Much as I love music…

Much as I love music, I have zero musical ability – I even mime to singing ‘Happy birthday to you’ – except at home with the family. As a child I didn’t realise, and would sing along at school in assembly and when we had music. I think I could just about keep in time, it was hitting the right notes – or as Eric Morcambe famously said to André Previn (aka Andrew Preview) all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.

When we were at infant and junior school we did plenty of singing – a hymn in assembly each morning and then a music and singing lesson once a week accompanied by the school piano… except now I come to think about it, did we sing in our classrooms, and if so, was a piano pushed in, or did we just sing? Or was there a school radio and we would listen and sing along to it? In secondary school we had music in the music room which involved singing – but my memories are somewhat blurry. We also sang in assembly – and I guess I sang along with everyone else, or at least moved my mouth in time.

The other place we sang was at Sunday school. My sister and I went every week until we were teenagers, and it was there that I had the embarrassing revelation that in fact I couldn’t sing in tune, even very familiar hymns and choruses. Our Sunday school was visited by some people from another Sunday school, and I have a feeling they were Americans. They recorded us for some reason – maybe to take back to their church and play to their children. They played it back to us and there were all the familiar voices of my friends lustily singing, and there was this one loud and distinct voice bellowing enthusiastically. It was almost comical, until I realised with horror that it was me!! I knew all the words perfectly and i kept up with everyone else, no droning, but the tune I was singing was distinctly and dramatically different from what everyone else was singing.

Now if I go to gigs and everyone is singing along enthusiastically, I mime enthusiastically. I only sing aloud at home alone – and sometimes even then I shut up abruptly when I realise I’ve gone drastically astray from the real melody!

My featured image is of a brilliant band my husband was in for several years, no bellowing or droning from them!