Group Singing

Factual Questions
1

Confession time. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. I played trumpet in the school band for three years before I learned what the tuning slide was for. After that, I just moved it around more or less at random as the band tuned up. From what I can tell from the folks that sit around me (at church or a concert) really good singers are very rare.

So why is it that when enough people start singing together, it all sounds pretty good? I’m sure most folks have been at a concert with thousands of untrained folks singing along with the band. Do the few good singers overpower the bad? Do the good ones help the off-key folks find the right note? Do the off notes cancel each other out? Thanks!

2

but I would say that between the instuments and the good (or on-key) singers, it helps the not-so-good singers find the pitch easier. For example, it’s much easier to sing certain “steps” on a scale after you’ve heard them played on the piano. Perhaps the not-so-good singers can hear the notes being sung/played and adjust their pitch accordingly?

Also, it seems to me that many people can sing along with the radio/jukebox and sound fine, but when they try to go a capella it sounds like crap.