Social singing, which is one the most wonderful ways of sharing that humankind ever came up with, is a custom that's almost disappeared. Most people don't know how to do it anymore. A lot of people still have that urge to raise their voices together, though. That's why they'll pick up the blue book, or any book they can find, and fumble through it and try to patch something together. And yes, it can be kind of abysmal.

The thing is, if singers just throw up their hands and walk away, things will just be sad and pathetic. Music responds better to leadership than about anything else, and I don't see much reason why people who know how it's done shouldn't just stand up and do it.