Singing from musical notes without a piano, for dummies?

[ravenmum]

I have sheet music - I can see I have to sing the note on the bottom line of the bass clef - Google tells me this is a G - I can find a virtual piano online with a G on it and press it to hear what the sound is - but is there any quicker way of doing this? Is there something, somewhere, that lets me see the notes on the bass clef and press one to hear what it sounds like, without knowing it's a G or having a piano? Or is that not possible for some reason I don't understand due to not having a clue about music?

I don't know the answer to your question I'm afraid but if you're female you're very very unlikely to be able to sing that note. It's much too low. Even the G above that is pretty low for a woman.

Just taking a random note as an example, to make it clearer what I mean, though I do have a low singing voice :)

Unless you have perfect pitch, a keyboard (piano, electric or virtual) - or another instrument where you can play that note, even if in another octave - is kind of the only way.
You can get a tuning fork which will play one fixed note (usually the A above middle C), and you work out the starting note from that; that’s what choirs tend to do.

@TeaandHobnobs

Unless you have perfect pitch, a keyboard (piano, electric or virtual) - or another instrument where you can play that note, even if in another octave - is kind of the only way. You can get a tuning fork which will play one fixed note (usually the A above middle C), and you work out the starting note from that; that’s what choirs tend to do.

This.

Tuning forks work if you can already confidently read music and can work it out from there.

I think what you're looking for is something where you can press the note as it appears on the clef and you will hear the note - without having to identify it and find it on an online keyboard first -is that right?

If it’s choir music you may be able to use choraline to listen to the sounds. Alternatively is it on YouTube? And you could sing along?

@haggisaggis

I think what you're looking for is something where you can press the note as it appears on the clef and you will hear the note - without having to identify it and find it on an online keyboard first -is that right?

Yes, exactly - there seem to be lots of apps and websites that will show me a note and get me to play it on a virtual keyboard, so I'm wondering why there isn't anything that will play it for me!

I'll have a look at choraline, thanks.

It's not quite what you're after, but you might find it useful - the PlayScore app lets you take a picture of sheet music, then plays it to you.
www.playscore.co/

Some of the music is online, but some the choirmaster has clearly written out in his own version, and I'm doing the backing part, so it is hard to hear past the main tune. (Sorry, this is all very amateur, but it is meant to be an amateur group!) Usually I'd learn by hearing the voices around me, but Covid means the group has been divided up and we have to sit apart.

You can put it into something like musescore and get it to play it.
Or see if one of your fellow singers minds singing it and recording.

One thing I have found helpful in the past is to when you have the first note, look at the interval and compare to other tunes you know (like twinkle twinkle goes from D to G) which can help.
Dh and the dc have perfect pitch, so can just sing it, which is amazing.

Ask the choir leader to record the different parts on a keyboard and share with the group. That isn’t an unreasonable request at all particularly if the music has been adapted so not available online. Others will also benefit so you’ll be doing everyone a favour by asking. Or buy a cheap keyboard and pick out the notes yourself?

Thanks for the ideas - you're right, I'll see what the choirmaster says too.

I always have great admiration for people who sing harmony parts in choirs. I'm a musician in a brass band and can play whatever part I'm given. I can sing. But can I sing anything that isn't the tune? Not without great difficulty. I have to sit at the piano and learn the part as if it's its own tune. So if you're able to sing your parts with any degree of proficiency I applaud you!