Some people are assumed better singers
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40192)
Canada
December 21, 2008 9:37am CST
When I first joined my church, it was some years before a friend of mine told me "say you are good, you should join the choir," but I recall that there was a lady from Togo, and they were in the church for less then a year when she was, I guess, asked to join the choir, and there was also a family from Somalia and the girl is now singing a trio or quartet at the school concert. That led me to wonder. I know some of the ladies here who are African American say that they could not sing themselves out of a paper bag (not exactly in those words, but the sentiment was understood), but I really could not believe them.
Getting down to brass tacks, to use a trite expression, is even the worse African-American or black singer much better then well someone whose ancestry is European?
I mean when my fellow mylotter said that she could not sing, I was thinking "come on now!" Or is this a stereotype?
3 people like this
9 responses
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
21 Dec 08
All I know is that some people think they are good and aren't, some people are good and don't think they are, and most are some where inbetween. I did work with a gal of African ancestry who said she didn't have any rythem, could hold a beat in a bucket...
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
21 Dec 08
It seems that when watching Tv, it seems that the African American singers are best, but I wonder if it is because they are better at belting then us European who are better at that classical stuff. I know I do not have rhythm, but then I am European so one cannot expect me to. 
2 people like this
@hotsummer (13919)
• Philippines
22 Dec 08
i gues the talent for singing cmoes with the genes. and i believe that there are more black people who can sing than any other race. i definitely don't have the talent for singing. though i can get the tune right but my voice is not lovely to listen to. so i just sing at home and not in social events and gathering and public places.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
22 Dec 08
It could be that they are encouraged. Like they attend church where you are always singing hyms and it is acceptable that they can attend church, but look at us white people, if we say "I go to church," we get a funny look. Now the reason I can sing is partly because my mother was good, and also that I had plenty of practice in church, choirs at that. If all you hear is the stuff on radio, you are not going to be that good.
So it is not that they are better, it is that they were encouraged to sing more.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
31 Dec 08
That is the assumption, saying that most black people have good voices and only some white people have good voices. That is what I am getting at. The fact that if you are black and you cannot sing, people look at you funny and wonder why you cannot carry a tune, but if you are white and you cannot sing, people expect that.
@Monkeyrose (2840)
• Canada
22 Dec 08
I think this is definately a sterotype. I was in choir for 10 years and the best singers were "white". Mind you, we do not have a lot of black people in my area. We have a lot of asian people where I live. A lot of the asian people were good singers too.. but were often quiet or shy.
I think it just really depends on the person. Its also a matter of culture too. Some cultures incorporate dance and singing into everyday life and celebrations. Some do not. This means that some people have more practice than others.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
23 Dec 08
I think it is a stereotype. And you see it on Tv, if there is a Star Spangled Banner, then you hear the black lady sing it. So us white people do not get the chance. Years ago there was this very large lady, but she is gone now (sorry do not know her name, but she was popular in the 1950s and 1960s.) I wish they would get rid of that stereotype. I think there are lots of ladies who are of European extraction who do not go into singing because they assume they cannot.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
24 Dec 08
We hear alot about Maria Carey and I think it is because she is part black, but the other Diana Krall, hardly hear about her. Oh and I used to be a Janis Joplin fan so not all jazz singers are black. 
@Monkeyrose (2840)
• Canada
24 Dec 08
Maybe. There are a lot of white singers in Canada. Just look at Celin Dion. She has an amasing voice. She is the blandest and whitest you can get. I really don't like her music but her voice is amasing.
mariah carey is white... well and black. Diana Krall is an amasing jazz singer from Canada as well.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
25 Dec 08
[b]Yep. Stereotype city, in fact. I imagine all races have pretty much the same percentages of good & bad singers. If there's a slight superiority in one or another, it MIGHT just be due to one's taste. I do know that I prefer mid-east voices (when trained) better than almost any other. It appeals to MY ear, so again, that's just taste.
Maggiepie[/b]
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
26 Dec 08
Well that darned stereotype is not that good for my confidence. I am sure if it was said that all ethnic groups and colors had their bad and good singers, then there would be more or less even.
1 person likes this
@zackyo7 (301)
• United States
22 Dec 08
I don't think that there's one particular race that mostly has good singers. But it really has to do with practice. Just listen to music and sing along and you'll definitely get better. I started singing with my mom since I knew myself so I got all the practice I needed. I still can't really get rid of my childish singing voice and some girls get jealous and angry because I sing higher than they do when I feel like it. So it's really about practice.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
22 Dec 08
I do a lot of practice so I can really sing. And I am a high soprano, which is unusual since my mother was a contralto, lower than an alto. So it could be I got that from my father's side. But when I was a teenager they thought I was an alto, but now I find it difficult to go below middle C. So I never understood that black people were better singers because of their color.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
6 Dec 09
And some are afraid to try because they assume that they will never be that good. I did not know I was a good natural singer until a friend of mine who had taken voice lessons told me. I think a lot of the African Americans come from cultures where it is assumed they all sing and dance. For instance, there is a commercial by Masercard of AFrican boys playing soccer and in the background is this AFrican chanting music. And when there is a movie about Africa, that is South of the Sahara, and the travelers enter the village, they are else dancing and singing whereas if the movie is about the Old West, the only time the American Natives dance is when they are about to go on the warpath and when we whites sing and dance, it is usually when there is a wedding. Whereas the Negro or Africans south of the Sahara are shown doing it most of the time.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
21 Dec 08
I think that every one has a different opinion about what is a good singer. I don't think that any one nationality is better than another. I hear some popular singers and in my opinion they don't sound very good. so who is to say. I know I can carry a tune in a basket as my cousin used to tell me. But I know what I like and what I don't like
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
21 Dec 08
I can pick out a tune and have no trouble keeping in tune, but I have a good ear. And I have heard some of those so called good singers, and frankly they aint that good.
@trinidadvelasco (11401)
• Philippines
21 Dec 08
some singers are singers because they were gifted with good singing voices and, they have good ears for music. there are some of us who cannot discern music well just by listening to it. have you noticed that there are some people who can talk about one music playing in particular with so much details yet, the guy has never had formal education in music all his life? have you noticed also that there are some people whose singing voice can turn people heads and hold them in awe although they were just playingly singing at the park or at the street? those are their natural talents.
some of us, though, can develop singing talents and other qualities relative to music, if we attend music school which will hone the little that we've so it can be greatly improved.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
21 Dec 08
I often wondered why it is assumed because you are dark skinned, not only can you play basketball, but also you are so nice, and people will obey you, and on top of that you can sing? Just by looking at you. Sounds rather silly. Blame it to the popular stereotype fostered by the media.
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
22 Dec 08
I think that it is a sterotype. I am white and cannot sing in fact when my sisters and I sang as children people would roll is the aisles with laughter. My children are bi racial and cannot sing at all. Neither could my husband sing.
So many members of the church cannot sing and it multi-racial consisting of Asian, Black, Indian and Arab extraction.
Having said all this - \i have to say that we all love to sing and do so with great gusto. Blessngs
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
6 Dec 09
Most of our church are of Dutch descent and and some have even been in professional choirs and we sing twice every Sunday, many have pianos at home so they get a lot of practice. It is just that when you watch the Media and when an Afrlcan American comes to sing, they start clapping as if it is assumed she or he has a wonderful voice. He or she might sound like a dog's breakfast and there are some of the African American friends here on myLot who tell me that they definitely cannot sing, but if one of the media was here, he would assume they are being very modest.
