Why can't I sing in tune?

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 11:41 AM

An ear plug or two. Seriously, try plugging one ear with a finger while you're singing and see how well you can hear your own voice. If the band's loud enough, you ought to be able to hear them through the plug(s).

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Escamillo
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 03:59 PM

Lower the volume of the band. If you can't hear your own voice then everything is too loud, everything will be flat and inexpressive and agressive. Just a comment from a listener who doesn't want to become deaf !

Un abrazo,
Andrés

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: shepherdlass
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:04 PM

Doc, If you're wary of conventional vocal coaches (most of whom in any case teach all sorts of singers, not just the operatic variety), look for an Alexander Technique teacher - just standing and breathing and relaxing properly can do wonders for freeing up the constricted muscles and inhibitions (it sounds like you've been building these for years as regards voice) which send you off key.

For all that, after years of pro and semi-pro singing, I still have problems with tuning if I have to use headphones in a studio - and it gets worse the more I think about it! Reckon it's often down to (a) not hearing yourself and (b) worry.

Range too - take a tip from the inimitable Richard Thompson - if you've got just 5 strong notes pick (or write) tunes that accentuate them.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Peter from Essex
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:13 PM

Mary, get the whole band to use earpeices for the foldback. I know one band that does this, the wonderfully uncluttered stage allows the fiddle player to dance while playing and never any feedback.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Mary Mcdowell
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:27 PM

the thing is that the live band is closely next to me and the huge speakers are facing the audience. i will try using earplugs, thanks Jeri. if i still cannot hear myself, i will try Peter's method.. cheers everyone! with love, mary

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 12:48 PM

Sometimes, it's a matter of vocal functioning, getting your voice to do what it needs to. Voice lessons with a reputable teacher can solve this. Check out NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) online. They have a list of qualified voice teachers in your area.

Frank

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 01:29 PM

I agree with alot of what I've read here the hearing of it is a big key to alot of it. I am able to sing harmonies which is another skill in itself but with the melody you have to be able to hear it either from a recording or in your head and then be able to match your voice to it. It's not easy to do sometimes but if you practice and sing alot it will come naturally. I have played in bands and I find I will go off pitch if I can't hear myself. If you can hear yourself you will be able to learn if your off pitch for sure.

Kissifur

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Menolly
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 12:47 AM

My husband could not sing in tune, but could tell when an instrument or another voice was out of tune. We eventually worked out that when he tryed to sing he mostly listened to himself, not through the air, but through the bones of his head, and they were "out of tune".
By doing the classic folkie, cupping his hand round his ear, he created a stronged passage for sound through air and could hear himself properly, and so learned to siong in tune, but it always felt to him, as if he were singing flat.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,mick
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 12:04 PM

For folk music,if all else fails, try going with the poetry of the lyric rather than struggling to get the melody exactly right. Speak the words of a song out loud over a simple guitar accompinement a few times before you start singing . If neccessary alter the tune to fit your voice and , to that end , cultivate your speaking voice .I think it was William Blake who said " A bird never soared too high that flew on its own wings"
Bear in mind that there will always be one song that you really like that you won't be able to sing . For me it's Ewan Macoll's Travelling People - the last word of every verse just throws me for some reason.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: wigan
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 12:12 PM

just picked this thread up. i've been told for 52 years that i'm tone deaf, then 2 years ago a musician friend said there is no such thing, it is /was a convenient excuse when people couldn't teach someone to sing. now i try and i'm told i'm improving (slightly). as i love singing i shall be trying some of the tips suggested. thanks to all who have posted

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Nicole
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 08:34 AM

I always love to sing but never had coaching... I'm thirty and I act some I just did a short movie where I was lead actress.. I finally went talk to a singing teacher in my town and I sang a little Dena Carter, Strawberry Wine.. I was a little nervious but not bad for my first time in front of a proffesional, and being tested ya know.. She said I was alto.. I wasn't sure what that meant..She had a smile on so I guess it wasn't to bad.. I start this Friday with my first lessons and I can't wait!! She had me go home and practice with the Dixie Chicks, If You Were Mine.. I have to say I always thought I sound like the lead singer in that song, so I was pretty happy when she suggested it.. I will try to keep yall posted with my progress..
Nicole-

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune
From: GUEST,riley
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 08:34 AM

im ten i cant sing is it my throut or is it my vocal cord help me

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,riley
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 08:37 AM

someone help me i was trying to sing a high note my voice come back

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 08:38 AM

can you train my sing voice

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,riley
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 08:56 AM

you is it my vocal cords or throut i can,t sing

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: kendall
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 09:00 AM

This is something that has always baffled me. Do all people who sing off key know they are? If so, why do they persist? If they don't know, is it a hearing problem?
One of my brothers was in the field artillery in Korea, and his hearing was damaged in a way that he could not hear certain frequencies. Some peoples voice were all but lost to him, yet he could hear every word I spoke or sang.
I had 4 brothers and 3 sisters. All but one sister could sing, but she couldn't carry a note with a co signer.
A friend recently gave me a violin, need I say more? I hit a lot of sour notes but I know immediately and I redirect my fingers to find the right note before moving on to the next one.

