Discussion question/Does singing help you play?

Does singing with the dulcimer help your playing style?

Here's my answer. I couldn't play without singing as I can't hold a tune in my head. I remember the rhythm of music using the words for guidance. Although I've been taught to read standard music notation, I can't seem to get the note or beat correctly unless I've heard the music sung.

I remember this black hole sort of memory problem driving my violin and piano teachers crazy. The small bit of violin music I remember is because I sang the finger positions, 2-1-0-1-2-2-2. For the piano a tiny bit of the "Haydn" because "Papa Haydn's dead and gone, but his music lingers on. When his mood was one of bliss, he wrote happy tunes like this." I don't remember what it's from, but I can still play it because I can still sing it.

And how does singing effect my playing style. Well, I never use a rhythm strum as extra strums confuse me when singing. A whole note is held, but never bum dittied.

So how about you?