Why I Can’t Sing

So my new hobby is collecting reasons people give for why they can’t sing. It seems like everyone has one! Except for singers, of course.

One lady told me it’s just a fact that she can’t sing—she’s always known it. I talked her into giving choir singing a try. She sang at the weekday rehearsal, but then on Sunday she handed me her folder and said she was just there to turn in her music because she just can’t sing.

Another lady recently told me she would love to sing, but she knows she can’t sing because her family laughed at her when she did sing.

One person told me all her friends agreed with her that she shouldn’t sing. Ever.

There was the lady who told me she liked to sing for the Lord in the congregation but couldn’t sing well enough to be in choir.

These all seem to be pretty solid indicators that these folks probably can’t sing in reality. Kind of sad, right?

When I was in the 6th grade I auditioned for the school choir. I really wanted to get into the choir, and I chose to sing the song, “Jesus Loves Me”. In Korean. From memory. My feeling at the time was that I would be a shoe-in. I have no idea why 6th grade me thought singing in Korean would impress. And it didn’t, apparently, as I did not make it into choir. Clearly, I couldn’t sing. And didn’t, really, after that.

In 7th grade I took a sort of audio test, which was supposed to gauge whether I had a good enough ear for music to get into band. Big surprise: I didn’t get into band.

In the end, I decided the people who judged I wasn’t good enough were wrong. Got a degree in music and worked full time in the music business for 20+ years, with some of the top names in the business, and have led choirs and played piano at Saint Andrew for 9 years. 

One thing I have learned as choir director: there is nothing like being in choir—mostly because the people are so awesome to work with.

So leave the reason you can’t sing in the comment section below. Then come and sing with us. You’ll be glad you did!

And no one will say you can’t sing.

—Brian Benison
Director of 12:30 Choir and 5Choir at Saint Andrew Catholic Parish, Executive Director of Brian Benison Music, a music preparation company serving Los Angeles.