well, if you mention to your instructor not to sing opera, they probably won't teach you the technique.

but Do-it-yourself approach is good too. practice makes perfect, it is true with everything, from sex to carpenter. good luck.

Dear Diana7369,
I want to recommend you a few female artists more
which you probably recognize,
and may put in front of you.
They are Natalie Merchant from 10,000 Maniacs,
Suzanne Vega and K.d.Lange.
i love love Natalie Merchant's way of singing,
and highly insist on the tigerly (solo album),
and the unplugged album of 10,000 maniacs.
she sings Bowie's Space Oddity extraordinarily strong...

Kindest regards.

Dear boRa,
Natalie Merchant is on the list; she sang "Because the Night" by Bruce Springsteen. Don't tell anybody that I listen to Celine Dion; sometimes she pushes too hard.

Warmly (Gotcha!),
Diana

hmm try Nina Simone, great jazz vocalist who just passed away

Alison Moyet, I like her voice a lot too.

I like to mention them cause no one here did.

Mr. Evilmatik,
(smile)
You're a self-taught carpenter?
If I had a dirty mind, which I do not, I would not recommend the do-it-yourself approach for sxe if it means doing_it_by_yourself. You need a partner, according to Shere Hite.

Sorry, I'm a recovering flirt-a-holic. I think the guy is going to become a priest, so I have to back off from men for awhile.

Warmly,
Diana

personally i think pj harvey needs a mention in this thread...

and i'm all about being self taught... been playing guitar for 10 years and i had 2 "lessons"... i can relate the theory i learned in those lessons in about 10 minutes...

Dear panbient,

pj harvey's on my list. Last year I bought a guitar & video from a TV shopping network because Esteban (!) was promoting it. I'm left-handed but tried to learn right-handed. I've been staring at it ever since--this time I'm going to do it right-handed (again) or re-string it for my left hand.

All of this is a hobby--I just want to learn music and sound decent.

Kindest regards,
Diana

just restring the guitar... it doesn't harm the instrument in any way... the only issue you might have is the fact that the pickguard wouldn't serve much purpose and you might scratch up the body a bit... depends on wether or not you want play like ani difranco or not... if it's an electric you might have some discomfort from the knobs... and a slightly bassier sound if it's single coil pickups due to their slant...

Dear Evilmatik,
Nina Simone is on the list. If I offended you, I didn't mean to. I read Shere Hite's quote in your first reply and almost fell off the chair. Then I read the "carpenter" comment & fell off the chair. I said I was a recovering flirt-a-holic; I never said I was cured. By the way, I joined Ridiculous Remarks Anonymous as well--some people don't like winking, innuendos, etc.

Warmly...

Maybe singing opera isn't so bad, I sang opera for two years, even though I don't really like it, but my voice has improved because of it. When you sing opera, you really know how good/bad your voice is. And you can improve your breathing techniques. Maybe you should try it, it's worthed. I don't sing any classical things anymore, I Only sing jazz, funk and soul now.