Doing something every day that scares me.

[andrewducker]

When I was 11 I had choir classes (as was standard in my school at the time). The music teacher lines us up in rows and we sang something (I don't remember what it was, and I doubt I knew it at the time). And when he had finished he picked out a couple of people as being particularly good, pointed at me and told me that from now on I should mime.

And from that point onwards I have been terrified of singing in public.

I do not mention this because I think it's an example of how appalling behaviour by teachers can scar people for life (although it is), but because I've decided to do something about it. werejud and cairmen have been going on about how awesome Singstar is for ages, and have repeatedly invited me along to Singstar parties. And frankly, it looks like fun. I frequently sing away to myself around the flat, or make up silly songs with meaningrequired, and I enjoy Guitar Hero rather a lot, so it seems like the kind of thing I would enjoy*.

So last week I bit the bullet, ordering a pair of microphones and a copy of Singstar for the PS3. With the idea that I could practice at home until I didn't feel like I'd make a complete idiot of myself in public, and then be happy joining in elsewhere. And the microphone pack came with a 20 song voucher, so there has been much perusing of the list of available songs.

You wouldn't believe how hard I found it to start playing the game, even alone in the living room with the door firmly shut and Julie under strict instructions not to come through. But after half an hour of scoring somewhere between "Ow, my ears!" and "You hit nearly half the notes!"** I started to have a teeny glimpse of fun. It seems that I can manage a quarter-way competent take on The Automatic, but Robbie Williams is entirely beyond me.

And I intend to persevere. It's still only slightly fun, because I also find it stressful. But I actually managed to sing a song with Julie in the room on Sunday. Give me a few more weeks and I might be up to heading out on the road. Some of the Fringe venues only hold three audience members. I could probably manage that.



*Although I vaguely recall that marrog has said disparaging things in the past about it being too restrictive. Which I can appreciate, but I'm not too worried about.
**Not the actual scoring names, which are much less harsh than that.

Comments

[cheekbones3]

I'm the opposite, I knew I was good enough to be in the choir, but I had no desire to spend a lunchtime each week doing that rather than playing football/cricket, so I purposefully sang with a gravelly off-pitch voice.

Well done on your progress!

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Can I come round and do this with you when I'm in Edinburgh, or would that be too invasive?

('No fucking way' is a totally acceptable answer.)

[andrewducker]

I'll see how terrified I am closer to the time :->

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

:-)

I've offered DLW Thursday & Friday evenings and Saturday lunch, which I hope means we can do Tuesday evening. But if none of those work for her then we'll have to rethink.

[andrewducker]

Cheers, I shall generally keep things free until we can nail things down.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Splendid. I will keep you posted.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Although I vaguely recall that marrog has said disparaging things in the past about it being too restrictive.

I think what mainly hacks me off about it is that you get better scores from singing in your very best 'chorister' voice - pure tone, no vibrato - than you do if you actually impersonate the singer in question. So you essentially get penalised for your voice having personality.

The best game for singing, I think, is Rock Band - I think that Rock Band got the balance right between expecting the tune from you and being laid back about your interpretation. It's a lot kinder to the less experienced singer, but with plenty of scope for more - the Beatles Rock Band lets you hook up multiple mics and do three part harmony! Generally although I don't like their hardware as much the Rock Band games are the best 'party' games of this kind for my money for the wide range of ability - both with music and with video games - you tend to get at gatherings.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Damnit, want to get the guitar and mic stand out and play Rock Band now, but have dishes to do!

[andrewducker]

Thank you, that's very useful to know!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Other nice things about Rock Band: You can adjust the difficulty to the point where "note at the right time" is close enough if you want and the steps up are reasonably good from there, and you can go octaves up and down no problem. There's no getting stuck needing to go falsetto to match Neil Young .

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

ah, yeah, vibrato and distortion etc will throw it right off - be harder to program for - pitch recognition for voices is (as I am sure you know) kinda hard. Sing And See from NZ have a great program - but most others are best with the 'pure' kind of tone.

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

Have you tried karaoke booths? Lots of fun with just your friends.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

We keep meaning to organise Karaoke at some point - unfortunately, though, most of the venues are kinda expensive.

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a bit ridiculous here and I remember it being so cheap in Japan. There is a booth place in Glasgow near the big cineworld I believe but the cost per room was uncomfortably high the last time we looked. Fun at least! :-)

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I have played to two-person Fringe audiences before. Which meant that the cast outnumbered the audience by about five to one :-(

[I've also played to sold-out houses. That was much more fun.]

[pennski.livejournal.com]

I think I've been that audience!

One year there were 2 people performing to 12 of us and they had a HUUUGE hall.
Although we were as enthusiastic as is Britishly possible, we still couldn't fill the space for them.

[pisica.livejournal.com]

Last year I chaired a poetry event, in a pub at something like 10am, where the audience was a) the bar staff, b) the poet's then-boyfriend, and c) a Dutch couple who'd just wandered in off the street, IIRC.

