Do you sing?
I want to know, do my fellow forumites sing? I mean, not just in the shower or in your choir or whatever, just any time, all the time? I'm not a good singer, but if I'm by myself doing something I can't help singing. In the sense that I sometimes don't even realize I'm doing it, and I don't just sing real songs either. I just start singing whatever words and melody come into my head at the moment.
I'm asking because I suddenly realized that even though I see children doing this all the time, I've never noticed any other adults doing it. So does anybody else just sing?
I'm asking because I suddenly realized that even though I see children doing this all the time, I've never noticed any other adults doing it. So does anybody else just sing?
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I don't tend to sing loudly either, in case the neighbours might hear.
But I like singing. I'm terrible at it though.
It's weird, tho, there's this kind of fear as soon as there's people around which makes it even worse. It's usually kinda allright when i'm alone in my room, but bring in someone, anyone, and i just can't get it out
Friends of mine do that almost all the time. They get a simple rythm going on a guitar or whatever and just start singin crap. It usually ends up pretty gross, pretty fast, but they're kinda good at it, especially after enough drinks
Once I made my husband be drunk. It's a bit silly, but I wanted to see what he'd be like if he was drunk (he doesn't generally drink much).
He started singing praising parts of my body and then trying to make out with them xD That was awesome.
I wish I had recorded his song, it was very funny.
At least he's a happy, affectionate drunk
The funny thing is, sometimes a song will start running through my head, and then I'll walk over to where my mom or brother are and they're singing that song.
So he told me "hey, i'll get the bottle of whiskey and then you god damn sing us somethin, okay ?" and i answered sure, knowing pretty well that i wouldn't even be able to talk after drinkin enough of it.
I think he's still a bit pissed at losing a bottle of fine whiskey on that "deal" :rolleyes:
Seems that most reply are of the "when i'm alone" kind.
But do you guys actually feel that block when someone's around ? Have you ever tried (even, not seriously) to sing in "public" (that public can very well be just mom and dad or a couple of friends, i'm not talking "band situation" or concert) ?
I do think most people have that block, at least initially. I don't know where it comes from exactly, self confidence is probably a huge factor but i dunno, there might be more to it.
For some reason i think it might be even more interesting to discuss that here than on some actual music forum, where most people would be more likely to be "involved" in some way in that topic.
I've sung in public and on stage, but I'd much rather sing in private/only share after it's been recorded. For one, I'm not a very good singer. For another, I like to experiment with my voice, which means a LOT of embarrassing warbling when an experiment fails.
When I was a kid, I was in a chorus and I loved it. I would sing in front of my family a lot, in the car, things like that. Then one day I said I wanted to be a singer and they all made fun of me, laughed and said I was the worst singer ever. I haven't been able to sing in public since then, I only sing for my husband and myself.
So in my case I really know where it comes from. I think it's definitely about self-confidence, and the fact that singing is "unnecessary". When you're talking to someone there is a reason to, you're conveying a message, so usually you're less shy (although it's perfectly possible to be shy about talking, too). But singing is kinda forcing everyone to pay attention to you and judge you not for what you're "saying", but how you're "saying" it.
am i good? no
i like singing to songs where I dont know the lyrics. fitting random words into songs is fun
I've been on stage a few times, but i just can't imagine how i'd feel if i had to actually sing while on there. I think i'd literally ship my pants.
There's definitely something more going on there than just stage fright.
I also remember having no trouble singing when i was a kid, even if it was awful.
(I vaguely remember some terrible song i had made up about sharks or something and that constantly yelled no matter where i was or who was there... I'm sure glad there's no recordings of THIS :eek:)
I guess it's just that as a kid, you just don't care yet about any kind of "social pressure", like in avistew's story, and just let it go.
I dunno if it's a fear of being judged on HOW you've done it (even if the fear of failure is certainly there), but maybe more that well, it's sad but we don't live in a musical
Which gets silly, because you internalize it and in the end you're still scared even when people do expect you to do.
The more frustrating thing for me is probably being aware that i don't even have to sing well to get the point across (heck, there's a lot of not-that-good singer who've done wonderful stuff), but still having this block, no matter how hard i try not to care.
