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Original poster

Do other people's children sing in tune?

32 replies

motherinferior · 13/09/2004 10:42

Or has DD1 inherited her dad's cloth ears? This is not a major preoccupation of mine but I do wonder. She's three and appears to have very little sense of pitch although a nice sense of rhythm (and can dance very charmingly). Like I say, not a major issue but a Thought!

OP posts:
Issymum · 13/09/2004 10:46

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request

sweetheart · 13/09/2004 10:47

my dd (4) love to sing and is getting quite good at it - her fav song at the moment is "Dry your eyes mate" by the streets!!!!!

Metrobaby · 13/09/2004 11:12

Mine definately can't sing in tune. However my good friend LadyP's ds definately can and has done since he was around 2.

Original poster
motherinferior · 13/09/2004 11:22

Cloth ears it is then. Lovely little ears they are too.

OP posts:
beachyhead · 13/09/2004 11:24

ds (3) does and dd(7) doesn't.

suzywong · 13/09/2004 11:26

my ds1 can
we sang the tune to wallace and gromit today in the car each singing alternate notes and he surprised me by getting them all at the right pitch

so there

Marina · 13/09/2004 11:30

Don't give up on her being able to sing in tune yet MI. It's quite common for children to struggle with this until about aged six without it meaning they are tone deaf (this is quite a rare condition, honest!). You will not see anyone under this age recruited to the ranks of church junior choirs etc, however desperate they are to get tiny bums on pews.

Tissy · 13/09/2004 11:32

Yes, my dd (2y8mo)can sing in tune, but my Mum, who used to run a playschool, says that it's unusual at that age...

dd's rendition of "Maybe" and "Tomorrow" from Annie would bring tears to a wooden leg! She also enjoys doing "one song to the tune of another"- I listened to rather too much Radio 4 when I was pregnant, I think!

nutcracker · 13/09/2004 11:37

Mine can almost sing in tune (Dd's aged 6 &4) but the words are always wrong .

Sweetheart - My Dd2's fav song is Dry your eyes mate too .

unicorn · 13/09/2004 11:37

dd1 is 5 and loves singing...
I am holding back on telling her(the soul destroying news) that she actually has a truly awful voice.
Unfortunately I reckon somebody soon will inform her (+ not so kindly),and she will be heartbroken.

ds (2.8) however appears to be rather tuneful.

monkeygirl · 13/09/2004 11:40

We're quite a musical family but dd aged 3.4 can't sing in tune at all, although she's quite good at making up new lyrics.

Welshmum · 13/09/2004 11:42

I think the most important thing when they're young is not to label them as tone deaf. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as they pick up on it really quickly and then don't participate and think that music isn't for them. I once watched someone train a whole collection of people who said they couldn't sing into a chorus for a musical. Some of them were really bad at the beginning but they were all really quite tuneful at the end. Most of them told me that they'd been told by their parents/teachers/ relatives that they couldn't sing. I really do believe that everyone can sing.

scotlou · 13/09/2004 12:20

I agree with Welshmum. Please don't label them as tone deaf - that happened to me with the result that I'm too self conscious to sing in anybody else's hearing (except my own kids. I remember a teacher at school telling everyone to sing out louder to drown out teh girl who was singing out of tune (me!). Ever since then I have mimed instead. Somehow though my own kids aren't too bad - ds has been able to hold a tune quite nicely since about 18 months - and I think dd is going to be the same.

Original poster
motherinferior · 13/09/2004 14:36

I won't label her, honestly I won't, and I'll shut up and stop worrying. She is an enthusiastic little singer, anyway. And quite frankly so very gorgeous that I don't care that the enthusiasm tends to be, shall we say, somewhat monotone at the moment.

OP posts:
Welshmum · 13/09/2004 14:50

Ah-ha - I've just put a name to a face. I'm sure she'll be just dandy - and definitely already has the looks to make the big time

Blu · 13/09/2004 14:54

DS can sing in tune - quite complicated stuff, too, but DP and I can't, so i don't know where he gets it from! He does listen to a lot of music - but i think it develops quite late. And nothing beats enthusiasm, so sing out Infanta!

Cam · 13/09/2004 15:27

Mine can - but probably only because she has singing lessons. She tends to sing around the house a lot, mainly in the style of West End musicals (with dancing as well). I used to be able to sing in tune (was in school choir) but can't anymore.

Marina · 13/09/2004 15:35

Of course you can Cam! Once a singer always a singer

roisin · 13/09/2004 16:11

We are both pretty musical too, and I'm quite disappointed that ds1 isn't. He's 7 now, and I keep thinking it will come ... but it doesn't! He still can't seem to hear the differences between notes, and can't sing a tune at all - though his rhythm is OK. (He has loads of other talents though.)

On the musical side I'll have to content myself with ds2, who at age 5 sings beautifully

Jimjams · 13/09/2004 16:20

ds1 sang perfectly in tune from 15 months- and his SALT has commented on his perfect pitch. Not that unusual in non-verbal autistics apparently.

I was mightily releived to discover that ds2's singing voice is appalling

musica · 13/09/2004 16:20

My mother said I sounded like a strangled cat when I was little. I think I did. Totally out of tune. I'm now a professional musician, and have sung in several semi-pro choirs.

musica · 13/09/2004 16:20

Oh, and that was with perfect pitch

Hausfrau · 14/09/2004 08:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lou33 · 14/09/2004 08:46

My friend got married there a few years ago Hausfrau.

breeze · 14/09/2004 08:47

My ds has inherited my tone deaf voice, he certainly cant. Still he is young and can always gets better.

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