Have been assigned a lot of accompaniment songs to learn of late.
Teacher correctly advised best way was to sing melody to ensure the chords and tempo are in the correct places.

Problem? I can't sing. It's not from not wanting to. I actually love singing and was in glee club in high school.

No, the issue is I physically can't sing any more due to vocal chord damage from a bad flu bug a few years back. It's not as if I intend to be a professional entertainer after all.

It's a bit embarrassing having to play along in front of the class and the voice of Froggy from our gang comes out.

I struggle thru but wonder if anyone else has similar issues.

Oh I can.


But it tends to make people leave the room rather quickly....

I loathe the sound of my own voice.

I have just begun, literally today, my piano studies and if singing is a requirement I better give up now. Not only did I always talk like I had a mouth full of gravel, not be able to carry a tune if my head was in a metal mop bucket, and have a terrible sounding voice, but now after smoking heavily from age 13 to present day 37 I wouldn't be able to breath to do it, even with my oxygen tank on full bore. You don't have to sing do you?

If you are only playing chords you may need someone else to sing along or play the melody for you.
Not only will you find it tougher to learn the song correctly, the chords on their own are not a complete experience.
It would be like only hearing one channel of a 5.1 soundtrack.

On a personal note I hope you have stopped smoking. None of my business of course but I just lost my mother in November from it. Good luck either way.

Have you had this verified with a vocal doctor? I'm asking because I've never heard of the flu permanently destroying a voice. In fact, it's very hard to destroy your voice for good. The most common problem of a rough voice are nodules or polyps, both temporary problems that can be fixed.

I sing professionally and I had my tonsils removed a few years ago. I had all kinds of trouble from that. Took about a year of vocal therapy and constantly scoping my throat to overcome the problems. But eventually it came back. The voice is resilient and hard to destroy. I'd get another opinion if you love to sing so much.

Even if you sound like froggy, you are probably froggy who can sing in tune and that might put you ahead of the crowd!

I can sing. No problem. But my hasband has big challenge in pitch and rhythm. He has an ok voice, tenor that is. I tried to fix this for a while without any success.

No, that's just a normal tenor ...

over a year ago, I got involved in a chant group, playing hand drums. I decided that it would be nice if I improved my singing -- translation:

. . . I realized I sounded pretty bad.

I found a local teacher who had lots of adult students. She has been _extremely_ helpful to me. My tone improved, my pitch improved, and I can listen to a recording of my own voice without wincing.

So there _is_ hope . . .

. Charles

I can sing. However, I've been asked not to, by more than one person. So I don't sing much anymore. My instrumental performance skills are at a much higher standard than my vocals. Even my piano skills at 10 months are far more crowd pleasing than any singing that I have done. It is a shame in a way, because I have written and can write some decent lyrics on occasion. No one is going to cover my songs, so if I don't sing, those lyrics never get heard.

I have been told that with some intensive coaching and lessons I might be able to get somewhere. I doubt I will follow up on that though.

Off topic but ........ I see a birthday cake above your name. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

I hadn't considered medical opinions. Based on the above I will give it some consideration.
I'm not sure what the definition of temporary is here but the abrupt change occurred after a bad week of flu induced coughing in 2005. If it was going to fix itself I think it wold have happened by now.

Yes I can sing. I believe it's good practice to sing the melody of pieces to get the right dynamics, phrasing, speed etc . Also I sometimes use it to sing parts that need more hands than I have (eg, other voice in 4hand pieces).

I joined my husband's choir (and started vocal lessons) a couple of years ago, partly to enhance my music education, and partly in self defence. I'm now glad I did - we perform a fair bit under 5 different directors, all of whom are outstanding musicians. Am learning a lot.

As for singing at the piano, I will when I am on my own - I will sing the melody line usually, watching for the natural phrasing where I have to breathe. It's really hard for me to sing along with anyone else at the piano (except my vocal teacher). Cannot sing with my piano teacher! Not sure why. I have no problems with public speaking, etc. Perhaps I will make it a New Year's resolution.

I can not sing (well I can but I can't hold a tune lol.)

I did however experience damage to my vocal cords from a flu/cough in early 2007. I was put on some evil morphine based cough syrup to try to ease the hoarse coughing. I had to have a babysitter while on that stuff. I went from sounding like a 12yr. old girl (imagine callers asking for your daddy when you are in your 30's) to sounding more like an adult.

