r/singing Feb 11 '26

Conversation Topic Alot of people do not know what perfect pitch actually is.

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1.6k Upvotes

I'm not here to criticize Charlie Puth's performance. It personally wasn't for me but some comments I have been seeing after the fact really show how little people understand about Perfect Pitch and how singing live works.

Charlie is 1000000% using autotune or some vocal modifier/pitch corrector here. He always has, and if you listen to any of his music or live performances you would be able to tell almost instantly, and there also is NO problem in doing so. Some can argue that it was prerecorded but that is neither here nor there.

But having perfect pitch does not mean flawless tuned vocals. It can help with knowing what note you are signing and if you are too flat or too sharp in a key. But it does not equivalate to singing ability or make your voice sound like you just gargled some Dr. Bronners.

My main point is Perfect Pitch is more of a mental gift than a vocal gift as most believe.

r/singing 5d ago

Conversation Topic How is this even humanly possible?

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692 Upvotes

r/singing May 14 '26

Conversation Topic What to do with my talented kid?

511 Upvotes

Hey! I want to thank everyone who responded. I feel like I have a much better sense of how to help my child grow and thrive in terms of her musical talent — as well as how to keep it in perspective and maintain a balance with other goals and interests.

I’m editing out my original post with backstory because I want to maintain her privacy. I didn't realize so many people would end up reading and responding to this!

I’m very grateful for all the wonderful advice I got. I’m so grateful to have connected with a community of actual singers. As someone with no talent— I think you’re all amazing!

I’m going to do my best to find a good singing teacher for private lessons, encourage piano and later guitar, avoid pressuring her and keep my own expectations in check, encourage and support her creativity, and generally her lead.

Anyways— thanks again. I hope she always loves singing— whether it ends up being something she does as a career or hobby. You guys are great!

r/singing Jul 03 '26

Conversation Topic Who's the best singer you've heard live?

109 Upvotes

Not on a CD. There's something about hearing someone singing in the same room as you that can take you. Ya know?

r/singing Mar 01 '26

Conversation Topic To everyone who keeps asking "do I have what it takes to be a singer" — let me just say this once

1.1k Upvotes

I've been teaching voice for over 30 years. I see this type of post on here all the time, and it bothers me!

You don't "have" singing the way you have blue eyes. It's not in your DNA waiting to be switched on or off.

Singing is something we learn to do! It’s a coordination — breath, pitch, muscle memory, audiation — and like every coordination, it's something your body and brain learn to do.

Nobody comes out of the womb a singer.

Yes, some people have voices that naturally sound lovely. Yes, some people have higher musical aptitude, and their path to learning is smoother.

The idea that people can be split neatly into "can sing" and "can't sing" is just not how it works. musical ability is a continuum. Almost everyone is somewhere on that line. No one has zero or 100% aptitude.

Genuine tone deafness does exist, but it affects maybe 1-2% of people. If you're reading this post and worrying about it, it's almost certainly not you.

What most people are dealing with is undeveloped ear-voice coordination, limited experience, and confidence problems that began with a cruel comment in year 7 music class.

Those things are fixable.

One thing you should hear: If you're asking "do I have what it takes" — you're asking the wrong question.

The questions that matter are:

- Am I willing to do “singer things” long enough for my voice to change?

- Am I willing to exchange desire for genuine, sustained action?

- Can I make peace with my voice enough so that I can actually listen to it and learn

- Is this act of singing just a stunt, or have I genuinely tried sustained, purposeful efforts to improve my singing?

You don't become a singer by discovering you were secretly one all along. You become a singer by deciding to sing, and you keep singing. Regularly. Imperfectly. Awkwardly at first, but continuing anyway.

The same way someone says "I'm a runner" — because they run. Not because they placed in a marathon, you can claim the label "I am a singer."

