Have you ever noticed that a group of men singing never sound bad. Consider this for a moment. Ten men singing individually. Each one of them has a voice that could only be loved by an alley cat or someone who is deaf.
However, if you place them together and have them all sing something happens. Suddenly their voices merge and the horrible shrieking is replaced by something different. It is replaced by something that sounds decent. It might not be great, but it is not so horrid that you feel the need to poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick.
What do you think?
(Visited 42 times, 1 visits today)
Yitz,
That is as a good an explanation as I have heard.
Mark,
Good man.
Michael,
This doesn’t work at concerts or in conjunction with CDs. You can’t have the musicians performing with you.
Elie,
Time to teach them how to sing louder.
Miriam,
Again, volume is key.
Brooke,
Absolutely.
Annie,
The men in your shul are handicapped with an East Coast accent. 😉
JT,
Sort of.
Ezzie,
I am biting my tongue. 😉
I was going to agree, but Elie reminded me of my parents’ shul. It’s painful there. So… while I think a few decent guys sound great together, a few bad guys sound even worse.
Did the clip of Peter from the Family Guy singing “Don’t Stop Believing” have anything to do with this post?
I disagree lots. I have heard groups of men singing together that sound awful. I agree with Elie, come visit my shul sometime… unless 10 is a magic number?
It’s the harmony that makes it nice!
I have to echo Elie. Jack, you never davened in my old shul.
Obviously you’ve never been to my shul. There’s a little innovation called “all sing on the same key” that hasn’t been discovered there yet.
I dunno Jack…
You never heard me and my college buddies hollering away, off key, at a Pink Floyd or U2 concert…
Of course, the pitchers of beer couldn’t have helped…
I think you’re right!
Hi Jack, I don’t know if what you write is always true, but let me say this: One person singing, unless he’s really good, is bound to go “off tune” once in a while, at least. When he sings with another, the other can often “keep him on track.” I’ve noticed this when singing with my son – when he sings alone, he often will miss a note & go off-key, but when I sing with him, he stays on key. So there’s definitely something here.