<p>JHS said what I didn’t take the time to say in my post above! Ditto!</p>
<p>Grammy worth? Maybe not. But there is a place for her.</p>
<p>I’m with JHS. And some of her “ditties” are pretty catchy. D1 left them on my iTouch when she went back to college last fall, and I put the handful I really like on playlist that I play all the time.</p>
<p>Far across the moonbeam. I know that’s who you are.
I saw your brown eyes turning once to fire.</p>
<p>There is a “place” for many performers-as we move farther from singers being singers and instead being entertainers. And I’m sure Taylor IS a nice person! And no one is saying anything negative about the fact she sings country, sings “simple” music, etc. I didn’t like Jamie Foxx last night at all, but I just didn’t like his form of entertainment…HE WAS HITTING THE NOTES though. </p>
<p>But music is MUSIC. The FIRST and most important part of that is to hit the note. Tone. Being in tune. </p>
<p>Changing a song to fit your key is one thing (as long as there is no accompaniment or duet). But…“first do no harm” should apply here too. Singing the note that is written is just not too much to ask. That’s the basics. If you can’t hold your part, not go flat/sharp…then you shouldn’t even be in a high school choir. Lovely to look at, peppy personality - all good things and it makes me feel worse to dis her singing because she is a sweetie.</p>
<p>BUT…it’s MUSIC. It’s about what you HEAR. And…well…it HURTS me, truly. When I’m at a choir contest and a girl/section/choir is sharp…I can ALMOST deal with it. When they’re flat I literally have to pinch my arms. Maybe everyone is not like that but I simply cannot TAKE it when they’re “pitchy”. It’s not a matter of someone who has a gravely voice, or another who has poor breath control, forgetting words, poor diction, too much trill, “boring” singing. </p>
<p>It’s THE NOTE. I can’t believe that it doesn’t “hurt” everyone’s ears. I always thought everyone heard tone/pitch this way. It’s not about trying to be mean to her, but…honestly…it’s like watching Pamela Anderson tackle a role once played by Dame Judy Dench. It would just hurt.</p>
<p>Taylor Swift fan. Girl can’t sing.</p>
<p>I believe that connections is everything everywhere, not just in entertainment. If you have none, than you got to work hardest to be at the top. I tell it to my D. all time. She says: 'I know", we have examples of it around us. That’s just the way it is.</p>
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<p>That’s the key, R124687. It hurts mine, too, but not everyone can hear what we hear, which is clear to anyone who happens to watch American Idol. 
Those families who encourage their kids to sing and who truly think they’re good, make me cringe and be embarrassed for them. Everything you said in post #24 is absolutely true, and it’s not only that not everyone has the ability to hear and distinguish perfect pitch, it’s that most people are not musically trained so they’re not aware of the basics, of hitting the note, being in tune, tone, breath control, head voice v. chest voice, belting, etc. I wonder if Taylor has ever had a voice lesson.</p>
<p>You dont say stole my post!! LOL</p>
<p>I must concede her singing last night was painful. But she has a great attitude and she wrote every song on her album. What was the competition? What were the other albums like? Anything good? I honestly don’t know.</p>
<p>But my real favorite is the babe from Sugarland. She has a fantastic voice and looks great too.</p>
<p>I agree Taylor was awful at the Grammys. However, a lot of pop singers are not really good singers. It’s all studio produced. Taylor’s a decent songwriter, so maybe she’ll concentrate on that when her singing career dries up. I’m with alwaysamom and T
R124687. I can’t believe that everyone couldn’t hear how out of tune she was, even if they haven’t had musical training.</p>
<p>It’s all MTV’s fault. Seriously. Before video, good looks certainly helped someone become a pop star, but it was rarely, if ever, a substitute for talent. But that was when you became a star mostly by being heard on the radio, and the only way to fix a “pitchy” performance on record was to keep doing more takes till you got it right. </p>
<p>The advent of video meant that pop records ceased to be works of art in themselves, and became instead soundtracks to little movies. Marketing a pop act became as much about the eyes as the ears. The rest is (distressing) history. </p>
<p>Fortunately there are all kinds of thriving musical subcultures on the lower and middle rungs of the business, so it’s not like talented people can’t succeed at all, but it’s harder for them to become big stars than it used to be, because there’s all this competition from people who would have been weeded out at the very lowest levels before 1980 or so.</p>
<p>Taylor is a very talented singer-songwriter but does have trouble staying on key singing live. I’ve heard her a number of times and the live concerts are much better than the TV shows. As my daughter (a singer) tweeted last night “I love Taylor, but girlfriend can’t sing!”<br>
We love Taylor Swift here in Music City and she got where she is on her OWN and NOT through connections of her father’s. She is highly regarded by all the top stars here- Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Tim McGraw etc. and respected as one of the few remaining artists who writes all her own material.<br>
Her concerts are wonderful and she appeals to more than just teenaged girls. Of course, we are huge country music fans here, so if you don’t like country music, you sure aren’t going to like Taylor (although she is very cross-over).
