I have been cursed from a young age with some stage fright, and the ability to tell if somebody was singing in tune. Much later came the double edged sword of alcohol.
I have tried for years to explain the hypothesis I have behind my own urge to sing karaoke and the acceptability of a potential performance. I failed every time. This might be because my main mode of explanation was drawing imaginary lines in the air. Usually both whoever I was explaining it to and I were more or less intoxicated and nobody really likes algebra all that much anyways. I hope this explanation is clearer.
I feel these are the most important variables:
Positively correlated variables (Go up over time)
- The amount I have had to drink (inebriation or BAC)
- urge to sing
Negatively correlated variables (Go down over time)
- ability to sing
- ability to tell if someone sucks
There are three important thresholds:
- willing to sing karaoke (wts)
- The point where I know that I am singing completely out of tune (ok)
- The point where I can’t tell/don’t really care that I sing terribly (ct)
For me, I usually have the misfortune of singing my first song in the “shame band” this is the area where I cant sing and I know it. I’m not sure what the best way is to get around this problem:
- The most responsible would be to gain enough confidence to get up and sing before I reached the acceptability limit.
- Singing drunk may be a learnable skill and maybe all I have to do is practice singing drunk.
- Wait until the end of the night and only sing “brown eyed girl” or “sweet Caroline”. After all, nobody really likes good karaoke (or algebra) anyways.