Yes, not all of us are blessed with that fine ear, but we still like music and still like to sing, we just learn where to sing sometimes for the sake of others.
I am told though that one can learn to sing. Even the most tone-deaf have possibilities apparently.
Over the many years of being married, I have learned some tricks about singing publicly from my wife, a singer.
I have moved on from trying to be Mario Lanza to that cross between Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, sort of telling a poem with a lilting voice.
I have learned how to sing within myself and to find my level. Not easy for an old rocker who loved singing along with bands in pubs and clubs. It never mattered then; everyone else was yelling or singing too. I got lost in the crowd.
The funny thing about crowds of people singing, some who really can sing, it really sounds good.
The wave of human noise seems to all co-ordinate to the ear. Maybe singing is a herd thing for humans. It is certainly fun to sing in company, makes us all feel good.
My musical tastes are broad, from Howard Morrison’s Whakaari Mai to Six60s Pepeha. From Elvis Presley to the Monkees.
I had the privilege once of attending a Bee Gees concert in Wellington when the sound system broke down. This was in the early 1970s, an inside concert.
The group still played without the use of their sound system, sort of a barber quartet with normal guitars and the drums.
It was incredible to listen to. Some of my friends who are musical purists scoff at bands like the Bee Gees but these guys could really sing. Hearing the twin brothers Maurice and Robin harmonise with Barry carrying the tough notes. A great night.
And they encouraged us to sing. It went well, more a party than a concert.
I enjoy the beauty of Enya’s songs and the brutality of Meatloaf’s show songs, the contrast between the “Beauty and Beast” thing, how both people can be so different but sound so good.
Our record and CD collection numbers in the hundreds, most genres. I am not really into reggae or rap but anything else is fair game.
Music and singing are universal to all peoples, and all cultures.
Get a bunch of people together from anywhere in the world they will sing together. How many times have you, while travelling the world, found yourself in a pub or at a function with people, few you know, many you cannot talk to because of language issues, all having a good time.
Somewhere along the line the singing will begin. Different nationalities will get up and sing their songs, with everyone joining in.
We were in a small town outside Vienna some years ago.
It was my birthday and there were 40 of us, mostly Kiwis and Aussies. We’d been together for a month in a bus, you know the scenario, sightseeing all day, up early, to bed late. Dinners, shows, dancing, all that good stuff.
Our dining facility was one of those huge barns that tourist buses take their people to in Europe. People from all over the world, probably a couple of hundred, maybe more. The Austrians know how to be great hosts so we were all having a brilliant time.
Then the singing started. Everyone in. Different national groups singing. It was spontaneous and impressive. Of course, Mein Host approached us for our turn.
En masse we got up and sang Waltzing Matilda and Pokarekare Ana, two songs all Kiwis and many Aussies know. Even a few in the crowd sang along.
Don’t worry, be happy.