She is a lovely young woman and truly a good person. My son has met her and I have lots of co-workers who know the family. She’s the real deal.</p>
<p>NJRes- Yes, we love Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland, too.</p>
<p>When her singing career dries up? Uh, did you guys not get the memo that Taylor Swift was appointed Empress of the Known World sometime during the past year?</p>
<p>Hitting notes is valuable, but, frankly, hitting the note is not always the most important thing. There are a lot more people who can hit notes than there are people who can sing successfully. Sorry. If I screened the music I liked for people who can stay on key live all the time, I wouldn’t have any music I liked.</p>
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<p>Even if Taylor did it occasionally, it would be nice! ;)</p>
<p><a href=“Speaking%20of%20which%20–%20Placido%20Domingo%20and%20Mos%20Def?%20Who%20thought%20of%20that?%20Who%20wrote%20it?%20Why%20weren’t%20they%20fired?”>quote</a>
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Just awful.</p>
<p>One of my favorite groups ever had a singer who was completely incapable of staying on key – Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band and Cory Daye. The group’s writers, Stony Browder, Jr. and August Darnell, built the whole sound around that, and made it emblematic of all sorts of other ambiguities – cultural, racial, sexual. It’s very effective art.</p>
<p>For frame of reference, I own 0 Taylor Swift albums, and 5 or more albums by the following currently active artists: Spoon, Cafe Tacuba, Sleater-Kinney (oops, they’re gone), Old 97s, Wilco (talk about pitch-challenged!), Rachid Taha, Ryan Adams (only learned to sing his own stuff live the past few years, or so I am told, because I stopped listening to him live), Holly Cole, The Roots, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z. As soon as MIA and Calle 13 have 5 albums, I will own them, too.</p>
<p>It’s possible to be a “pitchy” singer in a way that sounds musical to me–i.e., the overall phrases are predominantly in tune, and it sounds like the singer has a strong, coherent musical idea, but some of the notes just aren’t quite on. That doesn’t bother me too much. A lot of the singer/songwriter types from circa 1970 sang like that. Lots of minor pitch goofs in their singing, but they don’t add up to an unmusical performance.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are singers who just sound tonally uncertain all the time, as if they’re not even sure what note they’re trying to hit and wouldn’t know it if they got it right. That’s what I find hard to listen to.</p>
<p>MOWC–I don’t think it’s an anti-country bias. I hear people who like her all the time who don’t ordinarily listen to country. I adore many country singers–women who come to mind include Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynn, and lots of others who also can write their own songs, and sing them, too.</p>
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<p>I agree with the general feel of that quote. I sang all through high school, and I still love to sing even though I’m not in any formal choir at the moment.</p>
<p>I LOVE Taylor’s music, but I would never pay to see her live after all I’ve heard about her performances.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that Taylor will get better as she gets older…but then, another one of my favorite bands has a singer that is only about three years older than Taylor at 23, and she does pretty darn great when she sings live.</p>
<p>Neil Young fan here, so pitchy singing is fine with me. I just youtubed TS and she’s adorable and personable and I thought she was just fine. Live music is often awful. Umm, Grateful Dead anyone? Still love 'em. I much preferred those simple songs to the overproduced numbers. Except Pink. Loved that! She’s cool. And of course Sir Elton. Lady Gaga’s got some pipes, too! But agree that some of the combo singing - various mixes of star types - interesting, but not hit you in the heart great. And lots of over production.</p>
<p>Jennifer Nettles bugs me because, like Reba, she often chews on her words. But she does have a beautiful voice.</p>