Voice singing talent is not required when you’re singing for fun, but it makes it easier on the listeners. All the talent that you really need for giving pleasure to listeners is being able to sing in tune over a useful range.

How do you find out if you are can sing in tune? Your friends won’t tell you - if they are like most people they’ll just think it is fun to tease you about your voice. If there is a barbershop chorus near where you live, go along for an audition. Most choruses would reject someone who is tone deaf, and so you can find out for free.

They will also be able to tell you if you have a useful vocal range. If they don’t test your range, ask them to sing up and down the scale with you and tell you which range you would be best in. If you can only handle a range of three or four notes they might be too polite to tell you, but you will know that you have to be able to handle at least eight notes on a scale to be useful.

Even if you can’t read barbershop quartet sheet music most choruses will lend you learning tapes or CDs to learn your audition pieces.

Private singing lessons are quite expensive and the first lesson will be covering the same ground as the free barbershop test, though the teacher should be completely blunt about it if you can’t sing.

I believe the best way to start with other children singing. If you want a solo singing career you are too late to start lessons at 40. You see, a soloist has to try to be the best in the world. When a world famous singer starts to lose his or her ability to sing they retire as gracefully as possible. It is even more cruel for children singing when a boy soprano of world-renown has his voice break.

But singing groups of as few members as two are an entirely different matter. They don’t have to compete (though some do) but they can enjoy cooperating with other group members. The pleasure is intense.

The Everley brothers demonstrated how great a duet can sound, but they weren’t particularly good singers. They showed that when you have a vocal group the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I always feel as if I’m leaning into my neighbour when I’m singing duets.

Singing and acting, known as opera singing is a form of professional singing where you don’t have to sing in tune. Acting always distracts you from your singing, and often it is more important to sing loudly than to sing in tune. If you have a good ear you will probably have noticed famous opera singers out of tune.

I enjoy any choir singing, especially male voice choir, and the a cappella (without sheet music) singing of the King singers is always worth listening to, but for sheer performing pleasure I would choose a barbershop chorus.

It is easy music, and you get training at the rehearsals, though it is best if you make the extra effort to learn to play a keyboard instrument one note at a time. Why only one note? Because you can only sing one note, so if you can play one note you can sing along and learn the right notes.

Sing along songs are the way barbershop music started out (supposedly in a barbershop queue). Karaoke singing is an example, but it can damage your hearing permanently and encourages you to shout and doesn’t teach you to listen to the harmonies.

Singing is healthy too. The breath control can also control asthma. Humming too quietly for anyone to hear can clear up hoarseness after influenza. Memorizing words and music slows down memory problems as you get older. The team effort also has psycho/physiological benefits, and performing before audiences gives show-offs like me a reason for living.

How can you make a career out of your voice singing talent? Unfortunately this is a competition where you aren’t told the rules. For opera singing you need a teacher to develop the power of your lungs.

To sing like the three tenors you have to have ability and training, and the vocal range, and you must not do anything to damage your voice. But to be a pop singer you only have to make a recording that everyone wants to buy - you don’t even need to be able to sing, and there are no rules for the fickle public..