Rubbish singer

[Thankyouforthehummus]

Ok so! What makes someone a good singer? I don’t mean how do you tell that someone is a good singer, I mean what difference is it that makes someone able to sing well and someone not. I sometimes find myself singing (on my own!) but I’m absolutely dreadful at it but yet some people are naturally amazing, just wondering what difference is it that makes one person a good singer and another person rubbish? Is it something physical to do with the voice box or something else? Is there a way to train yourself to be a better singer or is it just something you either have or you don’t?

You can train to be technically good at singing but you can’t train a voice that’s nice to listen to.

Both my sister and I can sing in tune but my sister is infinitely nicer to listen to.

Their tone, which is mostly down to genetics, as it’s affected by the size of vocal cords and the shape of your throat.

I’m a classical singer OP. When I was a child I had good pitch and probably a fairly nice sounding voice, but I trained classically and now it sounds completely different because I’ve built up my vocal cords and learnt technique (and built up my abdominal muscles which support the sound).

I suppose it’s possible that some people who are naturally good singers have ‘good’ vocal cords from birth which will always create a pleasant sound, but honestly I don’t know enough about the anatomy to know why that is! I would say though that most people who are naturally very good can still improve loads with lessons, just as people who don’t sound so great can hugely improve if they learn some basic technique.

Opposite of Adele?

Vocal lessons. I've been having them for two years now and just about starting to sound good.

The voice is a musical instrument that you learn to play. It needs boring things like vocal exercises and scales as well as singing songs.

I'd love to know this. I can't sing and I'd love to be able to. Just well enough to not make people actually wince would do!! I love to sing along to music but daren't do it where people can hear me.

I've even recorded myself and played it back to try to get it right, I just can't. I've been told I sing 'flat'.

I also sound nothing like I think I do, even when talking, so I wonder if part of it is something to do with how accurately people hear their own voice? That thing where people hear a note and then sing is so far out of reach for me it may as well be walking on the moon!

I'm like you OP, but with the added problem I can't (as my grandma used to say) carry a tune in a bucket. I can't even understand how some people can replicate the tunes they hear while others like me are making a totally different sound to the one they intend to.