Still baffled.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 09:59 AM

Have you ever listened to a Gallic service? In the Scottish Kirk, (in the Highlands and the Isles) the Precentor sings the first notes, and the congregation slowly slides up until they also hit the note. It's so beautiful and strange it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up! If someone is a bit 'tone deaf' they can slide up until the note is reached, and if they're a bit 'off' it only adds to the haunting quality of the singing. (You can hear all this on Youtube.)

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 10:04 AM

I've found one on Youtube you might like, it's called Martyrs Gaelic Psalm.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: tonyteach1
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 12:27 PM

Being a singer and singing teacher (which immediately arouses suspicion in folk person) I come across many people who have been told they cannot sing

Reasons are

1 Not using enough breath to create tone - voice needs support from diaphragm as well to sustain a voice over a period of time

2 Not breathing enough between words or phrases

3 Not opening throat properly

4 Not singing in right part of voice or key

5 Clenching or bracing throat and shoulders to create unwanted tension

6 Vocal damage due to drink - nicotine or other substances

7 Not exercising the voice enough - ideally voice should be worked every day

8 Hearing problems

A lot can be done with proper training and by recording the voice and finding what works to build up muscle memory

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 12:34 PM

Thanks for the info, tony.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Peter C
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 12:41 PM

Unfortunately there are many many folk singers around (some of them even get paid) who cannot pitch accurately. And to compund matters some of them also try to sing harmonies, which sound even worse out of tune than the straight melody!
I stick to playing!

Subject: RE: In loud acoustic environments
From: Crowhugger
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 04:45 PM

I had an experience singing in a 60+ voice chorus that sometimes was so loud I could only hear my own voice by blocking one ear; even with cupping I was barely audible to myself. Obviously, neither cupping nor plugging one's ear is an ideal visual message in performance. Normally I sing quite in tune. Yet as others have said upthread, not hearing oneself can almost guarantee singing out of tune. I found that to be the most true when trying too hard to hear myself, either from oversinging (usually going sharp) or insecurity (usually going flat, "hiding under the note").

In that acoustic situation, sometimes I've found that I have the right note when I CAN'T hear myself, a very uncomfortable thing to do I should add. I learned this by using a hand-held voice recorder, which held to my chin picks up my voice in front of the other sounds, and then trying different approaches. It's very un-nerving, trying to sing according to the feel instead of the sound--but sometimes the less I feel, the more perfectly I've matched what's around me. When I can hear my own sound most clearly, it's because it is different from the notes around me, or it's out of tune with other parts I can hear. In western music, the scale and pleasant harmonies are based on natural overtones so when you have them right, the soundwaves are quite literally in synch.

That same trick was helpful to some others who had trouble tuning even in quieter passages, when they'd usually be under the note. Using this approach, when they didn't hear their voice as much or even at all (but could still feel it in their throats so yes, they were still singing), they were tuned much more accurately.

Of course at some point, singing by feel won't strictly apply, like if the volume is so high that one cannot even hear a wrong note. Also when the desired interval is less than a major 3rd, the correct notes can and should create some buzzing sensation which (more buzzing the smaller the interval). Getting to know these supplementary "sounds" can help to place a note correctly in challenging acoustics. all in all, when dealing with an intense acoustic setting, it's worth experimenting with in rehearsal.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 04:59 AM

I often (OK, mostly) sing out of tune, but usually kazoo in tune. I notice Jeremy Hardy on ISIHAC (UK radio show) has the same problem. Why can I hum in tune but don't always sing the note I hear in my head?

RtS

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 01:34 PM

After I'd been singing for a while I began to realise that my singing voice was potentially like a fair-sized room - and I was cowering in one corner.

To learn how to fill your 'room', or to use more of it, follow tonyteach1's excellent advice above.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 03:09 PM

"Why can I hum in tune but don't always sing the note I hear in my head?"

See tonyteach's post above. It sounds like you know what you want to do, your muscles just aren't doing it right.

