Marion I love singing but have often had difficulty finding my starting note out of a chord (learning to play guitar a bit myself has REALLY helped me in this regard as has more practice). A little longer and clearer signal helps. Try playing a three chord introduction to get the tonality and, perhaps, help establish timing and then clearly pick the first note. If he's still not managing to hit the right note try and suggest a short practice so he can get the hang of picking it up from the guitar.