Hi 'Catters - help needed!

A friend of mine loves singing, has a great voice, and sings in tune, but seems to struggle with starting the verses on the right beat. Particularly as a lot of the song lines start 'on the last beat of the bar'.

She did have classical piano lessons as a child many years ago, but as she puts it, because of the teacher she had, played somewhat mechanically. That was because 'that was what the dots on the paper said', rather than having a real feel for the music, the timing, or the underlying chord structure (and probably not much real interest in the style of music she was being taught to play!)

We have tried getting her to count 1 2 & 3 & 4 & etc, and printing off the score with the melody, lyrics and the exact notes that I am playing on the guitar, but with limited success.

Now, unfortunately, frustration is setting in for her, as phrases like 'Maybe I should quit - I'm just not musical' are starting to be uttered. Needless to say, I disagree with such expressions of not being musical, and I definitley don't want her to quit!

Any tips or hints would be very welcome on how we can help her 'get the feel of the music' a bit better so that the last basic piece in the jigsaw of singing, the timing, becomes somewhat more natural for her.

Thanks

Old Folkie