A question for people who can’t sing….

I'm autistic and can sing, but I have had singing lessons for years. I believe that the voice is an instrument and one learns to play it like any other instrument.

Like others - I can tell I’m not doing it right, I just can’t make my voice actually do it!

I did do piano as a child and I remember having to sing a little bit for for the exams. I hated it but I think I was ok at it. I never got told I was terrible anyway, but I’m definitely not actually good at singing. I never got above about grade 3 I think so maybe they just weren’t very hard tunes to replicate.

I have a lot of singing experience and some training but I don't have perfect pitch/absolute pitch although I can copy notes accurately when I hear them.

I think the two skills are independent of each other.

Oh, I also can't identify instruments! Well, I could recognise a saxophone solo, or guitar solo, but for a piece of music with lots of instruments playing together I couldn't say it's a guitar and a keyboard and a bass guitar - I'd have no idea, it all just becomes one sound.

I remember being played a piece of pop music at secondary school and having to write down all the instruments we could hear. I just wrote 'drums' because that's the only one I was sure of and was really confused by everyone else confidently writing down loads of things.

I wish! I would love to be able to sing but know I can't. I did learn to play the piano so would probably recognise middle C and can read music but it doesn't help. The notes just don't come out right. I love singing, but not in public because I was told how bad I was as a child and failed to get into the school choir.

Exactly. Being able to hear a middle C in your head is different from being able to replicate it.

I'm not tone deaf, but I'm not great either and I can hear that a bit. Doesn't stop me singing for fun!

That’s how good of a singer you are!

Being able to sing a middle c just from memory is actually quite difficult and not many people have perfect pitch. I’m an ex music teacher. I play an instrument but I always have to use a tuner to get it in tune as I struggle with being slightly sharp or flat. As a child I struggled to sing well apparently but thought my training and time as a teacher I’ve been expected to sing and I enjoy singing in choirs. In a group I can always sing well and in tune but as a soprano o can sit next to an alto as it puts me off. I would never sing solo into a microphone - no idea why but the sound that comes out is not what I think I’m singing. I can tell when other people are singing out of tune as my kids both like to sing and have lessons and when they practise I can tell them where they’ve gone wrong.

it’s the same as being a musician and keeping time. I can not clap out of time to music. It’s just an innate part of me to be able to move in time. However I’ve worked with children and adults who have no concept of timing and I find it fascinating.

Edited to add. I can pitch match but know a lot of people who really can’t.

It's good to know I'm not the only one. One noise I really can't cope with is the crowd noise at soccer matches. It's just so discordant. There are a lot of songs that I can't cope with either. It's not that I don't like them - I really can barely stand the sound of them. I also can't bear earbuds or headphones. I don't like noise that close to me. I don't know anyone in real life who feels the same.