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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask whether you can sing?

204 replies

Apoiads · 12/04/2019 01:30

I can sing, but I don't, because I'm shy.
I sang once in public in a pub and apparently everyone was talking about me the next day (I was really proud to hear that). That gives me every sort of stage fright and fear of performance failure that you might imagine, so I haven't sung since.
I sound a bit like this woman when I sing...

So I can 'carry a tune' but I'm never going to set the world on fire!

My dd can sing, but not x-factor level, she's just good at carrying a tune 'I can get by' as she says herself.

Less about me.

I'd love to hear from any singers - I think it's a beautiful talent that you either have or haven't. Anyone who's a shower singer care to share?

OP posts:
winbinin · 12/04/2019 11:56

I can’t sing, my D.C. and DH all have lovely voices. Both the DC had voice lessons and have sung in choirs around the world and in the west end. I am in awe of them being able to do something that I can’t.

We spend quite a few weeks of the year in a part of the world where it is expected that in a night out, in someone’s house or a bar, people will do a ‘party piece’. The rest of the family all participate but I really, really can’t sing. On the very few occasions where I have been unable to refuse kindly onlookers have broken into applause at the end of the first verse just to put us all out of our misery!

ZeldaPrincessOfHyrule · 12/04/2019 12:15

Everyone can sing, I was once told it's something like 1 in 8,000 people genuinely are tone deaf. You need four things to be able to sing and three of them can be taught, so most people's belief that they 'can't' comes from their own confidence.

I wish shows like X factor would stop making singing a competition Angry

ZeldaPrincessOfHyrule · 12/04/2019 12:19

@OliveTree3 - it's like anything physical, the more you do it the better you get Smile

pushingdaisies · 12/04/2019 12:21

DP always says I can sing but I don't think I am very good at all, although occasionally I'll sing in the shower/while getting ready etc. and think "Oh shit that was good" but I can only do it if I'm not thinking about it. I think the stress comes out in my voice if I try. So if I were ever to be a singer they'd have to record me constantly and put the good bits together Grin

Mammyloveswine · 12/04/2019 12:22

I can... i had singing lessons when i was younger and used to sing a lot.

It was always just a hobby though.

I haven't really sang since i had the kids, might look into joining a choir.

keepingbees · 12/04/2019 12:24

I love singing and sing all the time. But I'm crap at it Grin I seem to hear different notes to everyone else, even if I sing a song I know really well and think it sounds ok if I sing along to the actual song playing I seem to be singing something totally different.
So for me practise doesn't work.

WitchyBollox · 12/04/2019 12:27

I can sing in tune, used to sing in amateur musicals and choirs and ok at that sort of stuff, when I was doing i a lot I was better than I am now. I am not any good at pop stuff as I don't really have my own sound if that makes sense.

DH can't sing at all nor can DS2 but DS1 is really really good. He is 13 and already makes money from singing, he has a natural ability and work ethic which makes a lot of difference, it's not always just talent IMO. He has the most amazing tone and control. He was spotted online by some producers and been told he is very unusual for his age, he is working with some professionals to develop his voice/performing skills which is lovely for him, they have worked with some big names (he doesn't want to be famous at all he would just like a basic music career that earns enough to live off).

My family is generally very musical and it feels like the genes are there naturally but it seems to have come out in abundance in DS which is lovely. I think my DB could have been as good if not better than DS but he is too lazy to be a proper musician.

I would love to be able to sing well enough to go out and gig, I am happy performing I am just not good enough. If I had singing lessons as a child I may have been just about ok.

TailsoftheManyPaws · 12/04/2019 12:28

I'm very quiet and husky and sound like I have a permanent frog in the throat (singing and speaking), but I can tune.

Just occasionally in the car, things seem to clear and I can yodel along merrily to the radio at 70 mph. Usually I'm pretty much inaudible.

TheGirlOnTheLanding · 12/04/2019 12:30

I used to be able to when I was a child/teenager (sang in choirs, did some solos) but I've lost my top notes and any power behind my voice now in middle-age. I do love to sing though: singing along to music in the car or the kitchen with the DC makes me very happy, and I can totally see the appeal of churches despite being an atheist as you get to belt out some good hymns.

TailsoftheManyPaws · 12/04/2019 12:30

DD is good. She would like to have that earthy pop sound, or spectacular high notes, but she's a slightly resentful natural alto choirgirl.

WitchyBollox · 12/04/2019 12:30

I also agree with pp. It's about how you can put a song across. There are some singers who are technically so good but being that 'taught' seems to lose the emotion.

I suspect most singing teachers would cringe at Adele's technique at times (and it also encourages young girls to sing dreadfully as they try to imitate) but when she sings the emotion gives me goosebumps.

The way I decide if someone is good or not is if they make me cry or give me goosebumps. Often recorded music loses that effect as it is too perfect. Live music is the best!

IvanaPee · 12/04/2019 12:33

I sing and firmly believed that everyone could learn to at least get by until i heard my poor husband.

Bag. Of. Cats. Poor fucker. Had to warn him not to sing at the babies.

tinkertinker1 · 12/04/2019 12:38

Nope, just been at dds Easter service in church and I mounted every word to every hymn. But then again....so did many other parents!

