Fellas I'd just like to say

I was an autistic shut-in basically up until 2 years ago, when I joined up with a community choir

It hasn't always been easy or a smooth ride or anything but the experience has basically helped me become a normal, social person

I'm feeling more and more confident every day and like I actually have friends now

And honestly I think a community choir is just about the perfect outlet because:

A. You become more confident in the sound of your own voice

B. You get to be part of a group-effort that is bigger than just you

C. You get ample time and opportunity to get to know other people through the shared interest of singing

D. Performing on stage is low-risk enough for you to have the confidence to actually be there, but the experience is still enough to help you be less self-conscious and nervous in front of a lot of people

E. Singing/music is a highly traditional form of worship

F. Since most community choirs meet in church buildings/are sponsored in some way by churches, it's an excellent way to get involved in the church if you aren't already

TL;DR get involved in your community choir, faggot

that's good to hear barry, glad you're doing well

We just had our weekend concerts, finished up earlier today

I volunteered for a speaking role during the concert to push myself and I didn't fuck it up

@Barry White That's great

God bless

Do your best

I'm proud

i dont wanna do that 😡

@Barry White have you had any formal vocal training prior? i'm fully convinced my voice is complete aids

None

I think starting off hating the sound of your own voice is a near-universal experience

That's why I did a lot of my practicing outside of rehearsal in private, at first

Another thing about voices is that there are three components that make a good-sounding voice, and that is A: The natural sound of your voice, B: Your habits & mannerisms when you speak, and C: Your vocal range

@Callaghan It is highly unlikely that all three of these components are complete shit, and even if they are, 2/3 you have some degree of control over

With a decent amount of practice you can stretch your range to be able to hit at least a few more notes than you could before

And anyone can change their vocal mannerisms as long as you pay attention, but to some degree it will happen automatically as your confidence goes up

interesting

did you have a coach?

outside of the choir that is

Nah

Now granted, I had siblings in the choir before I joined, so that pushed me in that direction, but nobody told me I had to do it

I just figured that it would be a good experience for me, so I signed up

cool

was it attached to a church?

Yeah, almost everyone there was part of the church that we rehearsed in, or a church that was close by

was it catholic?

Presybyterian, with a large contingent from a nearby orthodox church

i don't want to be too much more specific than that though

How about public speaking? Has anyone done toastmasters or anything like that to improve it?