Most Lousy Singers Sound Great in their Own Minds

You've seen them around—taking the stage after a few beers, perhaps a few too many, and belting out ear-splitting off-key versions of "Don't Stop Believin'" or "Livin' on a Prayer." They are bad karaoke singers. The question for scientists is: Can they not hear themselves butchering a tune, or do they know full well they can't sing, but enjoy trying anyway? Acoustics researcher Simone Dalla Bella says it's mostly the former—bad singers truly have no idea how bad they are. Popular Science reports that he and his colleagues elicited volunteers to sings simple songs like "Jingle Bells" and found that the majority of the people who couldn't carry the tune didn't realize they were so far off-key. Dalla Bella writes on his Web site that despite the fact that his and others' research has shown that singing is "a universal form of vocal expression," between 4 and 10 percent of ...