Can you sing? If yes, was it natural?

[TERF4Life]

The skill/ talent of singing perplexes me. How are some people naturally good at it yet others can have years of lessons and still be terrible?

If you can sing, how did you know you could? Do your friends know you can sing? Are you shy with it?

I can sing in tune, pitch perfect I guess, and can also adjust my pitch perfectly to sing in a different key. However I sing like I’m in a musical rather than like a pop star. I have no ‘ooooohooooohooohhhs’ and I have the stage presence of a wet towel.

I can sing, not as well as I used to when younger though. My mom can sing too. My dad has a half decent voice.
i do struggle with high notes though !

That’s the thing with me is I have the stage presence too. It’s just luck I suppose.

I have a magnificent c6 but I think it’s a kind of dog whistle effect and your average joe can’t actually hear that high as I never get compliments. Its definitely dog range as he joins in.

Second Boy in Mozarts 'Die Zauberflote' (The Magic Flute) it was a weird production that wasn't well received but at least the critics did rate the singing.

All the people I know who can sing have had lessons or are professionally trained, which isn't to say they couldn't hold a tune before

I'm not the best, not the worst.

For me, it's more mimicry. In the same way I can copy someone's accent really well if I've just heard it, I can copy a song if I've just heard it or it's in my head.

I'm not very good at singing apropos of nothing. I'd be shocking at acapella.

I decided not to go for a professional singing career because I just don't have stage presence/'it'/je ne sais quoi, whatever you want to call it. I have a good enough voice, if I'd put in the practice I could have been technically good enough but I just didn't have that extra 'something' that would get me parts, nor did I want it enough to put myself through the wringer for such a tiny chance of making a sustainable career. And I'm too thin-skinned, so I just wasn't cut out for it.

How wonderful!

I have a naturally powerful voice and can sing well, but it took me a long time to learn how to control it. I’m pretty decent now. People who hear me sing are usually quite shocked as I’ve got quite a strange talking voice so I don’t think they expect what comes out when I’m singing 😂

My mum was a professional singer, but I actually sing better than her.

Ditto, I am just over 5 ft tall and used to be quite slight, still fairly slim, so people do not expect what comes out!

I know a few people who can genuinely sing . And some who think they can .
I'm awful imo. But dh says I'm good.
My dd is really good and often gets picked for solos at school as is dh.
Dsd and my other dcs are tone deaf monotone.

I can sing. I flipping love it.

I was in choirs from aged 7, which took my raw voice and taught technique. This made it better and refined what I could already do.

I'm a big believer that singing brings joy. I don't care if you sound good or crap. Just enjoy yourself.

My daughter has been told by many that she can sing very well. She has never had lessons but is autistic and has always been able to understand music well. She can listen to some songs and copy them. I think it's partially just the luck of the draw, but it helps that she loves singing and songs. It's a talent- some people can do things better than others. For example, my daughter can sing but she's not very good at sports.

Oh how I wish I could sing.

My daughter is pretty good. Not exceptional, but she is often told she has a gorgeous voice. I suspect it's not technical accuracy or range, but something more like passion for her own music.

She sounds good when she's singing other people's songs, but she sounds even better when she's singing her own music. Like, if she was singing karaoke you'd go 'oh, she's pretty good' but when you see her perform her own composition and lyrics you stop and listen.

She wants to go into music production as a career. Was recently put up for the Royal Albert Young Maker songwriting category.

I couldn’t hold a tune with a gun to my head but my DH is lead singer in a band and he never had any training. His brother also sings and so did their Dad so maybe genetics are involved.

I am a decent singer - good enough to get into a high-level classical choir and to sing at friends and family’s weddings/funerals etc, but not good enough to do it professionally. It was picked up by my primary school music teacher when I was 7 ish and had had no lessons, so must have been innate. I have sung in choirs ever since, which definitely helps with learning to breathe and project properly. Most people could sing a lot better than they think they can if they had a few lessons in how to breathe.

I sing in an a cappella choir - there is a lot of technique around breath control (you don't need as much air as you think), relaxing your jaw, tongue and larynx and lots of other stuff. Most people can sing - it's getting it in tune and controlling your voice that are the tricky bits.

Some great singers are untrained. Once they realise their voice is their career they get vocal coaching.

Madonna is an interesting example of someone with a fairly weak singing voice. When she filmed Evita she had a top US vocal coach work with her and the stuff she recorded around that time is very different - noticeably much richer sounding. She's since gone back to what she'd always done before.

Lots of vocal coaching techniques are what speech therapists use for voice problems.

Yes I can sing, always have been able to. I regularly perform as a solo artist (am a guitarist too)and write songs. I can remember singing along to anything and everything I heard as a child.
Music has always been a big part of my life. I've never had lessons...self taught guitarist too. I love singing!

Waa Elvis trained? I think his voice is quite special in how much emotion he gets into it. If you listen to a singer called Roy Hamilton you can hear that Elvis has emulated him very much.

I’m a marvellous singer.
,Contralto.

@What I lack is confidence, though that’s changing as
I get older.

Loving this thread! Love the confidence in so many posters saying they’re fabulous! Genuinely.

Singing is soooooooo good for you! Everyone should do it. It releases endorphins, serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine, lowers anxiety, improves self confidence and group singing is amazing for social bonding, it even increases the release of certain immunosuppressants, it’s genuinely so so good for your health.

And that’s without even touching on the breath work, interoception, mindfulness, self awareness, the physical activity it takes, and so much more. It’s therapy, so many people cry in lessons and it can help you work through negative narratives you have about yourself, life-long hang ups etc.

Especially if you ‘cant’ sing, you should get some lessons, because the sense of achievement week on week is fabulous for self confidence and it perpetuates.

Also, you should sing NOW, because you’re all as young as you’ll ever be and across the board the post-menopausal women I teach really have a very tough time making improvements in their tone - the voice can really take a beating during the menopause!

I can’t sing. And it’s completely natural😆

I am completely tone deaf. I've always wanted to be able to tune a guitar but it's completely and utterly beyond me. DS is the same, can't sing to save his life.

Name may be a giveaway but I can sing. 2 out of my 3 siblings are also decent singers, the other is abysmal. My dad is the better singer out of my
parents but I wouldn’t say he’s a great singer so no idea where we got it from.
As a general rule, I don’t like singing in public at all. I do it just for me, it calms me down, and sometimes I sing for my kids to calm them down, but I couldn’t imagine standing on a stage in front of loads of people doing it alone. As part of a group or a bit of fun karaoke absolutely.

To answer your question OP, I can sing and do. I was brought up in a household where there was usually music being played (radio or records) and sung along to. I was in the choir at primary school and went to Sunday School where we sang.

@LilDeVille is right that singing with others is hugely beneficial. The shared experience is amazing.