Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: Jaded on 13 December, 2009, 10:16:24 am

Title: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Jaded on 13 December, 2009, 10:16:24 am
I'm interested in that I cannot (unless exceptionally drunk) sing and neither can Miss Jaded.

So - would it be possible to teach/train us? We are both quite musical in terms of recognising bum notes etc.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: jogler on 13 December, 2009, 10:19:45 am
i am similarly talented.Can I join your choir?
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: rogerzilla on 13 December, 2009, 10:22:45 am
Mrs Z is the secretary of a local choral society and yes, she can sing soprano.  She's always trying to persude me to go along but I have one of those baritone voices with a bit of a limited range; think Jim Morrison rather than Freddie Mercury.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: her_welshness on 13 December, 2009, 10:45:57 am
It is absolutely doable  :thumbsup: If you are already good on picking up the notes then you already ahead. So are you thinking about joining a choir or doing some vocal training?

So whose for a yacf choir then?  :D
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: jogler on 13 December, 2009, 10:50:40 am
can I do solo please.. so low you can't hear me> bum-tish

IGMC
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Julian on 13 December, 2009, 12:53:43 pm
Yes, anybody can learn to sing.  I sing in a choir intermittently, but can't sing solo.  The main thing stopping most people who 'can't sing' is embarrassment / nerves, which stops them relaxing enough to sing.  If you're tense then your muscles will tighten up and you'll emit little off-key squeaks instead of a nice rounded note.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Charlotte on 13 December, 2009, 12:55:52 pm
I have good musical pitch and can play a variety of implements instruments to a moderate standard.

But I have a terrible singing voice.  I know it's terrible, so I don't use it.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Tewdric on 13 December, 2009, 12:57:05 pm
Former president of Exeter University Choral Society checking in!  :thumbsup:

I'm not claiming to be able to sing though. :-)
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 13 December, 2009, 01:36:23 pm
I wish I could sing but I can't. What I think the note is in my head is not what comes out of my mouth.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Jaded on 13 December, 2009, 02:11:25 pm
I wish I could sing but I can't. What I think the note is in my head is not what comes out of my mouth.

Yeah, I think that's where we are coming from!
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Rhys W on 13 December, 2009, 03:31:32 pm
I'm the same - it's hereditary. My grandfather couldn't sing, but he wasn't aware of this and used to murder arias whenever he'd put an opera record on. My mother can't either, she knows it but it doesn't stop her from trying now and again. Me, I know it and won't even try in public.

I got told not to bother when the rest of my class were in a choir in school, and I've had my backing vocals erased when my band went into a studio. Still, I've taught myself guitar, bass, harmonica and charango to a reasonable competency, so I can't be a total musical dud.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: rogerzilla on 13 December, 2009, 06:52:28 pm
Have you tried putting a finger in one ear?
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: bobb on 13 December, 2009, 07:13:13 pm
It's certainly true that anyone can improve their singing voice, but whether or not they could then be considered able to "sing" is pretty subjective.

Some people are more natural than others (actually that's pretty bloody obvious!) but one of the biggest hindrances to most people (other than the shyness) is just how badly they want to learn to sing. Just like any musical instrument - they really want to be able to play it, but can't be arsed to put any effort in. I know this from running guitar lessons for a few friends a number of years ago.

I was a cathedral chorister as a child and my parents have always sung in choral societies. I am a shit singer now though. Pretty much entirely because I'm not that interested in singing so never practise.

Anyway, I've realised that being able to play a nice tune on a piano will get you laid more often than just singing  :P
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 14 December, 2009, 09:48:44 am
At my previous workplace, I used to often sing. Or maybe it was only outside the building, I can't remember now. No singing where I currently work as we're dependent on audio-fidelity. Anyway, I sing enthusiastically but badly, and on the basis of this a colleague invited me to join an amateur choir. Apparently anyone can be trained to sing well, if they want to. In fact, I think I should look into it.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Ariadne on 14 December, 2009, 09:56:03 am
I would love to learn to sing.

I did once sign up to 'learn to sing' sessions run by a drama school but it turned out to just be a choir full of people who couldn't sing, singing badly together: not what I was after.

I still mouth the words to Happy Birthday...
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Si on 14 December, 2009, 10:08:47 am
I, too, wish that I could sing, or was just musical.

Doubly bad as my other half is an excellent singer (church are always pleading for her to join the choir but she refuses after some church politics a while back). 

And it was most annoying when she first started playing the keyboard - without any training or instruction she just sat down and started playing recognisable tunes with one finger from each hand - how the hell do people do that?!?!?!?
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: rogerzilla on 28 January, 2010, 09:04:15 pm
Hmmm.  I can hit the two high notes in "Music of the Night" in full voice...just.  Apparently it's very difficult, and even Michael Crawford goes falsetto the first time he sings the bridge.  Maybe I'm not quite as bad as I thought.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Moloko on 28 January, 2010, 09:13:59 pm
Hmmm.  I can hit the two high notes in "Music of the Night" in full voice...just.  Apparently it's very difficult, and even Michael Crawford goes falsetto the first time he sings the bridge.  Maybe I'm not quite as bad as I thought.