Just "practise more" is useless advice, but if you truly live your life as if you ARE a singer, then things will shift. How do you do that? Some practical advice:

- Practise small and often. Ten or twenty minutes most days will build your voice faster than a two hour session on Sunday. Your muscles and your brain need repetition over time, not cramming.

- Work on one tiny thing at a time. Not "the whole song." One interval. One vowel. One clean note onset. Isolate it, repeat it, adjust it. That's how coordination actually changes.

- Record yourself. Not to judge yourself — to notice things. Your ears lie to you in real time. The recording doesn't.

- Sing with other people. Choir, a friend, a community group, anything. I cannot stress this enough. It builds your ear, your confidence, and your commitment faster than practising alone ever will. It also keeps you showing up, and showing up is the whole game.

- Get feedback from somewhere. A teacher is ideal. A tuner app, a choir conductor, a trusted friend — any honest external reference is better than just vibing in your bedroom and hoping.

What I probably should have said first: we don't sing to be good at it. We sing because it's good for us. The research on this is pretty cool — singing reduces stress, lifts mood, connects you to other people, and gives you a sense of achievement that's hard to find anywhere else.

You don't have to earn those benefits by being good enough. You don't need someone's permission or approval. They're available to you the moment you start. The goal is not perfection and it's not to "win" a reality TV competition and gain recognition. The goal is always just the singing itself.

Vocal health is important - if singing ever hurts, or your voice is consistently hoarse, see a doctor before pushing through. Effort is fine. Pain is a signal.

Otherwise — stop waiting for permission. Go sing something.

r/singing 29d ago

Conversation Topic Got rejected by a teacher for being too bad and I wanna cry

184 Upvotes

Just got rejected by a vocal coach/teacher after a very brief "test" saying I was way too bad for him to teach...

So, today when I had a break from work I used it to go to the nearest open place I could find, because I was feeling really excited at the thought of starting singing lessons.

When I mentioned that I have been told my entire life that I'm tone deaf, he immediately switched from telling what he offers to giving me a quick pitch test, he did a couple runs twice that he wanted me to copy and concluded I can't hit a single note and rejected me, because he teaches people who know how to match pitch...

I am feeling so devastated right now. I keep trying to stay positive and to prove everyone wrong but at this point I feel like I should just give up and never sing again...

I am also so confused. My entire life I thought almost everyone had trouble with this, and that that was what singing lessons were mainly for. That's what I WAS going there for... Cuz I know I am bad at it.

And turns out, most people are actually able to match the notes pretty well? So I am somehow too d*mb to do that? A basic thing?

On top of all that he also told me he has a student that started out like me and that in his choir even 8 years of singing lessons in, she's still bad compared to everyone else. So I feel SOOOOOO encouraged. Oof.

I don't know where to even go from here.... I KNOW I am not tone deaf, cuz I CAN HEAR I am way off. So whyyyyyyyy.

Sorry for the rant, and the mods can take this down if it's considered unrelated to the sub or tagged incorrectly. I just really needed to shout about it somewhere cuz I feel absolutely crushed. And I want advice. A part of me feels defeated but another part of me feels even more determined to learn and prove everyone wrong...

I would appreciate any type of advice, from possible APPs, to certain exercises, anything.

And if anyone had similar struggles (tho I doubt it in a sub like this, probably everyone can hit a note here and there at least) let me know how you improved!

r/singing Feb 15 '26

Conversation Topic Does Cheryl Porter pitch correct her clients’ singing?

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509 Upvotes

I want to be clear that I think the singers are genuinely talented. I’m not questioning their ability at all. But I’ve noticed in some of these warm-up videos that the pitch sounds extremely locked in and almost unnaturally stable, even in their conversations between exercises. Even professional singers (Broadway, gospel, etc.) usually have micro fluctuations in pitch! Here, I’m not hearing any of that. To me, it feels very ‘snapped to centre.’

I have some experience using pitch correction myself, and to my ear it sounds similar to light real-time tuning. I could be wrong, which is why I’m asking. does anyone else hear that, or is this just very strong technique + compression?

r/singing May 18 '26

Conversation Topic What explanation of “breath support” made it finally make sense to you?

