body. It is the opposite of abduction, which is moving something away from the midline of the body. When the vocal folds adduct, they come together.

To Prof Kelly, breath control is like a sense of rhythm, in that you’ve either got it or you haven’t: “When people come to audition for me,” she said, “and they sing whole sections out of tune, that’s because they’re not supporting the breath properly, or they’re pushing to try and make the sound.

"They’re using muscles, rather than pushing the air through the larynx… Breath compression in the body - some people will never get a hold of that, like some people will never dance in rhythm. That’s just being human, we’re all unique.”

Earlier in her career, Dr Lã devised a method to help children who were singing out of tune produce a clearer sound. It involved staccato voice exercises, similar to music scales except there is a gap between every sound produced instead of the usual constant flow.

The note to be hit was represented visually as a target. By constantly adjusting their subglottal pressure, vocal fold tension and adduction, the children attempted to get closer to the bullseye with each sound produced. The more they tried, the better they became. Dr Lã said: “By doing those staccato exercises, you start to hit the tone. Maybe wrongly at first, but with practice you get it accurate.”

Nature and nurture

But something both academics agree on is that singing capability gets a major boost from growing up in a musical household.

Prof Kelly said. “If you were brought up in a family where there was no music and you didn’t really hear someone else singing that you could mimic as a child, or hear music, it [a singing talent] could be lying dormant, but like anything, it’s a muscle that you need to use and develop.” Dr Lã added that early exposure can even aid the brain’s neuroplasticity (its ability to continually develop).

She also says that future teaching methods may need to be tailor-made for each student: “One model doesn’t fit to all. If you don’t know the physiology and the acoustics of an instrument, you will not be able to teach it as well.”

There are no guarantees that we can all belt out Bohemian Rhapsody to Freddie Mercury’s standard. But if you even falter on the first verse of Despacito, don’t worry too much. An adjustment of the subglottal pressure could be all you need to get that flow pronunciation going. But we can’t promise.