foggers wrote;

My OH has a lovely baritone voice but he is convinced that he cannot sing, because he was told this for years.

My experience as well. What changed it for me was going to an option session at an early music summer school for "those who thought they couldn't sing" and finding I could sing, though I was still not a bit confident. Later that year I found a weekend workshop called "Singing for the tone deaf". It was brilliant! The tutor was very encouraging and he used piano accompaniment to adapt to the pitch of the singers so you could find a pitch that was comfortable. If he felt the pitch was wrong for the group he would just transpose into another key until he found one that suited the group so that we were able to find our voice.

It took me another three years to attempt to sing at a singaround. I used to just play tunes, but I tried singing a song one time and nobody seemed to wince or look as if anything was wrong, so I carried on. I have found people to be encouraging for the most part. Remarks like "I like the songs you sing" or "You sang that one well" and an overheard "I do like Geoff's voice" during the break have helped my confidence no end. I got "you sang that one well tonight, Geoff" last night which I much appreciated.

One very useful tip I got from the singing weekend was to use an instrument to find out where your voice lay. I used my electronic keyboard and simply played single notes and sang them back until I had found the highest and lowest note I could comfortably sing. If you know where your voice lies, it helps tremendously.

Geoff