There's a woman in my church who says "I don't sing," and she's a totally different kettle of fish. She doesn't seem handicapped, but when she tries to sing, she produces an erratic sequence of sounds which seem totally unrelated to the melody. There are big hops up and down, and no feeling that the song is in a certain key.

I wonder whether music teachers have any way to help a person with a problem like that.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: John P
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 04:00 PM

I've been a professional musician for more than 40 years. I can hear quite well, can whistle in tune, and can't carry a tune in a bucket with my voice. I've worked with multiple voice teachers and many very good vocalists in bands. My ex-wife, who used to work with people with brain injuries, thinks it might be brain damage from falling on my had a couple of times when I was young. Apparently, loss of a narrow band of functionality is fairly common with brain injuries, like people whose only problem is they can't taste salt or something.

I know how to provide good support, how to relax my body and throat, and I can hear exactly what I want to sing. Something else almost always comes out.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: foggers
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 04:10 PM

I saw an interesting documentary about the human voice on BBC last year. Jeremy Hardy volunteered to be a tone deaf guinea pig for a test to show that pitch perception can be improved. He sang into a mike that gave a visual read out on a large screen in such a way that he could see the discrepancy between the note he was producing and what he was aiming for. This visual feedback meant he quickly could adjust his pitch and see the effects on screen, thus quickly grasping the mechanics of vocal pitch change. It was a very thought provoking moment!

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,pete from seven stars link
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 04:37 PM

i considered myself tone deaf most of my life. it was,nt till i started writing songs that i tentatively asked about lessons.these were of limited value and i suffered rejection on my first attempt at a public airing of a song despite my teachers encouragement.
what has helped me most has been the free eric arsenaux vids on you tube.he is an r an b artist and not my taste but an excellent teacher, but you need appprox 20 mins practise of the exercises daily and be prepared to give it time.theres no quick fixes but steady improvement.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: tonyteach1
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 06:12 PM

Follow up points - no singer - vocalist ever hears their voice as the audience do - they hear a fraction of the sound across the range of resonances.

Tuning can be learned BUT it takes time and practice over a sustained period not one session but many. The voice will also retune itself as it develops ie it will get higher and brighter and fuller until it settles down. Most people give up too easily

I can turn most voices round in 3 -6 months with pupil practicing 10 minutes a day guaranteed

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Often
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 06:32 PM

"I know how to provide good support, how to relax my body and throat, and I can hear exactly what I want to sing. Something else almost always comes out."

the relaxing is what I would have suggested, as it helps me, although I can never sing in tune either.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Wolverine
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 07:08 PM

In answer to the original question, posed .. because some people have the inherent ability and talent and others while enthusiastic aren't blessed with it. Regardless if you enjoy it, do it - but maybe consider limiting it to the shower and not inflict it on others - who may be too polite to tell you that you couldn't carry a tune if it had handles on it? ... or consider vocal lessons if you're really serious about improving.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: John P
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 07:59 PM

because some people have the inherent ability and talent and others while enthusiastic aren't blessed with it.

What bugs me, as a terrible singer, are those who have the inherent ability but not the enthusiasm.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: paula t
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 08:16 PM

I think singing in tune is mainly a matter of lots of experience of singing and of learning to pitch match more and more notes.I also think it is about having confidence in yourself and listening to yourself as you sing.

I have reception children singing songs of 2 notes only at first.We start by learning how to stand, breathe etc. I also encourage them to play singing games which use their "thinking voice" (We "sing " the song in our heads.) An example of this would be a song of 2 notes only which is rather like a slow and deliberate version of head, shoulders, knees and toes. We sing the song (without a backing track so they can hear themselves)and then I ask individuals to name parts of the body which we will not sing out loud. Instead we use our thinking voice and then re-enter the song at the correct time.We gradually end up singing more and more of the song with our thinking voice and the children think this is hilarious as we stand in the classroom waving our arms around in silence and then suddenly singing a line together.It is amazing how quickly young children learn to pitch match the 2 notes, keep to the rhythm of the song and re-enter the song at the correct pitch after using their thinking voice.We sing the song very slowly to begin with and gradually speed up as the pitch matching improves. I gradually drop out of singing each song to give the children the chance to hear their own voice and develop confidence in their own ability.

We play lots of singing games, using our voices in different ways (Many of them very silly indeed!).We gradually sing more and more complex songs. I teach the older children the "Doh Ray Me" song because they love it and it is very useful when introducing the idea of harmony (A child sings "Doh" and holds that note and other children match that note and join in. More children are divided into small groups and they add harmonies by singing "Me" and "So. I quite often ask the least confident singers to choose the first note so they can hear others match it. I treat being the first singer as a "reward" for good listening etc. The children love hearing the sound they have created.)

