Out of 10, how would you honestly rate your singing ability ?

ICBM

Telejester said:

I remember Xmas 1975, I was 6 years old and I was made sing good king wencelas in front of a big gathering of my family. I watched people with tears flowing down their faces and others holding their sides in convulsions laughing. 42 years later and my singing isn't any better.

It must have been about '77 for me - it was a school end of term concert and we were made to sing Mull Of Kintyre whether we wanted to or not. While that alone would probably been enough to put anyone off singing for life, at some point in it I became aware that everyone in the audience of assembled parents was staring at me. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable that I had great difficulty not peeing myself. After that I became very adept at miming whenever forced to take part in something similar.

I really find it difficult to forgive the blinkered and essentially bullying attitude of those school music teachers even today, to be honest.

Grunfeld

Keeping it scientific I found an outcome measure... edited and revised as per the latest research from @ICBM ;
10 - magical - a unique voice
9 - superb
8 - really good, obvious lead singer in a pro band
7 - good - like one of the best on the covers circuit
6 - alright - like most of the singers on the covers circuit
5 - not bad - hits most of the notes but forgettable
4 - needs some lessons/ practice
3 - king of the shower
2 - drunk singing / football chants
1 - clueless
0 - no

So, I reckon I'm a 5 on a bad day, 6 on a good.

usedtobe

2-3

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

Telejester said:

I remember Xmas 1975, I was 6 years old and I was made sing good king wencelas in front of a big gathering of my family. I watched people with tears flowing down their faces and others holding their sides in convulsions laughing. 42 years later and my singing isn't any better.

It must have been about '77 for me - it was a school end of term concert and we were made to sing Mull Of Kintyre whether we wanted to or not. While that alone would probably been enough to put anyone off singing for life, at some point in it I became aware that everyone in the audience of assembled parents was staring at me. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable that I had great difficulty not peeing myself. After that I became very adept at miming whenever forced to take part in something similar.

I really find it difficult to forgive the blinkered and essentially bullying attitude of those school music teachers even today, to be honest.

You can mime peeing yourself??!

horse

Bridgehouse said:

Telejester said:

Bridgehouse said:

Difficult. We always hear ourselves as worse than we are.

I sang in a semi-pro choir as a teen, and I'd rate myself personally as a 4.

And those who have heard you ? Yeah definitely a 4 or sod off, no way a 4 ?

Well, here's an experiment then. I do some backing vocals in our band - @horse is also in the band and also does backing vocals - would you rate me as a 4 @horse, or higher/lower? No offence will be taken of course - I am what I am and I sing as I do

I think the rating needs more than 1 axis. 2 at least, maybe more. There's what you are capable of (eg range, tone etc), and then how good at that you are when you do it (pitching reliably etc).

So I'd say that if a 10 is exceptional talent and ability, then maybe you and I are similarly around the 4 mark for capability, but maybe slightly higher than that in terms of delivery if we stick within what we are good at? You're much better than me at hearing and hitting the harmonies below the melody (and have better technique), whereas I reckon I can get a bit higher, albeit with worse technique!

What do you reckon?

Legionreturns

Grunfeld said:

Keeping it scientific I found an outcome measure...
10 - magical
9 - superb
8 - really good, obvious lead singer in a pro band
7 - good - like one of the best on the covers circuit
6 - alright - like most of the singers on the covers circuit
5 - not bad - hits most of the notes but forgettable
4 - needs some lessons/ practice
3 - king of the shower
2 - drunk singing / football chants
1 - no
0 - clueless

So, I reckon I'm a 5 on a bad day, 6 on a good.

By that measure, 3-4 lol

guitarfishbay

2, I can sing in time, but I can’t sing

Telejester

ICBM said:

Telejester said:

I remember Xmas 1975, I was 6 years old and I was made sing good king wencelas in front of a big gathering of my family. I watched people with tears flowing down their faces and others holding their sides in convulsions laughing. 42 years later and my singing isn't any better.

It must have been about '77 for me - it was a school end of term concert and we were made to sing Mull Of Kintyre whether we wanted to or not. While that alone would probably been enough to put anyone off singing for life, at some point in it I became aware that everyone in the audience of assembled parents was staring at me. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable that I had great difficulty not peeing myself. After that I became very adept at miming whenever forced to take part in something similar.

I really find it difficult to forgive the blinkered and essentially bullying attitude of those school music teachers even today, to be honest.

No such thing as non miming schoolboys mate, the grammar school I went to had about 500 pupils in morning assembly and you could barely hear the singing over the piano.

Bridgehouse

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

Telejester said:

Bridgehouse said:

Difficult. We always hear ourselves as worse than we are.

I sang in a semi-pro choir as a teen, and I'd rate myself personally as a 4.

And those who have heard you ? Yeah definitely a 4 or sod off, no way a 4 ?

Well, here's an experiment then. I do some backing vocals in our band - @horse is also in the band and also does backing vocals - would you rate me as a 4 @horse, or higher/lower? No offence will be taken of course - I am what I am and I sing as I do

I think the rating needs more than 1 axis. 2 at least, maybe more. There's what you are capable of (eg range, tone etc), and then how good at that you are when you do it (pitching reliably etc).