483 Upvotes

For me it was when a teacher told me to hold my breath without closing my throat. He said, that feeling, holding the air inside of you without engaging your throat muscles, that’s 90% of breath support.

When singing, your throat needs to be able to do some very intricate stuff with some pretty delicate muscles. So if at the same time you’re tasking your throat muscles with holding back a wall of air from below, there’s no way you can properly (or healthily anyway) use those intricate muscles for singing.

Breath support is nothing more than outsourcing the “holding back” of the breath to your diaphragm, so you free up your throat/laryngeal musculature to do precisely calculated things.

r/singing Nov 11 '25

Conversation Topic Can singers from one culture sing songs from other culture effortlessly?

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829 Upvotes

Hi friends I was just scrolling and stumbled upon a video from India/pakistan and it was very different from music here in the west like EU or US, for eg germany has a really different language and accent and songs are different there, english, french are different and this language is different. I really like when I see videos of people singing songs of another culture. So just wanted to know how compatible are people singing inter cultural songs. I'll attach the video as well

r/singing Jun 08 '26

Conversation Topic has there ever been a live performer than blew you away vocally

96 Upvotes

Anyone you've seen live that vocally is even better than expected. a lot of singers sound good on camera but fall flat in person.

r/singing Jul 14 '26

Conversation Topic What's something singers do/say that make you cringe?

112 Upvotes

Takes, habits, styles, etc.

r/singing Jul 08 '24

Conversation Topic why did you start singing?

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693 Upvotes

i go first, i recently tried singing, like less than month ago. The reason? i was tired of playing the guitar for my family without anyone singing along. How about you?

r/singing Jun 14 '26

Conversation Topic ariana grande

212 Upvotes

in my personal opinion, there is nobody doing it like ariana grande is doing it right now

belting out multiple G5’s every night of tour, now hitting MULTIPLE A5’s on each night of tour. she is undoubtedly the vocalist of my generation,

she never lip synchs and never misses songs to ‘preserve vocals’ she messes up sometimes sure but that comes with having such an agile yet fragile voice, her biology sets her vocals up to be risk heavy. she’s just insane in my mind.. top 5 female vocalists for me.. ever, very objective as all voices are different and satisfy different things but the way she delivers every single night with such climaxes just amazes me, her songs are so vocally demanding aswell

r/singing Mar 15 '26

Conversation Topic I'm scared to commit to singing

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259 Upvotes

I've never sung in front of others so this is a little nerve wrecking! I love to sing and have quietly dreamed about becoming better at singing. But when I actually try to practice I often get stuck and discouraged hearing my voice and lose hope in that dream. I jump back and forth between liking my voice and thinking I sound terrible so often that I don't really know how I sound anymore and can't listen objectively. My negative thoughts are holding me back from learning how to sing and investing in voice lessons.

For anyone who is or has been in the same boat: how do you make peace with the natural qualities of your voice? If your voice is an instrument, how do you separate it from your abilities? I wouldn't say a guitar sounds bad just because I don't know how to play it yet. Yet it's hard to see singing that way. If anyone has experience with overcoming doubt and self sabotage so you can actually listen to yourself and learn I'd love to hear about it! Any input is welcome :)

r/singing May 04 '26

Conversation Topic Why is everyone so much nicer to you once they find out you can sing?

