I sing in front of my church congregation - I’m a member of the “worship team” which is the small group that leads the singing (we’re too small for a choir).
As I look out, it’s amazing the number of people (usually men) who stand when the congregation stands, sits when it sits, but their mouths never move during the
singing.
I want to point and yell at them, “Sing! Dammit! It’s fun!”
I’m not a great singer - nobody is ever going to pay me to sing but I don’t think anybody’s going to pay me to stop, either. Every kid can sing, just like every kid can draw or paint or dance or whatever. At some point, though, many people (and, like I said, it seems to be a gender-weighted toward men) seem to decide that they should stop singing.
So - if you don’t sing in public, in church or wherever, why not?
When I went to church, I’d sing, at least most of the time. (I think just about everyone did). I’d sing at camp. I sing with my Guild (and we’re performing)
Besides that, I just sing randomly when I’m in the car or walking or something. Not if there’s a crowd or something, but when I’m more or less alone but people could still hear me.
I sing with our church choir, but I never sing solo (except to my kids at night). I have noticed that a majority of people in our church don’t sing, at least at the main mass. (The Portuguese mass is another story, I’ve heard.) When I was a kid everybody pretty much sang during hymns at our church.
I love to sing in public, though I’ve never done it on a stage. I prefer to harmonize, and when we go to folk concerts and I know the song, I do my thing. One we were sitting in the front and I was singing along; after that song the performers (who were also friends) went on break and told me they thought they were hearing feedback from the monitors, until they realized that it was doing harmony.
I would adore it if I could find some group with a nice repertoire that needed a female backup singer. I’d be all over that like white on rice. I might even be persuaded to do lead on the right song.
My mom used to yell at me for singing harmony in church, though, because “it sounds funny” and “you’re not doing it right.” Uptight bitch. (I am so doing it right; I’ve been complimented many times, including by professional musicians, and often to other people when I was out of hearing range, so I know they weren’t “just being nice.”)
I’ll sing the hymns in church, but quietly, out of consideration for others. I’ll sing in my car or my home by myself. To sing karoke or any other way while others are listening to me? Baby, ain’t that much alcohol in the whole damn world.
I’ve been in my church choir for about ten years, and I’ve done a couple solos, including one in the youth musical six years ago that apparently made people cry (in a good way, or so they tell me). I didn’t do choir in college because I didn’t have time with all the other ensembles I was in, but a number of my classes involved singing.
Good lord, no. I’m tone deaf. And by that I mean doctors have told me I’m tone deaf, I’m not using it as a euphemism for “I don’t have much musical talent.”
I read about a clinical study of tone deaf people that was supposed to have … oh, let’s say 10 tests. One of the tests involved singing. The researchers ended up having to reformat their study to 9 tests – all the tone deaf participants agreed to sing for the sake of science, but then when the time came, almost all of them simply couldn’t make themselves do it. I completely understand what happened there. Not singing in front of others is that ingrained by the time you are a tone deaf adult.
When I was younger I did, in school and church choir. These days I’d sing softly to myself because my voice is not that good any more. A side note – the other day, I was showering in the gym locker room, and somebody in a nearby shower stall started to sing. At first I was kind of “WTF?” and then I realized this gal really had a nice voice! So she was happy and I was happy. I’m sure that if I had been the one singing, voice cracking on the high notes and not quite hitting most of them square on, nobody but me would have been happy.
I will not ever sing in public. I don’t enjoy singing that much, I certainly don’t enjoy doing it in public. I’m offended that I would ever be expected to sing in public.
I have sung in public in ensembles ranging from a trio to a huge chorus for Beethoven’s Ninth.
I’ve never sung a real solo (as in no one singing but me), although I’ve sung solo parts within a larger choral piece. Even the latter just scares the crap out of me – quaking knees, sweaty palms, pounding heart.
Being the only person on a part doesn’t bother me one bit. Being anything resembling a soloist – big problem.
I do karaoke now and then. I’d do it more often if my schedule permitted - the last time was three months ago, on my birthday. I did five songs and a couple were legimately good. Years ago, I was afraid to sing. Never did it in public, never went out for the musicals in high school even though I was in the drama program for four years. When people sang ‘happy birthday’ at parties, I usually stayed quiet. One time I actually whistled.
Sometime after that, I got interested, practiced a lot by singing along with the radio, and took a few lessons with a friend. It turns out I’m actually pretty decent, although my range isn’t exactly ideal for most rock songs. It’s spot on for Johnny Cash’s stuff, though, and my years of listening to Gregg Allman have paid off. So over the last few years singing has become one of my favorite things to do.
In grad school, my best friend and I used to take her guitar down to the beach all the time, when the weather was nice. She’d play and we’d sing and we didn’t care who was around. We are both decent singers.
I sing during Mass as well. I’ve noticed a lot of the congregation doesn’t, though. I don’t see why - our choir is terrible enough to encourage anyone.
Sure. Don’t do church, but I’ve sung on stage in amateur productions and both drunk and sober at SCA gatherings. (I sing better after a couple of drinks – no, not in the sense that I just think I sound better once my judgment is impaired, but rather that I relax a bit, my anxiety lessens and the resulting singing is improved).
Sure. I’ve done everything from solo to large choral performance. Also I sing along to the radio or just randomly when the mood stikes me and used to sing in church (when I went).
I am not allowed to sing in public- if it’s not illegal, it should be.
Which is why I LOVE the game Rock Band on the XBox. Where else can you grab a microphone and sing your little heart out, loud, in front of people without them screaming and running away? And not only are your teenaged boys not screaming and running away in embarrassment, but they are actively encouraging you, and saying things like, “You’re doing great, Mom!” Squeeeeee!!
I highly recommend that game if you’d like to be a singer but can’t.
Sure! I’ve sung in choirs (not religious) and I’ve been in the chorus of a couple community musicals. Sometimes I sing when I’m wandering around, I *always *sang along to the radio back when I used to drive, I sing along (quietly) if I hear a song I like in a store or whatever.
I am, however, totally chickenshit when it comes to singing to an audience. My old group of friends loves to go to a dive karaoke joint in Chicago and I absolutely refuse to get up there on my own. I’ve sung backup to other people, but no amount of alcohol would kill the stagefright. (Oddly, when I was younger I was quite the serious musician and I played flute solos in front of hundreds of people with only minor jitters. I think I have my faith in my flute skills than my singing voice.)
