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?

My sister is a natural singer. Anything she sings sounds good. She had lessons growing up and then did a music degree but the ability was natural. Most singers, even if complete naturals, need training to be able to do it to the highest standard.

I am an ok singer. I can sing certain types of songs and it sounds ok and my range is pretty good. I used to be a teacher and modelled some songs for the children for them to repeat (war songs, Oh Holy Night…). The staff complimented me and the children told me I should go on X Factor and sing Let It Go. 😂 I am nothing special enough to even consider myself worthy of entering a competition and I don’t subject others to my singing unless necessary.

These threads always inspire me to get lessons but then I think I'd be too embarrassed to even sing in front of teacher. Within a very limited range, I can sing some songs in tune but not loudly and with a singing voice that's much higher than my speaking voice. I'd just be happy to feel comfortable singing at funerals or weddings.

Yes I can. I am not confident about it at all. I have on quite a few occasions been heard when I hadn't intended to be heard. Those that heard me all said variations on wow you sing so well , why didn't you try and make a career of it and so on. I replied I am not confident enough to sing in front of others knowingly. I have thought about some vocal coaching focused on confidence but I'm nearing the old 50 and not young enough to make a living at it!

I can sing.
I have been paid to sing at several different occasions (weddings, christenings etc.), so I guess at least some people think I'm a good singer.

I love to sing, and I'm not shy about singing. My singing is a natural talent.
My mother is a great singer, my father is not a confident singer.

Oh, it’s so sad hearing about all the people who can sing but don’t!

Yes- and no. It takes intense training to learn to breathe properly. It takes building lung capacity.

Yes, apparently. But no, not overly confident with it for the most part. Sometimes it just comes out like magic and I know it’s good but somehow can’t admit it to myself. Everyone else is always bowled over by it

I can sing. I did pantomime as a child, sang in the school choir and the school musicals and I also play piano. Part of my job is singing to/with children so I still sing fairly regularly. I’ve never had any proper singing lessons. One of my daughters is a musician and is also good at singing in tune, always could from when she was very young. But she doesn’t like singing and wouldn’t sing in the school choir or anything even though I think she’d have been good at it. Singing just isn’t her thing.

I can sing. I have a lovely voice and people are often stunned when they hear it. I have a very high voice and never had any issue reaching higher and higher. I have met people in my life who worked in the area who told me I have a lovely singing voice from my speech.
I used to love singing and often did solos in choirs in school, lead in school things, asked to sing at events etc. no training..however my mother was a trained singer and used to put down my singing (and anything else I was good at), if I was ever complimented on it she would reply "she's really just an ok singer, just average, now her cousin/classmate is much better" and claim my singing was attention seeking etc etc so I grew up with a real sense of shame and never sang once I left school. I think it was jealousy on my mother's part.
I'm much older now.

My Mother could sing, we all can in my family. One of my sisters and myself were in the Church choir and were given singing advice by the choirmaster. I have sung in choirs as an adult.

The last time I sang was in a very rural middle of nowhere country church, it had amazing acoustics. DH had looked outside and no one was around. By the time I finished two people had turned up, stood at the back. DH said they were smiling so I assume it wasn’t too bad though I’m a bit rusty.

It's like any other talent, isn't it?
Someone is good at sports, someone has great eye for the details, someone hears music.

I hear music and have a decent voice, but, compared to great singers, limited breathe capacity and limited range. Lessons helped me to get the most from what I have. It is seriously limiting my karaoke options, because many songs in their original scale doesn't fit my range. It doesn't really matter otherwise , I can sing songs of my choice/my own songs/vocals to a lead singer quite fine.

Yes I’m thinking the same. Singing is such a vulnerable thing and people almost put a moral value on it… I can’t explain it, its like if others think you’re amazing, you must never yourself think you’re amazing…?

And everyone’s voice is such an intensely personal thing, it’s part of our identity, far more than any other musical instrument - our voice is our form of communication,
so closely linked to our emotions, it helps others to feel. Some people don’t like seeing others do what they can’t/wont and so stifle it in those who can/do. It’s the double whammy of artistic vulnerability plus physical vulnerability, meaning masses of people can’t bring themselves to sing in public and another chunk of people have been told not to by others.

It’s like fitness - being fit doesn’t make you a better human, morally, but it often feels like people think that. Likewise being a good singer doesn’t make you a better human morally either, but there’s that narrative around it.

