Terri I Agree with Andrés, I had singing lessons, and I found them hugely useful.

It gave me confidence, trained my voice, I know how to breathe (v.important) and can get the proper pitch. The lessons were fun, made me laugh at the excercises which do sound daft but really work.

And having an eccentric tutor was fun too, lots of strange ways of getting you to sing properly.

Ka koo ka koo ka kooo kaaaaaaah

I think that pretty much anyone can sing - everyone's style is different. And as I said before I actually don't like listening to myself when I have been recorded. As it sounds alien to me (is that really me?)

When I was in classical mode, my biggest debut and my biggest event I did was when I was 15 and I was the solo soprano singing with a Male voice choir. Which was for a 15 year old totally nerve wracking during the concert - but not only that because it went so well, my school asked me and the choir to perform the song during Assembly. Which was worse, in front of 600 of my classmates.

Singing with so many mens voices was an experiance.

But now I sing folk songs, which is fun and more loose and there are many diverse voices in that to be found, not all of them may be pitch perfect, or smooth and 'nice' but then that is all a part of the charm of that singing. (I think)

So Terri, try to encourage your daughter to sing, and one persons awful comments can be proved to be unfounded.

As my head master at my old school when I was 15 said to me after I had finished singing with the choir comments went.... I didn't know you could sing Ella!

Well there was alot he did not know about me - and it is a shame alot of people generalise and are far too quick to comment without thinking how their critising can affect a young person, and totally upset them for a long time.

Encourage your daughter with the singing, one persons comments are not law..

All the best

Ella