You've really got into this Phantom lark.
A nice large swishy cloak for you to wear on your bike, methinks. (think Bishop Brennan, running)  ;D
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Fab Foodie on 28 January, 2010, 11:30:13 pm
Former president of Exeter University Choral Society checking in!  :thumbsup:

I'm not claiming to be able to sing though. :-)

Former Exeter Catheral Choirister here  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: 

Mrs FF got inspired by 'The Choir' series on TV and signed-up with the local Choral Society.  She'd never sang before and had no interest in classical music (unlike me).
She loves it!  Singing Alto she's now performed Poulenc's Gloria and Bach's Magnificat in 2 concerts with full Orchestra.  Bloody marvelous!

So Jaded(s) find a choir and go along, it's a wonderous thing to sing with others... amongst the best therapy available.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Ian H on 28 January, 2010, 11:40:49 pm
Sister Agatha nipped my singing career in the bud when I was aged eight.
"Who's droning? You're droning. Don't sing, just move your lips."
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Jaded on 29 January, 2010, 12:39:49 am
I know exactly what you mean.

In similar circumstances I was given the triangle to play.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: jogler on 29 January, 2010, 07:37:28 am
I was banned  :(
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: rogerzilla on 29 January, 2010, 06:22:50 pm
You've really got into this Phantom lark.
A nice large swishy cloak for you to wear on your bike, methinks. (think Bishop Brennan, running)  ;D
I'm more like the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

You see, Dicky Mo, I am a colossal pervert.  Animal, vegetable or mineral, I'll do anything to anything.

Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Moloko on 29 January, 2010, 07:17:31 pm

Yes, I've heard tales of bottom brackets being torn asunder.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Tewdric on 29 January, 2010, 07:20:12 pm
Former president of Exeter University Choral Society checking in!  :thumbsup:

I'm not claiming to be able to sing though. :-)

Former Exeter Catheral Choirister here  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: 

Mrs FF got inspired by 'The Choir' series on TV and signed-up with the local Choral Society.  She'd never sang before and had no interest in classical music (unlike me).
She loves it!  Singing Alto she's now performed Poulenc's Gloria and Bach's Magnificat in 2 concerts with full Orchestra.  Bloody marvelous!

So Jaded(s) find a choir and go along, it's a wonderous thing to sing with others... amongst the best therapy available.

I agree completely.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Jaded on 29 January, 2010, 08:15:20 pm
Aren't choirs all full of funny people?  :o



 ;)
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: hellymedic on 29 January, 2010, 08:18:54 pm
Aren't choirs all full of funny people?  :o



 ;)

They are very conventional compred to clubs of cyclists.
Astronomy clubs attract even 'funnier' people... ;) ;D
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Fab Foodie on 29 January, 2010, 09:46:15 pm
Aren't choirs all full of funny people?  :o



 ;)

If they are, their jokes are crap...
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Ian H on 31 January, 2010, 12:05:33 am
Aren't choirs all full of funny people?  :o



 ;)

If they are, their jokes are crap...

Ha Ha.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: Wowbagger on 31 January, 2010, 12:14:56 am
Singing is a wonderful thing. I wish I did more of it but life's too short. Perhaps I should join a choir.

I once spent a week at the British Kodaly Academy Summer School. It was absolutely wonderful.

Last night I went to the Royal Opera House for Cosi Fan Tutte. I'm in awe of the singers who can perform such complex stuff. Solo voices intertwined are just beautiful.

Listen & weep (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wi7UsXW1As).
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: rogerzilla on 06 February, 2010, 08:06:04 pm
Mrs Z has just signed up for proper singing lessons*, although she's been singing choral and solo stuff (soprano - makes the glasses rattle) for a few years.  There are very few singing teachers round here, and they charge £30 an hour  :o


*I like to think that this is because she is shamed by my fabulous range and perfect pitch, but I think it's unlikely.
Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: SteveC on 06 February, 2010, 08:22:54 pm
Sister Agatha nipped my singing career in the bud when I was aged eight.
"Who's droning? You're droning. Don't sing, just move your lips."
That attitude SO annoys me!  >:( >:( >:(

There's a saying 'If you can talk, you can sing'.  And it's just about true. 
My old school music teacher (who'd arrived at the school when my father was there) said he'd never found anyone who was genuinely tone deaf.
Obviously, some of us are better at it than others, but the basics are inbuilt.
The two biggest problems are trying to sing too high (which was probably Ian H's problem1) and not having learned to listen to yourself (hence Rogerzilla's suggestion of the finger in the year2). 

Most men are baritones, most women are mezzos.  Classical and posh church music goes for the extremes, so puts all four voices outside of their comfort zones. 

Steve

Notes:

1) I had the same from my music teacher in the last year of primary school, although she didn't name and shame me.  It was 'if you can't stop groaning at the back, just keep quiet'.  In my case the problem was my voice was breaking.  By the following September I was singing tenor.

2) You don't have to put your finger into your ear to get the effect although it does work. Cupping your hand over the ear does nearly as well.  Google Ewan McColl and you'll see what I mean.

Title: Re: Can anybody sing?
Post by: rogerzilla on 06 February, 2010, 08:31:50 pm
This Is Spinal Tap -- (Movie Clip) Graceland, Etc. (http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=237536)

"No, you can't hit that note!"