I definitely think it has to do with being sung to, and being encouraged to sing as a young child. My sister, cousins, and I loved to sing together as kids. We were all in choirs, and sometimes performed solos etc. This made me much more confident as I was quite a shy child . As someone else said, the joy of singing is so uplifting . Husband was in his 40s when we met and swore he couldn’t sing a note. I told him nonsense, nearly anyone can sing, and encouraged him to sing with me. Lo and behold, to his surprise , he has a very passable tenor voice and is no longer self conscious about joining in with singing anywhere.

I'm guessing like most talent, it's natural and can be perfected with training. You have to have the natural talent to start with

I would love to have lessons but even the thought of attempting to sing in front of someone makes me curl up in mortification inside. Even in front of one of my closest friends, who's lovely and a singing teacher.

Great thread! I am awful at singing. But I love singing…. Anytime I’m alone in my car or my house I’m belting out the bangers at the top of my lungs but I feel sorry for my neighbours if they can hear me! My parents and my husband have always made sure I really do know exactly how bad at singing I am. I love karaoke, but don’t like to get up in front of anyone who I know a little bit - I’m fine in front of strangers (never going to see them again) or those who know me really well (they already know how bad I am lol).

i wish I could sing well. I dreamed about being a pop star as a kid but with my voice it was never going to be more than a dream. I think previous posters who have said it’s more about your ear are absolutely right.

I’ll continue to sing alone I guess!

I can sing, and so could my mum, however my DC can't hold a tune at all, it's puzzling!

I sing.

To a degree, it is natural, in terms of the instrument and aptitude for music.

I have always been able to sing.

However, although I did not have voice lessons, I learned 3 instruments to high level, including a stringed instrument, so I had very good general musical training, and had to develop very good intonation to be able to play the stringed instrument well.

Nobody much outside my family knew I could sing as a child as I was always playing in the orchestra instead. However, I was a chorister at college, so literally sang for my supper. I’ve continued to sing in good and ambitious amateur choirs for the rest of my life.

I believe most people could sing, but confidence is very important, and I think that a lot of people have a negative experience in childhood. I know that some people really cannot, as my own mother is one of them, but they are the exception. I also think that the more you sing, the better you get. The comparative lack of opportunity to sing at primary school compared to when I was young saddens me.

I can sing. I’ve sang in choirs and bands. No singing lessons, just what I suppose is a natural talent. I have a 4 octave range and can pretty much sing anything from opera to rock.

Small children who have a natural talent for singing do it naturally. They also breathe and project volume the correct way by instinct. Then we start forgetting these good habits and have to relearn. When you start having singing lessons, a teacher will teach you breath support from the diaphragm rather than yelling from the throat, how to transition smoothly from chest voice to head voice, how to sing high without tightening the jaw and throat to avoid that strangled sound that Kermit the frog and Eddie Redmayne make, and so on. Lots of technical work is needed. You can hear the difference with even pop singers who have classical voice training, like Pat Benatar. Or listen to Kristin Chenoweth (the og Glinda) singing Popular from Wicked, followed by a very demanding classical Glitter and Be Gay. Technique!

The only thing that made my mum a tiny bit proud of me as a child was being in the school choir, as she felt she was tone deaf( my brother had a long list of things she valued). Unfortunately I fear the bar was very, very low as I couldn’t carry a tune if it was put in a bucket and handed to me!

I would love to be able to sing properly

As a child, all I ever wanted to do was sing. It brings me a lot of joy now. I have been in many amateur shows and choirs, and been told I have perfect pitch and a lovely voice. I can hit very high notes.
However, as I have a good ear, I am aware that my tone is nothing special, really. It's nice, but not unusual. And my range is fairly narrow. I simply can't get out low notes.
What is interesting, is that two of my children are similar to me. They have musicality, nice voices (especially one of them), and perfect pitch. The third is tone deaf. She says she can hear she is out of tune, but just can't work out how to tune. She still enjoys singing though.
I think it must be genetic.

A singing teacher will tell you everyone can sing and your voice is your first instrument.

I sing alot because I just love music and singing and the meaning of songs but I don't actually know if I can sing even If I can or can't I enjoy doing it and I couldn't care less what others think

singing is in my blood. Im Welsh, of course i can sing!

im in a female choir, have been for 10 yrs. Kids were older so i joined.

ive been part of choirs since primary school. Eisteddfodau are huge in Wales, plus sining Cerdd Dant.

love it!