Do you sing?

[imoldernu]

Ya don't have to answer... just sharing some thoughts after DW said "Do you really HAVE to sing... ALL the time?"

Probably a bit of the senility, but a habit that started around 2nd year of life. Our family... the whole extended family, aunts, uncles cousins and even their neighbors... sang... a lot... No one except Aunt Alice really had a singing voice, but we sang... late 1930's all the way through 1950's. Player piano at Grandma's house. War songs, revival songs, Christmas songs, Andrews Sisters, Doris Day, Sinatra, Como and then around the late 40's, western songs, like Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.

Age 12 thru 15, as a YMCA Jr., then Sr. camp counselor... joined with 6 buddies who all played the ukelele... The game was to memorize the words of every song we ever heard, and challenge each other to sing and play. We carried those ukes around like they were six guns. Never without the uke and always ready to get the kids singing.

Even now, in our FL community, a chance to join with the guys who play and sing... Jamming... Guitar, piano, drums... and always... singing...
Hee Haw, Buffet, Garth Brooks, and one guy who does Sinatra so well he wins the talent contest on every cruise.

So it's a habit... DW has calmed me down from singing to whistling or even quieter. Biggest embarrassment of my life: Walking the aisles at Walmart, and two giggly teen age girls passed me. I overheard "There's another hummer"... Sheesh.

Now I look around at the kids today, and hardly ever see tham singing. 'Course I can understand part of that comes from not being able to understand the words, but you'd think they could look the lyrics up on-line.

Even in my own community, except for my guys in the group, hardly anyone sings during the day. There's a small group of about 25 who do hymn sings, and on talent night a few more to do solos, but it's becoming a task to get the group into the act to even sing Happy Birthday... like, half the guys kind of mumble and their lips move, but not much sound. AuldAngSyne is a little better, but that's after a few kegs of beer.

The question wasn't really a question... more like a rant. I just wonder what happened to people who make their own music by singing. Why I never hear people singing absent-mindedly the way I do. Doomed to be the oddball, but it doesn't bother me much... A day without music is like a day without sunshine. YMMV

[jjquantz]

I sing all the time. DW and I have sung in various choral groups since college. In the evenings I will use her grandfather's old fake book and sing Irish tunes and old standards while playing the piano. She loves to tell people about it.

[HFWR]

Was in high school chorus, and a couple of rock/country combos some years ago, and occasionally grab an acoustic guitar and sing a few, but mostly around the house or in the car...

[steelyman]

I do, and like doing it while bicycling.

[38Chevy454]

Only solo, so low nobody hears me!

Actually I can't sing at all and never sing. I like to listen to music, but my musical abilities are about the same as this keyboard typing on.

[Gumby]

I sing in two church choirs, occasionally in community choral groups and, once, in a musical (Jekyll & Hyde). Back in the 90's, I was lead singer in a band with some guys from the office. We mostly covered Motown songs. Way back, when the young wife and I were first dating, my car had no radio, so I would sing for her while we were driving. I still sing to myself when I'm driving, or walking around, or even in the grocery store. A day without music is a sad day indeed.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby A day without music is a sad day indeed.

+1

When I sing aloud Mother Nature shudders and all living things flee, so I keep it to myself, and occasionally the shower. My inside voice sings as often as possible, especially while driving.

[Tailgate]

haven't been able to carry a tune since puberty... when I sing, my dog leaves the room.

I did pick up a ukulele about 2 years ago and am having a ball with it.... it's now the top selling instrument in the world according to NAAM (North American Music Merchants) stats. Young folks have discovered it... I gave up the guitar 40 years ago because I lacked the music gene, but 4 strings/4 fingers make sense and it's a blast.

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu Walking the aisles at Walmart, and two giggly teen age girls passed me. I overheard "There's another hummer"... Sheesh.

LOL. I get a tune stuck in my head and do some whistling on it...more variations than you can imagine. By the time I'm done improvising, you can't tell what it used to be, hehe. They'd probably say "there's another whistler"...sheesh.

But like you, I'm from a musical family (on my mom's side).

How about karaoke? I usually do it only when "I'll never see those people again", hehe, like on a cruise or otherwise on vacation away from home.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tailgate haven't been able to carry a tune since puberty... when I sing, my dog leaves the room. I did pick up a ukulele about 2 years ago and am having a ball with it.... it's now the top selling instrument in the world according to NAAM (North American Music Merchants) stats. Young folks have discovered it... I gave up the guitar 40 years ago because I lacked the music gene, but 4 strings/4 fingers make sense and it's a blast.

Or, as Keith Richards was purported to have said, "Six strings, five fingers, three chords, one a$$hole..."

[splitwdw]

Come from a family of singers, road trips were full of singing. I sing in my truck. No audience. My mom's a hummer and you can always find her in stores. I'd like to know what happened to the whistlers. I can remember my grand and great grandfathers whistling. We use to whistle "up" the horses and whistle songs.

[Walt34]

I like to sing, but whenever I do everyone around says "Please stop!"

[Marita40]

I love to hear good singing. I can carry a tune, but don't have a good enough voice to belong to any skilled group or choir. My range is limited and "breathy" although I can hit a couple of nice alto notes. I really regret not receiving that gift!

We do have a very active Sacred Harp/shape note community here in the Twin Cities and friends and I love singing with them. If you don't know what shape note is, google it and listen in--wonderful American tradition. I also never miss the annual sing-along Messiah around Christmas time.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 I love to hear good singing. I can carry a tune, but don't have a good enough voice to belong to any skilled group or choir. My range is limited and "breathy" although I can hit a couple of nice alto notes. I really regret not receiving that gift! We do have a very active Sacred Harp/shape note community here in the Twin Cities and friends and I love singing with them. If you don't know what shape note is, google it and listen in--wonderful American tradition. I also never miss the annual sing-along Messiah around Christmas time.

Breathing is a big deal. Most of what I do when singing is planning breaths. If you get them right, you're in. Songwriters should keep that in mind.

[Dreamer]

I have said that God has a sense of humor, since I love to sing and can't carry a tune. I love singing at church, but with so many people singing, you can't hear me, which is just fine.

Whenever I see movies that have family and friends gathered around a piano singing, I always wish that I had grown up in that type of family. You are lucky to have grown up in that type of family, Imoldernu!

[WyndChym]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby A day without music is a sad day indeed.

+2

I was listening to my iPod(earbuds) while folding laundry yesterday, singing away. DH came in the room to see what was wrong and said I was scaring the dog! It was Deep Purple's Space Truckin, so what do you expect!

[Marita40]

spliwdw raises an interesting point about whistlers. I haven't heard anyone whistling (it seems) in years. My childhood memories seem to include lots of whistlers, including my grandpa. Out of fashion I guess?

[freebird5825]

My Mom had a fabulous voice (Broadway and movie tunes) and so does my older sister (classical pieces).

Me? the classic 1 octave wonder.

I sing at the top of my lungs while cruising in my Mustang. I give the other drivers a break at stop lights (stop singing).

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 My Mom had a fabulous voice (Broadway and movie tunes) and so does my older sister (classical pieces). Me? the classic 1 octave wonder. I sing at the top of my lungs while cruising in my Mustang. I give the other drivers a break at stop lights (stop singing).

Billie Holiday made a pretty good career out of one octave!

[razztazz]

Quote:

Billie Holiday made a pretty good career out of one octave!

She make Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen sound like Pavarotti