What does it mean to "carry a tune"?

Question:I know very little about singing but I hear this term all the time. If one does not know how to read music and has never had formal vocal training, how do you tell if you can carry a tune?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I know very little about singing but I hear this term all the time. If one does not know how to read music and has never had formal vocal training, how do you tell if you can carry a tune?

The ability to "carry a tune" means that one can accurately replicate a melody with one's voice, most often by simply hearing said melody.

Kabum

To be able to sing to the melody. To not have a tin ear. To be able to distinguish one note from the other. To not be tone deaf.

It means you hit the proper pitch....sing a "c" when it is supposed to be a "c" - and not a "d flat" or "e'."

Most people match pitch sort of naturally.

It's not difficult to tell. Carrying a tune means someone who can stay on pitch.

If you can't stay on pitch, it will be painfully obvious to others around you because it will sound "off" at best, and wretched and uncomfortable at worse.

You just know.
People will tell you if you cant.

It just means to sing well.

To be able to duplicate what you hear.....believe me if you can't carry a tune people will notice, I always tell everyone that when I sing birds drop dead in mid-air !!!! To be able to carry a tune means that you can carry it - do it, and make it sound like it's suppose to. Just watch Idol, you can tell the people who can and can't carry a tune, you know after the first line !!!!, your ears will tell you immediately !!!!!!!

I think it means trying to match your voice with the correct pitch of the song.

this is me singing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZdDetGS8...