So I'd say that if a 10 is exceptional talent and ability, then maybe you and I are similarly around the 4 mark for capability, but maybe slightly higher than that in terms of delivery if we stick within what we are good at? You're much better than me at hearing and hitting the harmonies below the melody (and have better technique), whereas I reckon I can get a bit higher, albeit with worse technique!

What do you reckon?

Now that's a good way of looking at it - and I mostly agree

You have a higher range than me. 

My "comfortable" range is indeed slightly lower than yours. 

We both have relatively "normal" ranges - not particularly wide but not abnormally small

Given that, we can both pitch and hit a harmony line relatively easily, and realively accurately every time so, yes.

Revised scoring:

Range and dynamics: 4
Tone and pitch/delivery within range: 6

How does that sound @horse?

HAL9000

I guess probably a 3 or so.

I can sing reasonably ok if I'm playing guitar at the same time. However, take the guitar away and any singing ability I may have goes completely out the window.

kjdowd

By the measure above a 5/6. I have a perfectly serviceable voice, and do BVs and lead on a couple of songs in an originals band. But - to my deep regret - it's not particularly characterful and doesn't 'break up' well. The male and female lead singers in the originals band are amazing so it can be quite intimidating following them when I have to do a lead vocal...

kjdowd

Also wish I had a bit more top end range.

TheMarlin

-10.  It’s bloody awful.  In the car, alone, with the stereo on full blast, I’m great.  In reality, it’s pretty horrific. 

Telejester

HAL9000 said:

I guess probably a 3 or so.

I can sing reasonably ok if I'm playing guitar at the same time. However, take the guitar away and any singing ability I may have goes completely out the window.

In a recording booth, headphones on, facing a mic with no guitar and engineer presses record for an acapella take........think you would reach the lofty heights of 2 ?

m_c

If there was only someway to anonymise soundcloud tracks, I could provide evidence of my mediocracy (and not just singing!)

camf

10. Maybe 11 if I push it. Or 4. Or 7. (I like 7... it's my lucky number). Or 3. Sometimes 8. 6 if I'm singing with another singer and have to raise my game. Actually, I'm a solid 5... or 5 minus... 5 minus... ish. Or below. Or bellow. Ish. 

scrumhalf

There's good and bad about my singing voice.

The bad is that it's awful.

The good is that I know.

LesbianWithAGun

2 maybe 3;
If it's singing a lot of songs.

I can go for a full 10 on certain notes and I can direct my vocals in to a mic to sustain a note for a bridge in song. As well as use parts of my diaphragm to amplify but without training, that's all you can get back when I was a teenager...

In general my voice isn't deep... Today, I was 30 when I recorded these and I'm 30 now... I'm sticking to something very modest thought, like 1 or 2 (listening to me now) (2 being kind of generous)


I mean, like everything, practise is perfect, and this is not bad for my first ever run through from the top to the end, so... since this is my first ever take at trying to sing this thing...
I'm allowing it on YouTube as a learning tool, so, this sucks.. BUT...
As I say, practise makes perfect, should I practise, I I think/hope I can come back and do this better.

Jez6345789

-1
A sound only really appreciated by Leonard Cohen Fans on moggies and deep sea cetaceans.

A friend of mine who loves playing with production tried to get me to sing a track a while back and then spent days twidling through various plugins and autotune to try and make me interesting and in tune. Frankly it was as they say beyond economic repair. 

When I got divorced 15 years ago now I was determined I would get better at singing so went and had an introductory with a local singing teacher very good she was but as she said 20 years of smoking a voice that at best  sits around B2 and about an octave up on a good day she said even with a couple of years of discipline and practice it's just not a pleasant tone. Ha hA

She was very nice about it ha ha

horse

Bridgehouse said:

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

Telejester said:

Bridgehouse said:

Difficult. We always hear ourselves as worse than we are.

I sang in a semi-pro choir as a teen, and I'd rate myself personally as a 4.

And those who have heard you ? Yeah definitely a 4 or sod off, no way a 4 ?

Well, here's an experiment then. I do some backing vocals in our band - @horse is also in the band and also does backing vocals - would you rate me as a 4 @horse, or higher/lower? No offence will be taken of course - I am what I am and I sing as I do

I think the rating needs more than 1 axis. 2 at least, maybe more. There's what you are capable of (eg range, tone etc), and then how good at that you are when you do it (pitching reliably etc).

So I'd say that if a 10 is exceptional talent and ability, then maybe you and I are similarly around the 4 mark for capability, but maybe slightly higher than that in terms of delivery if we stick within what we are good at? You're much better than me at hearing and hitting the harmonies below the melody (and have better technique), whereas I reckon I can get a bit higher, albeit with worse technique!

What do you reckon?

Now that's a good way of looking at it - and I mostly agree

You have a higher range than me. 

My "comfortable" range is indeed slightly lower than yours. 

We both have relatively "normal" ranges - not particularly wide but not abnormally small

Given that, we can both pitch and hit a harmony line relatively easily, and realively accurately every time so, yes.

Revised scoring:

Range and dynamics: 4
Tone and pitch/delivery within range: 6

How does that sound @horse?

yeah maybe. all very subjective really. There are some people who think they are shit but then surprise you when they have a go, and other people who for whatever reason seem to have no ear for it at all. I wish I had a bit more range - there's sometimes lines I can hear I want to go for but there's no way. And I know lessons and practice are a good idea but I'm resistant for whatever reason...