# Why can some people sing and some can't????

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-some-people-sing-and-some-cant/59647>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 27, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-some-people-sing-and-some-cant/59647 "2001-03-27T05:21:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2001, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-some-people-sing-and-some-cant/59647/21 "2001-03-30T09:27:05Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Smeghead \*  
> \*\*
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by jr8 \*  
> > \*\*It’s only racist if you assume that it’s genetic. \*\*
> 
> Uh-oh.
> 
> We had a guy from NIH come through one of my classes a while back looking for people to take part in a study on tonedeafness. His research shows that there is definitely a genetic component - some people can inherit it. It’s a low percentage - something less than 5%, IIRC. But he has identified a gene for it.\*\*

For the avoidance of doubt:

It would not surprise me to learn that true tone deafness was hereditary. What I was saying would be “racist” was the assumption (not made by anyone here, mind you) that having a darker skin color automatically meant that said person could sing like Aretha Franklin/James Brown/other talented singer of your choice.

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**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-some-people-sing-and-some-cant/59647/22 "2015-07-29T21:50:08Z")

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(Yup, it’s another old thread. _Fifteen years_ old in this case. Some of these people may well be deceased!)

What I want to know is, why can \*anyone \*sing so well? That people can sing as well as, say, Bob Marley or Bob Dylan does not surprise me. But the ability to sing like Sam Cooke, Steve Perry, Sinead O-Connor, or Luciano Pavorotti…that, I find hard to understand. It’s clearly not an essential trait, or it wouldn’t be rare. So why, evolutionarily speaking, is it a trait that exists at all? Is this just a peacock thing?

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-some-people-sing-and-some-cant/59647/23 "2015-07-29T22:39:10Z")

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> [@SlackerInc](#):
>
> (Yup, it’s another old thread. _Fifteen years_ old in this case. Some of these people may well be deceased!)
> 
> What I want to know is, why can \*anyone \*sing so well? That people can sing as well as, say, Bob Marley or Bob Dylan does not surprise me. But the ability to sing like Sam Cooke, Steve Perry, Sinead O-Connor, or Luciano Pavorotti…that, I find hard to understand. It’s clearly not an essential trait, or it wouldn’t be rare. So why, evolutionarily speaking, is it a trait that exists at all? Is this just a peacock thing?

We prefer that you open a new thread rather than revive one that’s so old unless you are providing new information. I’m closing this one.

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