Aspies For Freedom

Does anyone here enjoy singing in a choir?

I used to do a fair bit at high school - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Berlioz's Shepherd's Farewell, Vivaldi and Poulenc's respective Glorias, Messiah, Brahms and Mozart's totally different Requiems and the Bach Magnificat were among the choral works to which I lent my voice. But that was then. I've refused point blank to join a choir since. The reason I give, to anyone who asks, is that I can't sight-sing and that has always spoiled my enjoyment.

The inevitable reply to this is, "Oh, but surely you could find a choir that doesn't require you to be able to sight-sing." Of course I could, but that's not the point. I found my inability frustrating, that I had to bluff my way through, always relying on my neighbour to bring me in. I was also unsure of which part was right for me. Initially I always sang soprano just because they sing the melody (most of the time), but I couldn't always hit the high notes. So I switched to alto for a time but found it even harder to hold my own with loud-voiced basses singing behind me.

I remember my mother (herself an accomplished choral singer) assuring me that I would learn to sight-sing in time, but the ability never came. Sure, I could read the musical notation, tell you the key signature, identify the individual intervals, but I couldn't sing anything unless I'd heard the music first. The contrast between my singing and my recorder playing (where I could sight-read almost anything that was thrown at me) grew ever greater.

The last thing I ever sang in was the Bach Magnificat. I deliberately sat next to a girl who'd had professional singing lessons to be sure of getting the notes, but even she was struggling. I was so distraught at not being able to do the great music justice that I vowed "never again".

But still people just don't seem to understand why I gave up choral  singing. Is my attitude that unusual?

Mind you, I did sing in some great stuff. That Poulenc Gloria is well funky.... Has anyone ever heard his Villanelle for recorder and piano?

Could you get access to a keyboard or piano?  Then you could play the notes while you sing them.  

Some people are gifted with perfect pitch so they can hear the note in their head while sight reading it.  Not many people have that.  

If you practice singing alot, I am told that the really high notes will come.  I could never sing 1st soprano, always 2nd.  You might not be able to get high A's and B's but just don't sing them.  I couldn't do alto though.  Ask some more experienced person for some singing exercises.

I used to sing for my primary school choir. I was pretty good at it too, until the disaster of puberty kicked in. Though the real reason I stopped was because I left school.

The school was very christian, so most of the songs were about that. I am not christian I enjoyed the singing rather than what the music was about. We never had to learn how to read music we would just practise everyday for the whole school year to make sure it was right.

I currently practice with three local choirs - one of them (a mixed choir) for about three years, and the other two (one of which is a male choir) for about a couple of months.

I really am no expert on sight-singing, Aeolienne, but I do understand how you feel. You are obviously musical ( and you have great taste in music).
I can see why you would be frustrated. It is much easier to sight read music with an instrument, -other than your voice,- because you don't have to hear the note in your head first if you are playing an instrument. With the voice one has to be able to audiate.
imo It is a good idea to train the ear to be able to sing specific intervals. It is one thing to be able to recognize, on the staff, a perfect 4th-but to hear it in your head, and then sing it outloud is much harder. ( not impossible to learn though)

In any case, I have heard of using solfege, or tonic solfa, to practise sightsinging. Personally, I like the idea of a movable doh. Singing scales etc is a bit boring but may be helpful?
I do have a colleague ( she is away at the moment) who is a singing teacher-and now I am curious to know some exercises for teaching and improving sight singing! If I find anything helpful I could pass it on, if you like.  
As for perfect pitch, it is extremely useful but it can be a detriment as well.. for instance.. playing anything other than a "C" instrument or having to look at music that is written in one key, but transposed in a recording to another...etc.. Better to train the ear to have a good sense of intervals, develop good relative pitch.
am I making any sense? Sometimes I have trouble expressing what I want to say. Mean well, though

I liked it in high school and college. Haven't done it since yet... unless singing in a band counts.

Thanks!

In fact I can sing most of the intervals - I learned a list of mnemonics, i.e. well-known tunes that began with a particular interval, to get me through aural tests. That served me fine until Grade VII-ish, when singing from a score cropped up. (Actually I can't remember much of Grade VII. It's all a bit of a blur because I was trying to fit it in at the same time as A-levels, which is probably why I only scraped a pass in the former. The Grade VIII aural tests I remember only too well - I had to sing the bottom line of a piece!)

Anyway, the mnemonics were...
Major 3rd: While shepherds watched
Minor 3rd: Greensleeves
Perfect 4th: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Perfect 5th: Intro to Chariots of Fire
Major 6th: My Bonny Lies over the Ocean / The Lord's my Shepherd
Major 7th: Star Trek

Unfortunately I can't now remember the diminished tiddlypushes, although I think there was a Glenn Miller piece in there somewhere.

I song in a few choirs back in the days.
It was fun!
i miss it.

I enjoy harmonic singing; not to mention singing alone to music

I like to sing duets too

I always enjoy singing in chambers that reverberate. There's a way to constrict your nasal passages such that with sufficient echo, you can hear a distinct overtone that has a whistling sound.

I remember singing the Hallelujah Chorus at school in a massed choir. Loved it - I sang alto - it was a fun song to sing as a choir. Since I have asthma I seemed to have lost my voice - any ideas on how to overcome this?