Eli5: Why do a group of bad to average singers sound much better when singing together?
In: Other
As an average singer, it is at least partially because I get much much better at singing when surrounded by other singers.
I am bad at sight reading, don’t have anything close to perfect pitch, and have to rely on muscle memory when singing alone, but I can very easily match the pitch of someone singing next to me. It’s not like I need to adjust every note, either, once matching it’s easier to know the next note due to intervals etc.
There’s also an effect where it’s hard to find the exact right pitch when singing alone, especially without accompaniment. However, when you sing with harmony and get it right there is a sense of the chord “locking in” which let’s you know, and then you just have to remember/repeat that the next time.
This only helps with being in tune, of course. If you have a grating voice, your tone is bad, your rhythm is off, etc, then it can’t help as much.
And another reason related to the locking in I mentioned: practice. If someone is in a group, there’s a very good chance they’ve rehearsed with that group. If a random person is alone, who can say if they’ve spent time practicing.
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