We sing lots throughout the day. Sometimes it is just a couple of lines when I ask them to come and sit on the carpet, or a few lines when we sing about the things we need to remember to pack up at the end of the day. These songs have a limited number of notes and are sometimes very silly, because singing does not have to be a performance all of the time.

I think you should never feel ashamed of your voice. Use it more and more and HAVE FUN, because singing is good for you!Start with simple songs and build up from there.

Don't be put off by others or by the thought of what they might say.Such people are just very rude. Most of them wouldn't dream of having a go at someone for their appearance, so why should they think it is OK to be critical of someone's voice? No-one sings in tune all the time anyway, and if they think they do .....then perhaps they are just not listening to themselves enough!Enjoy!

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: foggers
Date: 29 Oct 11 - 07:10 AM

Paula- what a brilliant way to get children singing with joy and confidence!
I was lucky to have some inspirational teachers through school and sang regularly in school choirs and in the baptist church I attended throughy my teens. It was this immersion in collective singing that skilled me up as a singer; I don't buy the notion that it is innate for some people at all, it is a learned skill, but if the learning is as much fun as Paula makes it, you don't even realise you are learning!

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: John P
Date: 29 Oct 11 - 10:53 AM

I don't buy the notion that it is innate for some people at all

This doesn't pass the real world experience test.

I think you should never feel ashamed of your voice. . . Don't be put off by others or by the thought of what they might say.

I'm not put off by other people, and I'm not ashamed of anything. I sing all the time, just not on stage. There, I'm put off by myself, since I have a pretty good ear and I know what singing in performance is supposed to sound like.

Not being able to reliably sing in tune is one of the great tragedies of my life. Listening to people tell me I CAN do it if I just try is another. All you people who can sing need to get past the idea that anyone can do it.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 29 Oct 11 - 11:04 AM

Tonyteach wrote "Being a singer and singing teacher (which immediately arouses suspicion in folk person) I come across many people who have been told they cannot sing."

First, let me say that you don't arouse suspicioun in ME, and I'm a folk person. Get over the idea that all folkies have hay in their hair.

But my main point is that I'm shocked that people who don't know anything about singing would shoot off their moutha and shoot down another person's hopes. Tony's post shows that many times all the student needs is coaching about certain aspects of singing, such as breathing or not being tense. Yet some big mouth has sneered at them, "You can't sing!"

The empty barrel roars the loudest, as they say.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: foggers
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 10:10 AM

John P; having read your other posts I can understand why you want to take issue with my view that singing in tune is not an innate gift.

Of course a single sentence on a forum like this can convey a rather simplistic view. What I mean is that singing in tune is a multi-faceted learned skill; it is not simply something you got or you ain't.

It has many different components including hearing, perception of pitch produced, perception of the gap between that and the desired pitch and the motor skills in adjusting the vocal apparatus and hearing the effects etc; these are each a subset of skills that make up the over-arching skill of singing in tune. Underlying this is the neurology of learning and how the brain creates new synaptic connections, for each of these sub-skills and for connecting them together in sequence. One of the reasons I was so impressed with Paula's account of how she teaches singing at reception class level is that her system will introduce the children to all those sub-skills and stimulate their amazing little brains to build the necessary synaptic pathways to record and store these skills.

If singing in tune is therefore this quite complex equation of subskills that the brain needs to learn.it makes sense therefore that if someone has some specific neurological damage or deficit, any one of these sub-skills could be affected, and you suggest that this could be the case with you.

I am sorry if my apparently sweeping statement caused offence at all;that was not my intention.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 10:14 AM

I have an Uncle and a Sister-in-Law who could break glass, so off-tune do they sing. Neither of them think they're off tune though, hence the phrase 'tone-deaf'...

Simply an inability of the ears of some to pick up their own musical notes.

Mind you, in others it could be down to the fact of too many fingers in ears of course..... ;0)

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: John P
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 10:31 AM

you want to take issue with my view that singing in tune is not an innate gift.

