Do tone-deaf people know they're not whistling the song "correctly"?

[Tonberry]

Or do they just not care, and more go along with the "flow/feel" of the melody?

Assume for this context that everyone in question knows how to whistle (producing a tone, instead of just air).
I have "almost" absolute pitch, and I don't mean to bring that up in order to put myself above people who don't or whatever, more just to clarify that I don't know what it's like to not be able to reproduce a melody "correctly".
It's just something I've been thinking about, and I really don't mind people who whistle that way at all (I hate music theory snobs, and most of my family unfortunately belong in that area). It kind of interests me actually because it makes me think that "feeling" the music is usually more important and condusive than "knowing" the music, so to speak.

I overheard my neighbor whistling along to a song earlier today (I think it was Avicii), but he was only whistling the same note over and over, but it was clearly going along the actual melody, which is what made me think about it.

 

[bjork]

I think the easy answer is that sometimes you're just feeling the music in the moment, so exact replication isn't necessarily the goal. But I think there's got to be something deeper there too, where certain ages don't hear certain tones and frequencies, so for all we know, they are replicating what they're actually hearing with their old/young ears?

The most I probably find myself whistling is when Life is Beautiful from Deadly Premonition gets stuck in my head, but I have no idea how close I sound. I'm too busy realize that life is indeed beautiful, tone-deafness be damned.

 

[Tonberry]

I'm too busy realize that life is indeed beautiful, tone-deafness be damned.

This is the key takeaway, I think.

I think it's also why so much of popular music is considered "slop" or whatever for many people who are music enthusiasts, but it ultimately doesn't matter because the majority who love it experience real emotional responses to it, without often putting any more thought into what they're hearing. They just know that it makes them feel really really good, and maybe that's all one could ask for really.

 

[qw90700]

The sound you hear comes from inside of your mouth that actually sounds different from outside your mouth. Naturally it makes people adjust their voice mostly according to what they hear inside and a little according to what they hear from outside that's mixed with the sound they hear inside their mouth but naturally along the way that sound gets outside the sound is ruined.

Another aspect of it is what kind of brain they have that can make sounds processed in more detail. Simply put a brain that's better on it can distinguish between notes of sounds better or they all will seem so similar. This is how some people can listen to a music once and can play it on any instrument while some people cannot even hear the difference between too high and low pitch sounds because to them they are all equally a noise. Some people train for decades while others doesn't have to train for it at all. It all depends on genes, Jack. Rules of nature!!! lol

Additionally some people "believe" different tones are just differences in pitch which makes them bad singers when musical notes are beyond pitches.

 

[Segadude113]

View attachment 99681
Or do they just not care, and more go along with the "flow/feel" of the melody?

Assume for this context that everyone in question knows how to whistle (producing a tone, instead of just air).
I have "almost" absolute pitch, and I don't mean to bring that up in order to put myself above people who don't or whatever, more just to clarify that I don't know what it's like to not be able to reproduce a melody "correctly".
It's just something I've been thinking about, and I really don't mind people who whistle that way at all (I hate music theory snobs, and most of my family unfortunately belong in that area). It kind of interests me actually because it makes me think that "feeling" the music is usually more important and condusive than "knowing" the music, so to speak.

I overheard my neighbor whistling along to a song earlier today (I think it was Avicii), but he was only whistling the same note over and over, but it was clearly going along the actual melody, which is what made me think about it.

whistling is physically harder to pull off for some people. It's not that they're musically challenged or anything.

 

[Tonberry]

whistling is physically harder to pull off for some people. It's not that they're musically challenged or anything.

Yeah I know, that's why I wanted to be clear in the OP that, in the context of this question, we assume that everyone involved knows how to whistle, but not necessarily how to take a tone.

One of my brothers is a borderline musical genius, but he doesn't know how to whistle.

 

[qw90700]

whistling is physically harder to pull off for some people. It's not that they're musically challenged or anything.

When you put it that way; if a person cannot make "o" lips properly, has too long tongue and low lung capacity and even if they have weirdly angled and bigger-sized front teeth they can't whistle well or not at all so they would only produce same note "whistle-like" sound.

 

[Tonberry]

When you put it that way; if a person cannot make "o" lips properly, has too long tongue and low lung capacity and even if they have weirdly angled front teeth they can't whistle well or not at all so they would only produce same note "whistle-like" sound.

I usually whistle through my teeth, instead of the "o" thing.
Used to be able to do both but it's like my skill with the regular way has deteriorated over time.

 

[qw90700]

I usually whistle through my teeth, instead of the "o" thing.
Used to be able to do both but it's like my skill with the regular way has deteriorated over time.

I watched old cartoons too much therefore I whistle like this lol:

And therefore I can walk in the air as long as I don't look down!!! lolol

 

[fake-kun]

Wait, whistling is actually a thing? I thought it was something movies made up for entertainment purposes.

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

The sound you hear comes from inside of your mouth that actually sounds different from outside your mouth. Naturally it makes people adjust their voice mostly according to what they hear inside and a little according to what they hear from outside that's mixed with the sound they hear inside their mouth but naturally along the way that sound gets outside the sound is ruined.

During voice training this was the first and biggest problem when getting started. Most the time people don't realize how high their voice comes across so you might end up a key higher than intended.

As for natural tone deafness, dunno, plenty shouldn't be singing or but I haven't really heard a problem of the off key whistler as long as the melody is correct. Some don't know how to control whistling to that degree so only one tone tends to be heard in my experience.

 

[Gingers]

I usually whistle my own creations. Now I wonder if people in earshot think I'm doing a terrible rendition of some 80's pop song...

 

[qw90700]

During voice training this was the first and biggest problem when getting started. Most the time people don't realize how high their voice comes across so you might end up a key higher than intended.

Yep. The voice people hear inside tends to be lower-pitched than they sound outside so when people hear their voice to them it seem like they inhaled helium or something lol. From inside subtle change we make to our voices so "clear differences" that from outside are not noticed at all + from outside an aspect of your sound is clearly hearable that you can hardly notice and not at all from inside. Therefore gotta train voice by hearing your voice from outside loudly so it can choke down the sound you hear inside like in karaoke places or if you don't live in an apartment + if you have a decent sound system gotta practice it to gain muscle memory for it, and then you will sound suck inside but from outside you will sound like angel!!! Sometimes people have a tone of voice like they wanna murder you but from inside their voices are so soft and innocent!!! lol