Never could hold a tune so that wasn't affected. No longer being considered a child, total bonus in my book.

My son ended up with some damage to his nose from a nasty cold when he was two.

Damage happens if you get a bad bug. Just saying...

Sure I can sing.... until I turn the water off in the shower and then it just sounds like a stuck pig.

Actually I do sing and hum notes all the time when practicing piano. It helps me get a handle on phrasing and dynamics. I don't think anyone would want to listen to it except me.

Oh, I've also recently embarked on trying to sight read and simultaneously sing/name the notes in phrases from a Bach Invention....a sightreading exercise suggested by someone on ABF. That is progressing slowly as expected.

Oh, I don't doubt that you had damage done. Dehydration alone can cause major issues. Coughing is horrible for the voice. What I'm suggesting is that there is most likely a fix. If you developed nodules, you could be re-agitating them, which is why they won't go away. Training can help with that. If you have polyps, they can be removed. Either way, a trip to an ENT to get scoped will let you know what's going on.

I second that. I was found to have a nodule when I was i my mid-20's. I never had it taken care of though and now my voice is raspy. I am going to put that on the to do list for 2013.

As for smoking (someone asked) I quit December 2, 2012 but have slipped a few times. I have smoked two packs in those three weeks. Still that's a heck of an improvement from two packs of those harsh, filtered little cigars I smoked every day for many, many years. I am certainly going to give them up after these are gone before I get hooked again. You know I really didn't have any problems quitting and I went cold turkey for two and a half weeks. I chalk it up to the power of prayer. Buying those two packs (not at the same time) was the dumbest move I have made since starting at age 13, but I was a dumb kid then so I should have know better.

Sorry to go OT: Needed to vent frustration at self.

I needed to echo sing for my piano exam. Whilst I say I do not have a good voice my piano teacher said whenever she has tested me in echo singing I can hit the note well and some of her students cannot.

However when I did my exam the comments from the examiner said I had sung three wrong notes in the echo singing part. I was annoyed because I know I did not.

I'm a tenor singer in a choir that mainly performs classical church music. Latest performance was the Chistmas Oratory of Bach. I also often accompany soloists and choirs, but I don't sing solo myself, not even in the shower.

This can be corrected with proper lessons, fyi (and not surgery or anything invasive). I know your thing is piano, but it seems a shame that you used to be able to sing and can't due to an illness.

I was a singer in my youth, but 35 years of teaching school, overusing my voice, and onset of serious allergies resulted in a deterioration of my tone which makes me loath to sing anymore. I was a high tenor. Now I am a raspy bass-baritone. Not pleasant. Now my piano does my singing, and I must say, it does a better job than I ever did.

Anyone heard of the soprano Dawn Upshaw? She is coming to the UK next month and giving a voice masterclass. I am attending out of interest. She has a lovely voice

[video:youtube]http://youtu.be/7-bY_58B5Vs[/video]

No need to apologize
Take it one day at a time
Mutual support is what forums like this do best

I feel better too looking at the answers this thread generated

That's partially true. If it's just nodules, then with proper training and vocal awareness, they will eventually go away. However, if the nodule has grown into a polyp (main sign is a constant raspy voice than never improves, even with rest), most of the time those have to be removed surgically.

Nope. No. Nada. No singing DNA in my body.

Wish I could. I've always been in awe of people who can make a living singing and dancing.

I just wish I could sing well enough to be pleasant enough to tell a story and have people listen. My favorite singer was the late Phil Ochs. I certainly don't agree with all his politics, but he could tell a story or take a position that made you think about things, and while not the most beautiful voice to ever take the stage, he was pleasant enough to keep you listening to. I am only 37 too and none of my friends had ever heard of him, but I have converted many.

That is true, and the only way to find out is to go to an ENT and have them diagnose the issue. But even vocal cord paralysis can be corrected over time with proper training, so a good many things can be corrected without surgery.

Yes. Some things from a few years ago.

http://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris/shes-leaving-home-lennon
http://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris/ive-grown-accustomed-to-her
http://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris/i-will-vocal-cd

I work on it everyday, just like the piano. Basically you have to treat it as just another instrument. You have to do it everyday though, at least with my voice. If I don't stay on it all the time, it goes south real fast I find.