Foggers, the only reason I took exception to this statement was that I know LOTS of people who have never had any vocal training of any kind yet who sing beautifully. While knowing that the definition of "innate gift" might be unclear, I'd have to say that untrained people who can sing have one. Obviously, any such skill becomes immensely more finely honed with training and/or conscious practice.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: foggers
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 06:46 PM

Interesting point, John; I too know people who have good voices and have not had formal vocal training. However, going back to Paula's post I am guessing that some of her reception class pupils may turn out to have great voices as adults but would say they had never had any vocal training, because the seemingly fun singing games experienced at school probably are not recalled as having been "vocal training". So I would be inclined to scrutinise the claims of any brilliant singer who says they have had no vocal inputs; the inputs/stimuli may not have been recognised as pertinent to singing skills.

I fully accept that some folks get a head start in terms of what Mother Nature hands them; perhaps in attentive listening, accuracy of recall, vocal apparatus and reproduction of sounds etc. My position is that no talent is simply a case of either nature or nuture; it is always a complex interaction of both (neuroscience is opening whole worlds of understanding in this arena) and for each person the balance of that equation is different. So for any person who asks the question that is the title of this thread, the answer will be a different one and may be an unknowable one without some formal analysis.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 07:57 PM

What is a reception class?

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Crowhugger
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 09:15 PM

Yes, I too wonder what is a reception class?

Leeneia, I'd be interested to know if the woman in your church (mentioned in your post Oct 28 @ 3:09 p.m.) can sing the children's chant, "nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah nyah." If so I expect she can indeed learn to sing. It's not a scientific measure but it's a pretty good indicator.

Her best bet is of course a singing teacher who specializes in adult beginners. Do you have a rapport with her such that you would sing with her in a casual, non-lesson way? Sometimes a safe place is the best teacher. Unsafe places through life are a major cause of 1,2,3,5,6 & 7 of tonyteach1's list (27 Oct 2011, 12:27 PM)

paula t, for ear training the chorus I also used word omission/singing in the head--it's a fabulous tool that I swear by! The moderately experienced singers were quite challenged at first with hearing doh, head-singing up to fa then singing sol aloud. But (even without body part motions) amid much hilarity they got the hang of it quickly. Laughter and body movement are the two master tools for keeping anxiety out of learning to sing.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,Vicki Kelsey
Date: 30 Oct 11 - 09:48 PM

I was talking to some friends who have been volunteering to work with people who've been told they are tone deaf. The say they have a lot of success with having them recreate bird song first. Maybe it takes the stress off because they can separate that from "singing".

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 09:46 AM

Re: the woman who 'doesn't sing.' I don't wish to approach her about it. She doesn't seem to brood over it, and I doubt if she has any money for lessons. We'll just love her as she is.

To me, the most important thing in this thread is tonyteach's list of trivial problems for which people have been told they 'can't sing.' And they've been told that by others who don't know what they're talking about. It's sad to hear, but it's good to be warned.

If somebody tells you that you can't sing, respond with "And how do you know?"

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,pete from seven stars link
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 01:22 PM

i was told i could,nt sing and certainly i did,nt very tunefully ,but i kept at it and over the years i improve all the time till now i am mostly accepted as a singer.there were those that thought i was a no hoper but they were wrong.

ps-reception class in uk is the class when the littlies begin school.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Crowhugger
Date: 31 Oct 11 - 01:34 PM

Vicki, I expect you're right that copying bird-songs is less stressful than copying a melody. It quite effectively creates the safe place for voice experimentation.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 11:20 AM

Thanks for the encouraging comment and the definition, Pete.

As a dedicated birdwatcher and birdlistener, I have my doubts about the birdsong theory. Bird sounds seem to come in two categories: the crude (crow) and the complicated (cardinal).

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: Crowhugger
Date: 01 Nov 11 - 11:39 AM

I know what you mean leeneia, I think "imitation" can't be taken too, too literally. After all some birds have two sets of vocal cords so what chance would one-set species like us have to match their sound precisely?

Still it's a great beginning approach! The act of freely warbling is incredibly valuable both to teach muscle awareness and to generate laughter. Laughter being immensely relaxing also creates a feeling of safety. Both are of utmost importance when working with beginning singers of any age but especially with adults, who tend to hold various amounts of fear and self-loathing toward their voices.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Nov 11 - 10:53 AM

I see what you mean.

Subject: RE: Why can't I sing in tune?
From: paula t
Date: 02 Nov 11 - 03:05 PM

I've been away from the computer for a while, so I haven't read the latest comments until now. Sorry!
Hi Foggy,
Thankyou for your very positive comments. I think it is very important that children enjoy singing and discover and then value their own voice.Singing is so beneficial to lots of other aspects of learning too, IMHO.

Hi Crowhugger,
I absolutely agree that laughter and body movement are incredibly valuable tools. Singing is something to be enjoyed, not endured!