[makyo.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I've always really enjoyed singing, especially as part of a choir. On the other hand, I've never had sufficient self-confidence to properly enjoy dancing - which I think you've mentioned you do enjoy.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Bravo!

I also had a similar experience of singing.

It's on my list of things to do something about.

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

great stuff. the more relaxed you get about it all, the better your singing will be. These singing games are a good start cos the pitching/timing is quite forgiving, depending on the level, meaning you can ease yourself into it all whilst having fun. The next scary step will be proper karaoke (and recording yourself so you can work out what you want to improve). I find the singing of people who only sing to games a little odd - maybe I find it to "down the line" cos I am used to the broader interpretation of normal folk/pop/rock band singers

I have to say that I generally don't *score* that well on these games, despite making what everybody thinks is a good performance.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

I find it really depends on who I'm trying to sing as. If I'm impersonating Alanis Morissette? Massive score (my party trick no one has ever seen is 5*ing You Oughta Know on voice and guitar at the same time). Attempting Kurt Cobain? Abysmal - in fact doing it on Guitar Hero I've failed out just by impersonating him too closely. It's all down to how pure the tone of the original singer was (see our above exchange obvs).

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Get hammered, go with equally drunk friends to the karaoke place on George street and shatter those inhibitions like I did at Infest :-D

I hate hate hate singing out loud and I dueted a Katy Perry song in a room full of goths :-D

[laplor.livejournal.com]

"You wouldn't believe how hard I found it to start playing the game, even alone in the living room with the door firmly shut and Julie under strict instructions not to come through."

Oh, I would believe. Your courage impresses me - I feel a little sick at just the thought of singing.

[soon_lee]

Alcohol* helps.

*Seems the only time I play Singstar is when there is alcohol involved.

[http://users.livejournal.com/puzzle_/]

I think the key to these games is to have fun - be silly let your hair down. If you find you or someone you are playing with taking it too seriously then enjoyment for me is lost.

Get someone equally as good as you pour rum, let your hair down and don't care! Enjoy :)

[davesangel.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's really courageous - I cannot bring myself to sing in front of other people, even though I absolutely love singing any chance I get. I think once an ex-boyfriend overheard me singing whilst dancing with me at a goth club and he said he loved my voice but it was kind of his 'job' to say that, I think!

It's great that you're going to persevere with it - I hope in doing so it becomes far less stressful and far more enjoyable.

[pennski.livejournal.com]

Well done you! I hope it becomes less scary and more fun as you go on.
We have way too many SingStar songs downloaded - but that's another matter.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I too was told to mime at school!

I sing a bit at home - mostly singing along to jazz trumpet and saxophone solos, natch - and a lot if I am driving. Though that isn't something I do regularly...

Btw I am in Edinburgh next week. No idea of my plans yet. I couldn't help noticing F is in Edinburgh sometime. That'd be ironic... ;)

[andrewducker]

Wed->Friday I'm in Northern Ireland, but if you're up earlier in the week then it would be nice to meet up.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Are you still free on Tuesday evening?

If so, let's pencil that in.

I'll see if Dan is around too...

[andrewducker]

Yup - consider it pencilled. Let me know when/where to meet you. I'm over on Leith Walk, but Edinburgh's pretty small.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Came back to reread this and realised I hadn't said the important things when I was by before.

1. I dunno if I've said before but it's awful that you were told that. It's one thing if a kid comes to audition for a choir of their own volition. Then you just don't let them in or, if they're really keen, give them private lessons. But doing something like that in a mandatory class... *Shakes head*

2. It's awesome that you want to improve and become more confident at this and are doing it rather than letting it turn into a Thing for you. Bravo. Also for the record most people who think they suck at singing just haven't found the thing that makes them sing well. So many folk I know you point at them and say 'sing' and they'd fuck up interminably but I've heard them carry a tune perfectly well with my own two ears when the time was right. Not everyone has an ear but most people can sing really.

Empathy

[chaos-monkey.livejournal.com]

Wow.
I thought I was the only person in the whole world who had a teacher quite that sadistic.
The exact same thing happened to me.
I love singing (I sing in my house *all the time*) but avoid singing in public, and stop as soon as I realise I'm doing it if I start singing around other people by accident.

I will occasionally manage it through the anthem in front of other people. If I really trust them not to say anything. Or look at me.

Re: Empathy

[andrewducker]

I can do Happy Birthday :->

Singing carols at Christmas with the family was always a nightmare.

Re: Empathy

[anef.livejournal.com]

That is so sad! It makes me really cross for you. I'm impressed by your courage - I hope you get to a stage where you can enjoy singing.

Re: Empathy

[andrewducker]

Part of the problem there was having bits of the family who not only regularly attended church, but were actually in the choir. This meant that they not only knew all the words to songs I only heard a couple of times per year, but that they were really, really good.