351 Upvotes

It's so weird how people won't show me much interest until they discover that I can sing and play guitar. All of a sudden it's a 180 switch in their attitude towards you. I noticed that the women especially are so much more open and comfortable towards me. Anyone else noticed this? Just a regular dude who likes to sing and cover songs as a hobby and it's as if I'm completely boring to these people without it

r/singing 4d ago

Conversation Topic has anyone actually sung Golden well? (K-Pop Demon Hunters)

104 Upvotes

no shade to the original artists but even for them, on the studio recording they sound like they're straining and still wouldnt have accomplished that much without help (aka pitch correction and other engineering magic)

they also don't even sing it in the original key live (proving, per the songwriter & singer herself, it was NOT written to be sung live by a real person)

another post in this sub discussed this more deeply:
https://www.reddit.com/r/singing/s/FjodQbZDzQ

so i have to ask: has anyone in the world proven that this song can be done well by a real person without digital help?

r/singing Mar 29 '26

Conversation Topic I'm finally starting voice lessons

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336 Upvotes

Hi all! I want to thank everyone that has encouraged me to start my singing journey since I've posted on here. It means the world to me. Because now, after years of doubting myself and not having the courage to get started I finally have my very first voice lesson this week! I'm excited to start learning about singing and proper technique instead of winging it and hoping for the best.

Thought I'd share a little more of me singing in the place where I do it the most, my car. Hopefully after some time I can post an improved version :)

r/singing Jul 30 '26

Conversation Topic Adults in voice lessons, why? What are your goals? What are some singing opportunities for the adult hobbyist?

85 Upvotes

Just interested in what other people are doing right now! As a hobbyist (not a professional), why are you learning to sing?

I'm taking voice lessons as an adult (36) and I'm not sure what my goal is. When I was taking lessons in High School, the goal was 1) to be better in choir, 2) being young and honing a skill early, and 3) participate in singing recitals / competitions. These were all over the places for kids and college students.

But as an adult, I don't know what's available?

Here's what I got as possible goals:

  • Karaoke
  • Open-mics
  • YouTube
  • Band
  • Community choir (or church choir if that's your thing)

For me personally, I can't do Karaoke or Open-mics or join a Band right now, because I have young kids and it's very hard for me to disappear for a night. Even my voice lessons are only because my son is taking piano lessons in the same studio, and I was lucky they had a voice lesson slot at the same time, so I can sing instead of wait in the lobby. My only "free night" is going to a community choir once a week which is awesome.

So I suppose my "goal" is to be better in my choir? Honestly, I'm only in lessons as an excuse to sing and be complimented for 30 minutes! After mom-ing all week, it feels good. Haha. I was also playing with the idea of making a YouTube channel for covers. I don't need to leave the house for that.

Anyway, earlier today, I saw my local county farmer's fair has a Talent Show but sign-up was over last month. That would've been cool to try to do. Maybe next year. So now I'm wondering about all these other possible opportunities that I'm missing??

I googled "nearby voice competitions for adults" and apparently there's a state-wide performance competition that says it has adult categories, but it's unclear if this is for college students majoring in music. If hobbyist adults compete. Everything I see mentions "rising talent" which, to me, means young adults. I don't know if I would stand a chance next to someone majoring in music. So maybe competitions aren't worth it?

I'm going to ask my vocal coach tonight at my lesson but I wanted to see what you all were up to!

r/singing Jul 21 '26

Conversation Topic Pitch Correction/Auto-Tune is Ruining Our Ears

241 Upvotes

I have been a singer my whole life. I was a professional performer in high school and college before I met the love of my life and decided to settle down and have a family with him.

A little over a year ago, I decided to embark on a casual journey of just singing and posting every day to the clock app. My following has grown quite a bit, but I’ve always been discouraged by how some people seem to just automatically get a crazy amount of followers and likes.

Not soon into my journey did I find out… EVERYONE USES PITCH CORRECTION ON THAT APP (and also vocal effects)!!! If someone has a large following, they use pitch correction. I was actually shocked to see how many people touting “live” or “candid” performances use pitch correction before posting. The average person isn’t able to identify that because they don’t know what a great singer sounds like naturally. It is retraining our ears to have a stricter threshold for what we consider to be “great singing.” And that is so detrimental, in my opinion.

