Hello! I’ve been playing guitar for about 2.5 years - I went through lots of Justin’s lessons back in 2020 (had nothing else to do that year), but I’ve slowed down a bit and have been hanging out in Beginner Grade 3 for awhile. I have been posting on YouTube and Instagram for awhile, but I am not a confident singer, so I do not post myself singing on those platforms. However I do really want to work on singing and playing together, so I felt like this community was a good place to get started with it. I feel that it’s hard for me to put the right level of feeling and dynamics into both my voice and the guitar at the same time, and I’m always afraid of singing louder, for some reason Let me know what you think!
Hi Gina great to meet you and wow what a great way to get yourself introduced into Audio or Video of You Playing section! Song selection was superb, we have a lot of different taste in music around here but I was always hoping to get more of Mr Sheeran’s music around, glad you uploaded it
On playing side - you certainly play well and seemed like there are no issues in that department, pretty much you have this song nailed down so bravo! No knits here from me to comment here on - chord changes were clean for majority of time and embellishments were great.
On singing side - to me it sounds like you are a bit shy that’s all, you have a correct pitch and clearly your vox was following the song’s melody. All you need to work on now is singing loud. Bunch of people here enrolled to Chris Liepe’s course how to sing, I suggest starting with his youtube channel to figure out if his style is something you like and what you think of his free content. Alternatively you can always post here and I am sure with more recordings published and by watching others you will gain some confidence with time
As to singing and playing - when verses hit off it could be heard a little that you were loosing your rhythm, that’s all due to not enough of auto pilot in your play. Don’t get me wrong it’s not an easy song to sing along to while playing, all I would suggest is to slow down the original and playing along while backing track plays a bit in a background during the practice. When you feel confident with your practice speed increase it. You can do it on any youtube video under settings icon
Not much left here to say other than well done and hopefully you stick around! All the best Gina
I thought that was great Gina. Your playing was nice and smooth and you certainly can sing so you shouldn’t lack any confidence. As Adrian mentioned you seemed a little shy with your singing, which is an easy fix. I was the exact same when I started singing and the best advice I got was to just trust your voice and let it open up. Fantastic first post and look forward to hearing more from you.
Thanks so much for all the feedback! You’re absolutely right about me being shy with singing…exactly why I came here! I will have to check out that course and definitely will start watching more videos on here. I’ll keep working at it and hopefully you’ll see me again with some progress…I am sure as I sing and play together more, it will get easier to stay in rhythm too. thanks again!
Hi Gina,
Nice to meet you like this,… And what a great performance, …
Ooo if you can get rid of your shyness it will only get better and better ,…you already get good tips ,…
We play for about the same amount of time , (March 1, almost 3 years ago I could push/fold literally with my other hand my fingers into the C-shape and hold the guitar for more than 3 minutes) … only you can really perform with singing
I hope to see you a long time around…
Greetings,Rogier
Gina…lovely job…from a fellow Ed Sheeran fan…tried one myself on valentine’s day a couple of years ago and sent the clip to my wife ( i know…cheapskate ), but she said it was nicer than flowers!
Anyway…great sound…
MM
Hi Gina,
That was nice and I really enjoyed it.
You have a lovely voice, so I wouldn’t hold back
I believe it will just be matter of doing this a lot. And this is a good first step.
Keep on posting here and you’ll see you’ll get comfortable doing this.
When there is no camera involved, do you feel the same way when singing and playing at the same time?
Hi Sebastian, thank you! I know for a fact the camera has something to do with it haha…I certainly love singing in the car or in the shower, with no reservations! It’s also the coordination between the singing and playing. I have sung along to this song many times without playing guitar so I know my voice can do much better! But as soon as I add the guitar, I inadvertently focus more on that and the singing just becomes…meh. Add the camera, and even more “meh” and shyness. I will keep working at it!
Hi Gina, congrats for your first posting. That was solid playing, I enjoyed listening. Don’t be shy while singing. You have a pleasant voice, you definitely can sing, that’s expandable, for sure. Trust yourself and allow yourself a bit more dynamical input ( don’t know how to say that in English ). You’re on the right way. Looking forward to further recordings
Hi Gina,
Then it will indeed just be a case of recording you as much as you can.
I started recording myself not so long ago (no vocals though), and in the beginning it was really awkward.
Now it’s less awkward , so for sure at one point it will not be anymore.
As to your voice I thought it was lovely, it just needs setting free. I think the lack of confidence in you singing is holding you back. Build that confidence and away you go. I though it had a Joni Mitchell feel to it.
Well played Gina, I really enjoyed the dynamics in this cover… the slight strum variation during the fade outs of each chorus and those little hammer-ons in the verses. It all added up to a great performance.
In regards to singing - disclaimer: I can’t carry a tune to save my life… but that doesn’t mean I can’t hear or spot nice vocals, which you definitely have.
So like others above have mentioned, just let it out a little more and hopefully that confidence should build. because I don’t think you should be hiding away that voice much longer. Keep it up
That was great Gina, superbly enjoyable performance, congratulations! Hell of a way to introduce yourself to the community, can’t wait for more from you
Hi Gina, very pleasant introduction to the community! Your playing is pretty good and your singing is OK but I can feel your shyness by your dynamics and level. Don’t keep on telling yourself that it’s not good enough, that’s up to the critics! I think that a bit of help with your breathing and dynamics would definitely be helpful together with you thinking more about the dynamics in the song, you will find out if you listen to the original song and be very analytical with it and maybe take notes about what you observe.
You are doing very well so far and have nothing that one could be too critical about, very well done!
Hi Gina, thanks for sharing this video and congratulations for the first post (I know it requires a lot of courage).
I really enjoyed listening to it! For me it is not so much about the perfect play or singing like a pro, it’s about the feeling when the musician got to the heart of the song and put something personal into it when performing. This was definitely my feeling when I listend to you.
Great debut AVoYP Gina. Singing in front of people is not easy but you have a good voice behind that shyness. You’re doing the right thing. The more you do it the easier it becomes. Some solid guitar play on that song too. Well done.
My Community friends have said it all, I can just largely reiterate what they have said.
You have a high-level of musicianship … I watched some of your multi-track video productions on your channel. Being able to play the violin means you must have a great ear for pitch and all the finger control needed. My impression is that guitar is ‘relatively easy’ to learn by comparison to violin.
I’d love to hear you re-record that song and just open up your mouth and sing just as if you were in the car or shower, without worrying about if the guitar playing stays spot on or if the timing goes out a bit. Just let rip. And once you are in that mindset, over time with practice the finer points will take care of them self.
Oh and next time, I’d love you to sit a little further back from the camera, as you do on other videos.
Let me know what you think! 
…
). You’re on the right way. Looking forward to further recordings 
, so for sure at one point it will not be anymore.