How can I help my extremely tone-deaf husband learn to sing? He loves
to sing and its like nails on a chalkboard to me. I have heard of the
Tomatis method but cannot afford it. I also need a tactful way to
approach him about this. We live in Denver, CO.

Just a thought. Whilst watching a horror movie with a girlfriend I
said ?If it wasn?t for *that* music it wouldn?t be scary at all.? She
didn?t understand, such was the profoundness of her tone deafness. She
dumped me before I could explore further but subsequently it occurred
to me that she might have been able to gain some slight improvement by
singing into to a guitar tuner, the ones with lights which glow at
specific frequencies.

As for how to tactfully broach the subject, you?re on your own there :-)

Best

LOL Guzzi...

My SO is very much into kareoke...
Me?? I can't song a note... :(

We have had many discussions about this...

Alas.... I remain *toneless*...

Steph53

Can your husband recognize off-key singing when he hears it? If not
(if, for instance, William Hung sounds good to him), I doubt that
you'll be able to teach him to sing. Trying to do so may be like
trying to teach a hippopotamus to dance: you are not likely to succeed
in doing anything but vexing the hippopotamus.

Hello there

My father has a similar, worse than tone-deaf, talent.  As a child I
used to cover his mouth with my palm and he would perform regardless. 
He also thought that he was funny.  That did not work.

One day I sang with him.  He enjoyed it and sang even more.  That did not work.

So I started to sing at his tone- deaf level, copying his tones.  He
told me I suck at singing and decided to correct me.

Solution: I decided to ignore it.

I know it is tough.  Hopefully your love for your husband will turn
you blind to the tone.

Regards,
Eve

I was halfway tone deaf before I started playing the violin. Years
later I can definitely sing a lot better, with more awareness, but I
can hear better than I can sing. I think taking up piano (my secondary
instrument) is more helpful with pitch more quickly because most
people play the violin out of tune at first.

Yes...I agree with the others.  Overcoming tone deafness is not easy
to do.  I honestly believe that you have to ear train at an early age
to be able to match pitch....same as why it is harder for adults to
pick up a forien language...and it is easier for kids.

I agree with the piano thing.  I have taken piano lessons for years. 
I did not start singing until a couple of years ago...but had no
problem matching pitch (I am not perfect, but I am very close....and I
can hear when I am off and when others are off as well).  I believe
that playing the piano really helped this because I would do a lot of
playing by ear rather than using the notes.

Some people are just not born to sing....as some are not born to play
hockey or tennis, or paint.

For him, you just have to support him no matter how bad he is.  He
does it for the love of singing...not because he wants to be a pro
singer.