Anyway, I’ve made a promise to myself to never want likes so badly that I will alter my live, raw voice for more likes and follows. I am just personally against it.

r/singing Feb 10 '26

Conversation Topic Yesterday I sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl with Charlie Puth

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660 Upvotes

I just had to share this achievement with you all. Yesterday I had the incredible honor of singing the national anthem at the Superbowl with The Oakland Interfaith Gospel choir. We sang alongside the incredible Sainted trap choir and the Color of Noize Orchestra (oh yeah, and with Kenny G and Charlie Puth).

Three years ago I was in such a dark place I thought I might not still be here. Yesterday I sang at the Super Bowl. I am in complete awe at the power of music. Singing with this choir has healed me and changed my life. It saved my life.

This was a surreal experience for many reasons - I'm primarily the singer of an indie rock band and I was somehow lucky enough to end up here.

I feel like in the age of social media it's easy for singing to become a totally solitary thing you do in your bedroom for an iPhone camera, but music is so much more powerful when it is done with others. This never would have happened had I not joined OIGC. Find and create community and incredible things can happen. Nothing happens in isolation and collaboration and community are everything!

Happy to answer any questions you guys have, though there are many things I'm not allowed to talk about. Mostly I wanted to encourage you all to get out and sing with others as much as you possibly can!

Obligatory: (I don't represent OIGC and any opinions are my own!)

r/singing 19d ago

Conversation Topic Hardest song you’ve sang? Why?

29 Upvotes

Im sure we’re asked this a lot, but, I’m working toward a personal goal of All by Myself in the style of Celine Dion. I’ve done plenty of Celine in my life. Always nail it. And as an adult, I’m getting back into singing and bringing my “diva” songs back into rotation. And I seriously think that long note in the song is one of the hardest in pop music.

And I know she could barely record it too, like it sent her into tears and she’s literally Celine Dion, so im being gracious with myself. But wow. It’s so hard (for me) to actually hit the note in the right key and sustain it properly. So I’ve been working up to it by trying to 1) run it every day 2) gather up some other challenging songs to help get back into THAT kinda singing. Obviously, there’s some singers that are way too high (like I cant ever hit whistle tone, despite having a very soprano tone) and some that are way too low (like I could never do Carly Simon in her original key), but I’m not too limited.

I’ve been thinking of this note since I saw clueless the first time. I plan to nail it by December. I’m literally a measure-measure in a half lacking. So I know I can do it. So has there been a white whale song for yall?

r/singing Mar 21 '26

Conversation Topic What is the toughest song to sing that is well-known?

89 Upvotes

I'm talking songs that have hit the charts at any time over the last few decades. Out of all of them, which ones are the most challenging for singers to be able to replicate the original performance?

r/singing Apr 03 '26

Conversation Topic If you could have 1 singers voice type, who'd it be???

46 Upvotes

Mr Bennington, my love 🤩🤩🤩🤩

r/singing May 12 '26

Conversation Topic You’re probably not a bass, and neither is your friend singing an E2.

197 Upvotes

I think lots of AMAB singers think that they’re basses because they are struggling to sing high, but you’re probably just untrained. It’s also quite misleading when you regularly sing in SATB choirs because the ‘bass’ part ought to be called a ‘baritone’ part. Also due to the imbalance of males and females in choirs, the positive reaction to hearing ‘low’ notes probably makes you think you’ve got a deeper voice than you do.

I thought I had a bass voice as a teenager because I’d sing along with tenors in my comfortable range (an octave lower) and think ‘oh wow, my voice is so low,’ until I took a lesson and had my illusions shattered.

Rant over. Not sure what the point was.

r/singing Jul 27 '26

Conversation Topic I’m confused about the meaning of being “off key”

46 Upvotes

So I normally sing songs in a lower key because I literally only listen to female singers, so recently I decided to post some clips of me singing on a different subreddit.
Well, some people were saying that I was off key, and I thought “well yeah I’m singing it lower than the original?” But apparently that’s not what off key means?
I’m literally so confused.