Do-Re-Mi

~ MaryG

What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?

So many people say they “can’t sing” and it bugs me. Everyone CAN sing, but not everyone can sing in tune. My mother is a non-singer. She said she’s so bad at it that she was told to “mouth the words” to her sorority song, so as not to be heard by whatever audience listened to sorority girls sing songs in the 1950s. I’ve literally never heard her sing.

My husband can’t read music or play an instrument but he can sing — in tune. He will do karaoke in a pinch, if required. I think it’s because he listens to a lot of music and sings or hums along.

That is honestly the best way to learn to sing: Sing or hum along with music you like.

If you can’t find a song you like, then sing this one. It’s the classic.

Julie Andrews taught me

Imagine a world where nobody ever says “I can’t sing,” but instead just joins in with everyone else, I think it might actually fix all our problems.

Obama sings Amazing Grace

24 thoughts on “Do-Re-Mi”

  1. I’d love to be able to sing (in tune) lol. But idek what in tune really actually means! I just know that my whole life as i sing along with music, i can’t keep up with the way the singer sounds. It’s dreadful lol

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    1. “In tune” just means matching the pitch that the singer is singing. Maybe try easier songs first. Sing to the baby…you cannot go wrong! Find a woman singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Row Row Row Your Boat online and try singing with her. You can do it CJ. 🙂

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    2. CJ, one thing I was remind myself is that most of the music we heard on the radio is all recorded in a studio. It’s all doctored vocals are brought up brought down so everything sounds perfect. That’s why, more often than, it’s a completely different experiencing a band live versus listening to them online or in a CD.

      And that says nothing about the artists who used “autotune” today

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  3. The ‘just mouth the words’ story about your mother made me wince and smile at once — that kind of early verdict really does stick for a lifetime. I’m with you that singing along is how it actually gets learned; nobody hums in tune on the first try. Some of our happiest family-travel memories are terrible, full-volume car singalongs where being off-key was entirely the point. And your closing wish — a world where everyone just joins in instead of opting out — might genuinely be onto something.

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  4. Oh man, loving your answer this morning! Not sure when or why everyone has to be a master performer with everything, rather than just joining in and being a part!

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  5. I grew up on the sound of music. Probably weird to hear a guy say that. But it brings back fond memories. When I backpacked through Europe, I forced myself to buddy to go on the sound of music tour in Salzburg. He was a good sport!

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  6. Excellent point! Along with being a literary culture, Ireland is also a culture that sings, and I have heard people sing in very out of tune voices. They don’t seem to care. They just belt it out.

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  9. My ex husband’s Caribbean family could all sing and both my children inherited that gene and have performed in their younger years.

    My voice, however, is “ out of tune “ but I ignore that when I want to sing along to something I like on the radio in the car or on one of our three record players at home 😊!

    Like http://mygenxerlife.wordpress.com/, I’m definitely doing “ The Sound of Music” tour when we are in Austria later this year

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    1. Oooo…have fun in Austria! I’ve been to the Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe Vermont—the family’s home in the US after escaping the Nazis. Beautiful mountain setting.

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