We humans talk with an up and down sort of contour in our voices. That contour, called prosody, can telegraph your emotional intention to the person with whom you’re speaking. Just think of the way you talk when you’re speaking to your pet or to an infant. The pitch gets higher and your speaking gets very “sing song” sounding. Singing is just a more controlled version of that.
Why are so many people afraid to sing in front of other people?
It’s amazing to me how many people I meet who will shy away from singing in front of strangers. I can’t help asking why. Every time I get them to open up about it they reveal some version of “I’m afraid I’ll sound bad”.
The truth is, if you can talk you can sing. Some people sing better than others, and that’s to be expected. I’ve known professional singers who think they sound bad. It’s just human nature to have self conscious thoughts, but that shouldn’t deprive you of the joy of singing!
SO…
If you want to get better at singing, here’s an easy exercise you can do. Find an instrument, (one that you don’t have to blow into) play a note, and try to match the pitch of your voice to it. It might take a little practice but you CAN do it. Listen to the tone you’re making. Does it sound higher than the pitch on the instrument? Lower? When you sing along with the songs you like, LISTEN to your pitch and try to make it match with the music. The more you do it the easier it will be. You can do this! I promise!