Thanks, Jim, you are not dominating it at all, just trying to be helpful. I'm in Cornwall, though I do hope to get to the Goilin one day. Even more after reading your post. Went to one of Frankie's workshops long ago and it was good. What I like about this thread is the way different people contribute ideas about what worked for them. Most of the contributors have been men, and I'd like to hear from some other women as well. Not a gender specific point but I find going through the lyrics without the tune, as if they were speech makes them easier to learn and helps work out phrasing, emphasis and pauses to draw breath.
I'm with you on criticism too. I like it if people tell me when I am singing well, unless they say it every single time, when I conclude they either were not listening, or would not know good singing from bad. Niall told me his did not like the way the top of my vocal range sounded. He taught me better ways to pitch my singing, so that I didn't squawk, got me to reduce the volume on high notes, and introduced me to my lower register. His criticism made his praise worth hearing. I have not quite got the nerve to criticise anyone else yet. Not even the woman with the fantastic soprano voice who might as well sing the phone book for all the words I can hear her sing.