AndItStillSaidFourOfTwo · 12/04/2019 12:41

I always have a choir on the go (church music) and am restarting lessons after having some for a couple of years a few years back.

I have an objectively good voice but was discouraged, to say the least, when growing up, so do feel somewhat wistful about lost potential.

I'm a soprano and my upper range is actually extending as I get older (or, more likely, get more practice). I like to sing alto too when I get the chance.

tinkertinker1 · 12/04/2019 12:42

Mouthed not mounted 😂

lololove · 12/04/2019 12:47

I used to be able to, I did pantos and school performances and gcse music that I passed I'm sure only because of my singing (it wasnt composing! 😂😂)

But then when I reached 18, real life happened and I didn't do anything at all singing wise, no performing or carrying on even singing around the house. Now 16 years on I have definitely lost the knack and it sounds nothing like it used to when I catch myself singing to a song on the radio.

snarfblatt · 12/04/2019 13:58

I can hold a tune and my voice isn't bad, but it's not very strong and I don't have much confidence. My dream would be to have an amazing voice and the confidence to do something with it. Meanwhile I keep thinking about singing lessons!

Babynut1 · 12/04/2019 14:05

I can sing and have sung in a few amateur productions and I’ve done a few local concerts and sing in weddings etc.
I now sing in a choir but will often sing solo.
I love to sing. My whole family sing and I have a very musical background. DD is 3 and can sing really well for her age, she can pitch a note and keep in tune and sing in time with the piano.
DS is 5 and struggles singing in tune x

Seashell80 · 12/04/2019 15:56

I can, just like lololove I was singing regularly in various groups and solo up until 18 then stopped for 20 years! I also felt that my voice had deteriorated somewhat until I joined a choir last year, my voice has returned (yay!!) I tend to sing soprano mostly but am happy to sing alto for a rest 😊
At the risk of sounding too dramatic I feel as though I have found the real me again and my confidence has definitely been boosted!

SilverBangle · 12/04/2019 16:00

Everyone can sing

No, seriously they can't. I play piano by ear, because I cant read music. Everyone knows which song I'm playing. So I know which notes are needed. If I sing along I sound like an over enthusiastic frog! 😢 I would love to be able to sing.

There seems to be a lot of talented posters and their dc's on this thread. I would love to see them in action 😊 Any YouTube clips you'd like to share? My DD would rather die than let me record her (twat!) but I love to listen to up and coming UK talent 😊

Sparklesocks · 12/04/2019 16:07

I can't sing, but I enjoy it. I don't have talent so I only perform private conferences in the shower and car!

Greenandcabbagelooking · 12/04/2019 16:35

I can sing. Very low alto range, and I used to join the tenors in my uni choir if they needed an extra voice. I would love to be able to sing like a girl! I normally sing musical theatre or folk songs.

ChopinIn10Minuets · 12/04/2019 16:37

I can hold a tune in church, have been told that I have a pleasant voice, have bounced between soprano and alto in various school choirs and even tried a few singing lessons when the kids were small (which didn't last, thanks to the time and cost and distinct lack of chemistry with the teacher). My voice is a lightweight mezzo, so easily overshadowed by shriller or more powerful voices, and while I've dreamed of the chance to sing solo my nerves have always made my throat seize up. In addition I am hearing impaired, so I have to have sheet music and over-rehearse in order to know the music and know when to come in.

I sing quite a mad mixture of stuff when I'm on my own in the house. Hymns, the odd musical number (more My Fair Lady/Les Mis than Hamilton), bits and pieces from the Messiah, folk songs I remember from childhood. And I hope nobody's listening GrinBlush because I don't think I'm going to do a Susan Boyle.

Original poster
Apoiads · 12/04/2019 16:46

Well this has been a very interesting read. I didn't think anyone would respond actually, as it might have come across as a boast - believe me it's not - my ex told me that I'd put rats out of a mill Grin
I can sing if I belt it out, if I'm not belting it out, I really can't sing in tune at all.
Again, not comparing myself to Adele - but she said that she can't sing nursery rhymes (think it might have been some interview or that tv programme where a celeb goes on a drive in a car?). I think she actually tried to sing twinkle twinkle and it was funny. Will try to find clip on youtube.

All your comments have encouraged me to join a choir this year (though I'm not sure my addition will be welcomed lol).

I'm sure some of you must be so proud of your kids who can sing! The poster with the DS13 sounds like he'll go far!

But the thread winner has to go to

*I can sing, but am not permitted to. 29 years ago a full session of the UN defined my singing as a crime against humanity.

The are rumours that Bashar Al Assad has used recordings of my early renditions against civilian targets but, other than that, the world we never have the pleasure again.*

Sometimes I feel like I haven't a note in my head and sometimes I think I can! I'm either really crap or really good.

And it's horrible that some of you were told to mime etc. That's so mean!

OP posts:
Mumminmum · 12/04/2019 16:46

Sure everyone can sing. Not everyone can sing in tune. If you have bad blood circulation in the frontal lobes of your brain, then you cannot sing in tune.

But X-factor and Idol, and shows like that, are really, really good at finding those few people who can't bloody sing. I know they always end up getting kicked off the show but why humiliate people like that? It is so mean. Thank all gods that no-one in my immediate family likes those kind of shows, so I only rarely have to watch them.

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