I’ve never been any good at singing and I’ve ended up with a bit of a complex about it. The idea of singing in front of other people is right up there in “worst nightmare” territory for me. Even the idea of recording myself singing was really scary. Had the shaky hands and everything.
But since everybody here was super cool about my first post in the Beginner Safe Space, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try to get over some of that fear and just give it a shot. So here it is, my first try recording myself singing (ever) while playing guitar along to Landslide.
There are a couple of flubs in my strumming, which I put down to nerves, I can usually play this song through pretty cleanly when I don’t have a live camera pointed at me! And honestly, listening back to my singing, it’s … obviously not great but also nowhere near as bad as I expected. Also a whole lot quieter than I thought. Can barely hear myself at the start, gets a bit warmer towards the end though.
Anyhow if you’re reading, thanks for checking it out and please be gentle.
Nicely done, Brendan, your play remained steady and clean with the addition of the singing. You got stronger towards the end of the song. Your voice had a pleasing timbre. Keep doing what you are doing, ever onward.
Well done Brendan, you played consistently well throughout the song. Bit quite on a vocal but Red Light Syndrome can do that to a person all the best you are doing great!
That was great Brendan. Steady strumming and clean chords. Yes your vocal was quiet but that’s just a confidence thing. I thought your voice sounded good and it’ll grow as you gain that confidence.
To be honest I think your vocal would sound better on its own without Stevie Nicks in the background. I found that a bit distracting.
Well done.
Your strumming and chord changes are clean and on beat. Very good
Well done for singing- it’s not something I’m great at but it’s something I started at 2 years ago and have got a fair bit better at. It’s like any other skills
Sounds like your voice has a good tone just the confidence to sing louder should come in time !
Good stuff Brendan, picking up singing and playing at the same time is not an easy thing to get to grips with but you handled that really well. Maybe a bit more volume but that’s pretty common early doors, no doubt your confidence will grow from here as it did towards the end of the song!
I really like your focus on the rhythm with the foot tapping and timing, it’s an invaluable habit to have.
We all get a little shy with our vocals in front of people. I think this was a great first step. You had a steady and even rhythm throughout the song. I would agree with you that it is hard to hear you. I have the same problem so I’m thinking of getting a microphone to plug in. Overall your voice sounded good though so don’t beat yourself up. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and you did very well. Great performance. Anyone can develop into a great singer-it just takes practice. Singing and playing is a lot harder than just playing and I really applaud your effort.
Great job Brendan. Great steady rhythm & clean chord changes. Yes, the vocals were a little hard to hear, but as others have noted, it is common. I have found that there are some songs that I feel comfortable with (probably because I have sung along with the original a lot) and I can sing them confidently. Others I am much more tentative. The more you do it, the better you will get. Mostly, have fun with it.
Another big leap for you Brendan, and a mighty fine one it is. You’re with people who all share the same vulnerability, we understand and we applaud you for staring your fears down. There’s a lot to like here, I want to hear more please.
A teacher I’m working with in another area of music said to me “Embrace your fearless mindset” it works for me every time my fears threaten to crush me.
That was really good Brendan. Steady strumming and clean changes. Your vocals, if a little low, sounded good. Build that confidence with your voice and you will only improve with it. Like @lewis2025 has said, just another skill to hone.
Thanks mate. I find that comfortable with some songs and not others. For example I can play “Hurt”, but if I try to sing and play, my timing totally collapses on both fronts. I’m sure that the number of times I’ve listened to the song has something to do with that. At this point I must have heard Landslide many hundreds of times in my life but Hurt, probably less than 20 times.
Solid playthrough mate. Just having the guts to put yourself out there playing with vocals is a big win in itself.
I can relate to this, so I haven’t yet done anything with vocals myself. But this might be motivation enough for me to post something up with it one day as a starting point. Thanks for sharing.
all the best you are doing great!
