Guilty pleasure

I joined Rock Choir ( national singing group anyone can join ) 7 years ago , and can often be seen singing in the aisles of my local supermarkets... just can't resist boogie-ing , you don't have to be brilliant to join , there is no audition but it feels soooo good ! There are 26,000 Rockies ?

I was singing along with the radio while taking DM to a doctor appointment. My DM used to sing in our church choir when I was young, but she had to have her tonsils taken out around age 30. I was 10 y/o then and knew every song at church. I stopped singing and asked my DM if she ever caught me singing when I walked home from primary school. She said yes and I saw you pick little weed flowers for me, too. I don't remember what songs I sang, but I loved to sing. I joined my church choir as an adult. I sing Alto or on a bad day Baritone, but the day we sang The Hallelujah Chorus I wept with joy.

Nelliemoser, hats off to your choral director and your story warmed my heart. As an ex-professional musician/music teacher I maintain that there's no such thing as tone deafness and I curse those, so called, teachers who label anyone thus. Singing in tune just comes more naturally to some than others, like many other skills in life. Anyone can get there if they are well supported and guided, want to enough, and persevere.
May you enjoy many more years of music making!

Namsnanny, to get your mother to sing to you, it might help if there's a special song you can ask her for, perhaps an old family favourite. Sometimes a shy singer finds it easier if they're focussing on the song rather than their own voice.

I wrote a longish post explaining all about the pleasure I get from our small singing group after I’ve always been told I can’t sing and then lost it, so this will have to do! If you get the chance, never mind whether you think you can sing or not, just do it! Good exercise for your lungs and chest and a pick up for your senses.

Seadragon, those songs sung in the past do catch us unaware. My brother, who died two years ago, would always sing "Hernando's Hideaway", complete with actions. So of course we had to play it at his funeral - I was crying and laughing at the same time!

Echo good for you breeze!!! Thank you everyone for such heartwarming stories I’ve really enjoyed reading the replies!
My mother has a good singing voice and I’d love to get a recording of her but she keeps saying she’s not very good and won’t let me. Maybe one day

breeze. Good for you! You are as good as you think you are. There have been some really second-rate singers who have made a good living from it. Maybe you will be a star yet!

Singing is good for you. It's official. My Dsis was a member of a cancer support group choir and it gave her so much joy. I could cry right now remembering her being the only one in the choir who was bobbing from side to side at a concert we went to to support them.

My son sings for his job and is good. Inspired by this, I took singing lessons as a treat for a special birthday. I sent a copy of a Dusty Springfield recording I made to a friend who is a member of a well known band.

I got the message back...…

'I wet myself'



But I don't care. Tra la la.

Made, not make. Oh for an edit button.

My brother can’t sing in tune but if anyone mentions it to him, his response is, “God make the rooks as well as the nightingales.”

I was completely put off about singing in public because when I was 10 I had a teacher who made me stay after class snd practice because he said I sang out of tune - I have never forgotten this??

It's lovely to read all the positive posts about singing. Time and again people have told me that they were put off singing at school, and were convinced that they had terrible voices. It makes me so sad to think of the pleasure they have missed as a result.

I have sung in many choirs, over the years, though my voice is nothing special. Due to a bad chest infection I have missed three weeks of rehearsals. When I finally got back to singing, last Wednesday, I was almost in tears at the joy of being back with everyone, making beautiful music.

Singing isn't just fun. It gives your body and mind a complete workout. It takes away your worries and sadness. It keeps your brain active, and the deep breathing is good for your body. When we started a local Community choir, everyone who turned up at the first meeting said that they couldn't sing, and that we would throw them out once we heard them. Within a few weeks they were singing loudly and joyfully (even the one lady who DID have problems with pitch)

Join a choir, if you can. You won't regret it!

Lovely post, Namsnanny. We are trying very hard to notice and savour such moments here too. I am sandwiched between a mother who sang, mezzo soprano, constantly, sometimes the same line over and over, though; and a daughter with perfect pitch. I had a music teacher who delighted in making her pupils stand and sing solo. I dreaded it as I could hear that every note I sang was out of tune and the girl in front of me had a rich contralto... One of my past 'moments' was sitting through an excellent amateur production of "The King and I" with tears streaming down my face as I realized that my mother had known and sung every song from beginning to end as she got on with the housework... It was an amazing experience to have her back so vividly and I treasure it still.....

Fab idea. Maybe we should suggest a virtual sing along song?

I’m in New Zealand too. Don’t forget, the shooter is an Australian.

Grannyticktock
I totally agree with you. I too was told by my family that I had an awful singing voice. One day a close friend persuaded me to go with her to a community sing We sang African lullabies, folk songs and chants all unaccompanied by music. Afterwards I asked the leader if I was singing out of tune and she looked astonished and said “definitely not!” That gave me so much confidence that I joined my church choir and I have spent many happy and rewarding hours learning to sing anthems and hymns which I didn’t know before. I think it is the fun we have, the feeling of achieving something I never thought I could do and the sense of togetherness. I always feel so happy afterwards. It is also very good memory training and I have made quite a few close friends too.

I can't sing either but in my head I sound just like Ella Fitzgerald! Others tell the truth.

My great niece had an awful singing voice but loved singing. Everyone told her to be quiet except my sister. She arranged for her to join a choir. Now, 7 years on, she has been a finalist in a regional singing contest, and aspires to a career on the stage. I think this shows that if you have the will, and the guidance, you can achieve anything.

Once a fortnight I go to a singing group run by a woman who is part of The Natural Voices Group.
You don’t have to be able to read music and you get to sing all sorts of different songs learning by repetition.
It’s great fun, and it’s wonderful to hear beautiful sounds
coming together with just our voices.

You know what? I have a truly dreadful voice (as my father was always telling me). But at the age of 75 I have joined a choir, and I am loving it! No audition everyone welcome. We meet once a week and have occasional peformances (sometimes I mime). I have made some truly delightful new friends, we often meet outside choir practice. Best thing I ever did. Such a joyful experience.

For all those on this thread who have said that they cannot sing, I recommend that you seek out a Tuneless Choir. I have been told all my life to stop singing because of the awful noise I make, but 2.5 years ago I joined a newly set up Tuneless Choir and it’s wonderful. Only our choir leader can actually sing but we all belt out our playlist and if we go wrong, come in at the wrong time or anything else, we all just laugh and carry on. The idea is to have fun. There are Tuneless Choirs popping up all over the country so see if there’s one near you and have a blast.

Rosecarmel In perfect harmony.... (why does this remind me of Coca-Cola, which I loathe?)

I have several very close Muslim friends in Christchurch and although they are safe, they know many of the dead and are mourning.
Most of all we are ashamed.
New Zealanders just don't do this kind of prejudicial thing. Hate crimes are virtually unknown here.
So along with the horror and shock and profound sorrow, is that awful feeling of shame and anger that the world now thinks of us as a country, a people, who will stoop so low.

Reminds me of the time in the Paris metro late one Saturday night. There were lots of teenagers jumping in and out of the carriages when we would come into a station, they were noisy but full of life and happy and it must have been catching because the driver burst into song and sang for a couple of stops. It really was a pleasant trip it was so lovely to hear and see people happy with life.

I'd like to teach the world to sing ..

Next person .. Don't be shy ..