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Post by juju on Jan 13, 2017 0:16:56 GMT
I've recently joined a choir that's started at the university I work at. I'm really enjoying it and there's a nice mix of ages and abilities (staff and students). However, one of the students is obviously and horribly flat, but clearly doesn't know she is. The choirmaster would never say anything as the choir is meant to be fun and inclusive, but I find this tone deafness odd and also a bit worrying - why can't she hear herself? I can tell - at least I think I can - when I'm 'off', so why can't she? And how do I know I don't sound really awful, too? My husband says I don't, and I've asked him to be completely honest because I'd rather not make a fool of myself, but I still worry about it a bit (he could be tone deaf, too ). Why can't tone deaf people hear themselves? How would I know if I was tone deaf?
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Post by tangent on Jan 13, 2017 1:35:18 GMT
I'm always surprised when church people drool over singers who are obviously out of tune. Can they not tell? I think the answer is, most people cannot. You may be one of the (luck or unlucky) ones who can.
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Post by juju on Jan 13, 2017 8:05:09 GMT
I doubt it. To me, everyone else in the choir sounds fine except this one poor girl who sounds awful - it's like she can't hear differences in the notes she's singing. I know other people have noticed her, too. My worry is that I'm as deluded as she is and sound awful too, but no one's told me.
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Post by JoeP on Jan 13, 2017 11:20:06 GMT
How would I know if I was tone deaf? If you were tone deaf you wouldn't even think of asking the question! And you wouldn't notice other people being being out of key.
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Post by Mari on Jan 13, 2017 21:28:40 GMT
Actual tone deafness is exceedingly rare. I had a girl in my choir who had an okay voice (and wasn't too loud), but I would stand next to her and point up or down if she was off. She wasn't actually tone deaf though, since she could at least somewhat get to the right notes. My best friend is tone deaf and she really doesn't hear the difference between a high note or a low note. She vaguely recognizes the difference between a very high note and a very low one, but for her that difference is very small. To everyone else there's a two octave difference. She knows she's tone deaf though.
If you can hear the the differences for other people, you can also hear it for your own voice. I wouldn't worry about it.
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Post by Moose on Feb 7, 2017 3:09:47 GMT
I had a friend at uni who had a truly appalling singing voice - I mean, it really was bad. But she used to do Karaoke - something I'd never dare do - all the time. And people used to crowd round her and tell her how wonderful she was. I could never understand if they were just being nice or if they just could not hear it - or, perhaps, if they did not realise that SHE could not hear it and thought it was some sort of joke. Personally I don't have a good singing voice and I'd feel odd being in a choir - I always just mouth things when I am in situations like that. But I can at least hear that my voice is not great. I'd never dare to get up in front of a pub full of people and sing flat (That said, even if I was Katherine Jenkins I probably would not be able to sing in front of a bunch of people)
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Post by Fr. Gruesome on Apr 27, 2017 19:53:20 GMT
I think that there has been some research about this ... I will try and remember to ask when I am next with the uni chapel choir.
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Post by Miisa on May 2, 2017 6:59:47 GMT
I think of myself a legally tone deaf. I could probably overcome it with lots of practise, but as I don't really like music all that much I haven't been bothered. I was briefly in a choir as a child, but never went back after I was told off for singing in the wrong tune.
Is suspect if people listen to singing and other music a lot they pick it up, much like being able to tell if spelling is correct for those who read a lot. Most music comes off as jarring or just noise to me, so not something I fancy doing.
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Post by tangent on May 2, 2017 16:45:21 GMT
Most music comes off as jarring or just noise to me, so not something I fancy doing. Ah, Schoenberg *nods* I love music and can sing in tune but I rarely do any singing these days.
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