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I was never a very confident singer or especially good at memorization, so I faked most of the choral concerts I ever did. If you're standing in a big group and periodically opening and closing your mouth, no one will ever know whether or not you're singing.
I remember one summer I went to a music camp for instrumentalists. Even though it was an instrument-focused camp, there was also a mandatory choir. I figured, since no one was there as a singer, that I wouldn't be the only bad singer in the group, and decided to actually try and take part, learning the songs and getting the full experience. In one of the first rehearsals, with the whole group together, the teacher kept stopping one song at a specific part and insisting that something was wrong. He said that the baritone/bass voices sounded off. His solution was to go down the line of guys individually, and have them each sing the part as a solo. I was at the very end of the line, and watched as every other guy in line sang the part to the teacher's satisfaction. With my face beet-red, my knees shaking, and my voice quavering, I gave it my best shot. The teacher cut me off midway saying "There it is, you're the problem!" The teacher was a prissy guy with a lot of nervous energy, and he made a big deal of my mistakes, with a lot of energetic hand movements and excited exclamations. He made me sing the part again several more times, in front of the whole group, boys and girls. Each time he would cut me off midway and tell me that I was wrong. Finally, he sighed heavily and said maybe I should just pretend to sing for that part of the song. I took his advice for that song and all the others, and have never tried to sing in public again. For reference, I think I was 14 or 15 at the time.
On a totally unrelated note, is there any way to find out which cities the KATG-uh tour will be passing through? I see on the site that it's a "10 city tour," but I can't find any mention of the 10 cities. I'm an Indianapolis resident, and would love to think that you guys would be swinging through my neighborhood!
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