I am one of those people who has what I call a nice "tone" or "sound" to my singing voice, but I can not sing. What I can do is pick a song and sing it about a thousand times until I get it down good, but that is not what I call "being a singer". I can't just sing a random song and stay on key. Even after I learn how to sing a song I can't change the pitch in order to sing with another person.

The way i usually explain it is "I can't sing but I can imitate a person singing a song."

I'm a trained singer. You sing too, Fred. You just need a tonal reference. Everybody does. That could be music in the background, like karaoke, or your memory of hearing the same song played on a CD a hundred times. The only difference between you and someone with training is that they have had theory classes to know how the music should should resolve and to develop aural skills.

Interestingly enough, most trained singer will tell you that the hardest part in singing isn't remembering the music or staying in tune. It is remembering a catalog of lyrics to thousands of songs.

Question Zona--

Can anybody learn to sing? Or are there people no amount of training can help?

I cannot sing. I drive a convertible and I was singing at the stop light once, and I looked over and the girl next to me at the light was laughing.

(01-24-2016, 03:14 PM)McC Wrote: Question Zona--

Can anybody learn to sing?  Or are there people no amount of training can help?

Pretty much anyone can if the want to, barring a physical disability. Like most things, it is just a matter of how much you want to do it, what your goals are and how much time you are willing to invest in it.

(01-24-2016, 03:52 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: I cannot sing. I drive a convertible and I was singing at the stop light once, and I looked over and the girl next to me at the light was laughing.

Depends on what you were singing and what time of the year you had the top down.  Those two factors could be laugh worthy in themselves.

Of course there are hand, body, and facial movements...  were you doing anything like this?

(01-24-2016, 03:52 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: I cannot sing. I drive a convertible and I was singing at the stop light once, and I looked over and the girl next to me at the light was laughing.

(01-24-2016, 04:58 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: Depends on what you were singing and what time of the year you had the top down.  Those two factors could be laugh worthy in themselves.

Of course there are hand, body, and facial movements...  were you doing anything like this?

Yeah. Girls usually laugh when they catch you singing along with Justin Beiber.

Not that I would know firsthand or anything.

I cannot carry a tune in a bucket. I was at church one day and my saintly Grandmother told me I needed a "tune up" while I was signing the hymns.

WTS I can/could call cadence better than most.

I think I can sing pretty well my voice is deeper so it helps if the song is too.

I have a hard time singing without the song in my ear though.

M Wrote:Question Zona--

Can anybody learn to sing?  Or are there people no amount of training can help?

Bengalzona Wrote:Pretty much anyone can if the want to, barring a physical disability. Like most things, it is just a matter of how much you want to do it, what your goals are and how much time you are willing to invest in it.

I have always wondered this as well. Very interesting.

(01-24-2016, 04:47 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: Pretty much anyone can if the want to, barring a physical disability. Like most things, it is just a matter of how much you want to do it, what your goals are and how much time you are willing to invest in it.

TY.  Now, how about this?  Is there such a thing as tone deaf?

(01-27-2016, 01:17 PM)McC Wrote: TY.  Now, how about this?  Is there such a thing as tone deaf?

I don't know if it is due to some sort of "deafness" but there are certainly people who can not match their voice to a tone that is played for them.

If you ever sing in a large group (like a church congregation), you will hear them.

Once my voice changed decades past, that was it.

(01-27-2016, 01:17 PM)McC Wrote: TY.  Now, how about this?  Is there such a thing as tone deaf?

There is. It is an actual disability. It has to do with lack of development of the arcuate fasciculus, a bundle of axons which connect regions of the brain. Problems in this area of the brain are also related to stuttering and conductive aphasia, a language disorder.

Some have suggested that the area may be strengthened by musical training, but that is not tested.

Yeah, i sing and write my own songs.

I used to be a terrible singer i thought and some said i should take singing lessons but i didn't want to
end up sounding like everyone else. Instead i just listened to my favorite singers and tried to mold my
voice after all of them.

Now people say i am a great singer but i still think i have tons to work on and probably always will.

Bottom line in my honest opinion is to not try and over sing. I think that is a big mistake, but i guess
some people like that kind of stuff.

(01-24-2016, 04:47 PM)Bengalzon Wrote: Pretty much anyone can if the want to, barring a physical disability. Like most things, it is just a matter of how much you want to do it, what your goals are and how much time you are willing to invest in it.

I can remember all the words, get the inflection right and be right on with the singing, but my voice will never be requested to get up there again at karaoke night.

I write and sing stuff, and I even get about 3 cents per day from Spotify!  I didn't feel like I "made it" until someone came up to me and admitted he liked my new stuff and THEN admitted he illegally downloaded my latest album.

Score!

My latest album was an intentionally-cheesy and cliched take on the 80s.  Here is a rad duet I did with a gal who sings in the Pittsburgh area that is supposed to sound like "Love Lift Us Up."  She's a better singer than I, ha.

(01-31-2016, 11:44 PM)Beaker Wrote: I can remember all the words, get the inflection right and be right on with the singing, but my voice will never be requested to get up there again at karaoke night.

It's a funny thing about singing. When you tell people you are a singer, they almost never say: "Oh. You're a singer? Let me hear you sing something then!" That only happens when family members and auditions.

It is a job requirement as a singer that you have a certain amount of shamelessness in your personality. At a professional level, it is absolutely expected of you. No shrinking violets there. People literally wonder "How good of a singer can this dude be if he doesn't think he is the best singer ever?". It's pretty messed up, but it is the nature of the beast.

And if you screw up, you have to have a short memory like a defensive back or an offensive lineman.

(02-01-2016, 02:55 AM)Nately120 Wrote: I write and sing stuff, and I even get about 3 cents per day from Spotify!  I didn't feel like I "made it" until someone came up to me and admitted he liked my new stuff and THEN admitted he illegally downloaded my latest album.

Score!

My latest album was an intentionally-cheesy and cliched take on the 80s.  Here is a rad duet I did with a gal who sings in the Pittsburgh area that is supposed to sound like "Love Lift Us Up."  She's a better singer than I, ha.

Don't take this as an insult, but this is a good example of how two average to good voices can sound so much better when they harmonize.  

I love to hear good three part harmony.  The voices become more like an instruments playing a specific line each.

(02-01-2016, 12:23 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Don't take this as an insult, but this is a good example of how two average to good voices can sound so much better when they harmonize.  

I love to hear good three part harmony.  The voices become more like an instruments playing a specific line each.

She and I were both going overboard for the sake of the project, but I do get what you are saying.  We came up with the most tongue-in-cheek cliched song we could in terms of the music, the lyrics, and the way we did the singing.  I've been told I have a decent set of pipes by the label head, but I tend to intentionally write and record stuff that is a bit on the fun/goofy side so I can avoid too much legit criticism.