Singing Dilemma

[kargo]

I have the confidence of a sunflower seed.I have also been told numerous times by lots of people that I am a good singer. My choir teacher met with me and worked with me a bit yesterday. It didn't go perfectly, considering I'd never sung with accompaniment, alone, all my life. This is what she said. " You did very well! Yes, I think you could do a solo. If I had the time right now, I'd love to work with your voice a little!" My friend M, who is talented in just about everything )singing, acting, dancing, art, writing, very smart.....says that I have a good voice, too. My friend's parents want me to sing at their new restaurant to attract customers. Problem with this is, my grandmother and great-grandmother )who are not known for complimenting people) said, "You should leave singing to your cousins and aunt who are good at it." and "You should get voice lessons." Not to mention I'm not at all confident in my singing. (My choir teacher says that this is one of the key elements in my singing- the more confident I am, the better I sound.) A few examples:
Me (responding to her comment about how she would work more with my voice right now if she could. )
But don't you have plenty of people that are actually good to work with?
Choir teacher
Are you criticizing yourself? You need to stop that! )
Myself to M: I have the self confidence of a dead toad.
Myself to M once more: I sing like a quiet mousy that just got hit by a train and then fell into a river and then floated down a waterfall and the crashed against the rocks. Yep. That's what I sound like when I sing.
I also told her I "butchered" Grace when I practiced it, with accompaniment, with my choir teacher yesterday.
Little comparison:
Me singing along to M's version of Grace by Wes King on my Ipod:

…
M singing Grace by Wes King for the whole school:

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Here's the deal. I don't particularly plan on being a professional singer. However, I LOVE to sing. It's fun (as long as I don't play it back to myself!) My choir teacher wants to help me learn to have more confidence onstage and try out some new things. (Most of this has to do with the fact that I'm trying out for our school play this year. Details on that here. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;… I may *may* end up with a solo this year or in the future, but I don't plan on being the next Taylor Swift or somebody really famous.

My main problem, I feel sure, is my confidence. After that is breath control, and maybe some pitch issues, and if I fixed all that, I think it would make a world of difference in my singing. Is there any particular thing I can work on that will help me learn to have more confidence? It's so odd, though, because M was nervous as all get-outs singing Grace, you'll notice for sure if you watch that video. But, check this one out!

It may have to do with the fact that she's more comfortable with acting than singing, I'm not sure. But I feel a little better, knowing that she, the girl who's been singing for 6 years already, can get nervous, too. I can tell you that M is normally a confident singer. I don't know what was going on during Grace, and she doesn't know, either, but boy was she stiff as a rock! (Plus she fixed her clothes beforehand and cleared her throat, and several other things.)

I have videos from the singing session with my teacher yesterday, but they seem to be having some trouble uploading. If I can ever get them to work, I'll post them here. In the meantime, the version of Grace I have up is just me with my Ipod,

 

[Noncentzter]

If the instructor said you should have voice lessons, then follow her advice. She's heard your voice and she knows what she's doing. The voice lessons will help with your singing and your confidence.

just my two centz...

 

[kargo]

Quote:
She didn't say I should have voice lessons. She said she'd like to worth with me more, though.