Meh. Chet Atkins had it right.
It's not even a matter of lack of talent, really. Many professional vocalists can't technically sing to save their lives, but they put enough heart into it to make even the most off-key, wavering singing sound fantastic.
It all boils down to confidence and inventiveness, I guess.
My flatmate is a sound recordist, and I often hear his singers warming up. I'm occasionally a little envious of how effortlessly good they sound, but in spite of that, I also know how much he needs to tune their vocals sometimes... rest assured that even the singers you hear on CDs might not actually be that good at singing.
It's a shame that our culture doesn't really condone amateurish singing, because it can be such a joyful thing. How many people here sing when they're depressed?
Hehe, who doesn't
Indeed.
I wasn't even thinking about it when i mentionned him in my last post, but i remember being incredibly more moved by this than most "real", trained singer could have moved me (despite objectively thinking it kinda sucked, which makes it even more great) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6xpgtOObuI
Yeah. If you've got the gear needed (and the money to get it :eek:), ANYBODY can sound professional these days.
But even those hacks have had to stand before the god damn mic and go, so i'm guessing that they're still able to handle that whole block thing better than most of us.
Amen.
And i don't really, but i definitely should.
Oh and yeah, i forgot :
I have trouble speaking before people i don't really know well (like a class or something) too, but i don't think it's quite the same thing. I think THAT's just being shy or whataver, it's kinda comparable to stage fright, being scared of being exposed or something like that... but i don't really feel the same kind of block in those situations.
But most of the time is me alone in front of the computer. That saying, I normally sing very loud, so my sister always hear me. And she let me sing. I guess that mean something...
I find Man That You Fear to be an incredibly powerful song for similar reasons. The amateurish, raw, "real" sound of his voice adds emotion that technical singing could not. (I can fit Manson into ANY conversation
But yeah, good exemple as well, even tho i think the production also plays a rather big part in the overall ambiance here
ANother guy that comes to my mind on this subject would be lee hazlewood, even if it's more due to the songwriting rather than the actual singing.
Heck, this thread made me butcher a few songs. the fun thing is that i can't stop once i get started, until someones steps in the house : instant shuttinup
So this god damned thread made me have fun AND frustrated me. Good job :eek:
I dunno, I've heard him perform a capella to similar effect. But then again, I'm biased, seeing as how I all but worship the ground he walks on.
Hahaha, I've been doing the same thing. Shame that the walls are so thin here, so I can't truly cut loose.
Actually, sounds like a good exercise for the upcoming week.
Singin, instead of whispering some vague melodies, in my tiny-cardboards walls-sudent room...
After all, i'm already pissing the neighbours off with constant guitar noodling and banging, so they shouldn't mind the addition
I'm off to that room now, so i'll have to shut up, but i'm definitely interested in whatever new insight might keep showin up in here.
Not that I sing well.
But I sing.
I've been studying opera on the side as well, and someday I hope to get to the point where I can sing over an orchestra. That day is very far away.
Not only when I'm depressed but also when I'm generally troubled or stressed. Singing is the best way to get those feelings from my heart.
I have the same kind of block mentioned above, though, when it comes to singing while others can hear me.
It's always funny, when my family confront me and tell my they heard me and really recognised the song. After all the walls in our house are rather thick so I must be louder than I think ...
One of my bros is really musical (he can play rockin' Ben Folds piano pieces by ear, which just awes me), and he's always walking around humming or scatting.
On the other hand, my cousin is also musical (he wrote this song, and that's him singing), but I've never noticed him singing or anything when doing everyday stuff.
I'm like peter pan mixed with josh grobin.
I actually took singing lessons to sing on stage.
But I do sing when I'm working or walking or driving or showering or sitting or eating or...
Ahh I know what you mean! Back when I lived in Sydney I used to drive for almost 2 hours (each way) every second weekend to visit my family. I'd put all the electric windows down (so I could pretend I was in a convertible
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are always good for such a ride. If you ever come to munich i invite you to some duett driving, if you want to. ;O)
Oh yeah, I also have this.