# Tell me if I suck! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789 "2002-11-26T00:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/1 "2002-11-26T00:26:04Z")
Alright guys. Pull no punches, spare no feelings. Give it to me straight, I can take it. I’m a singer/songwriter/guitarist, doing girly pop-folk stuff of my own making and hoping someone notices me. I think I’m good, my friends say I’m good, my dad says I’m good, but he’s my dad, so what else is he gonna say? But noone seems to be willing to sit down and give me a good critique of my music, what’s good about it, what sucks about it, what I could do to make it better. And I need that. I need it like a crackwhore needs another hit. So… this is where you come in. Pleeeease? Go to [my website](http://www.mp3.com/antaresjb/), listen to a song or two… and give me your honest opinion. While I would certainly love a few "OMG you’re awesome!"s, and I can take a few "You suck!"s, what I’m really hoping for is something a little deeper. What can I do better? Help? I’ll love you all forever. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/2 "2002-11-26T00:44:19Z")
Hey, wow, your singing is really good – even on the lo-fi dial-up version (heh)! ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/3 "2002-11-26T00:53:51Z")
I’ll be honest: I only listened to “All Over Again,” and my thoughts were that (a) you have a beautiful voice, (b) you definitely need to practice your guitar work much more, it sounds quite amateurish, © the lyrics sound contrived, but definitely worth building upon, and (d) you probably know this, but if you really want to go somewhere with your music: never let the plaudits of family & friends lead you to grow complacent, and contrariwise don’t let the flying tomatoes of your critics stop you from working your ass off to improve. So I guess I’m saying, “You’re not that good (relatively speaking), but do let us know when you think you’ve got some new pieces up to review.” Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/4 "2002-11-26T03:04:33Z")
I don’t think you suck, but I think you have room to grow. Your voice is really pretty, but I’d love to hear it with more of an “edge” to it, both in the sound of it and the lyrics you’re singing. As for the guitar work, I didn’t listen to every song, but on the ones I did hear you were basically just strumming chords and singing melodies. Your audience wants more than that. But I’m very impressed that you did this at all, especially at your young age. Very few people even have the discipline to not only write songs, but actually lay down the tracks. I sure as hell never did. You obviously are willing to work hard on your craft, and I can see you really kicking ass in a few years, once you’ve lived and learned a little more. Oh, and the fact that you’re willing to take constructive criticism says a lot about your bravery. I remain impressed. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/5 "2002-11-26T03:10:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AntaresJB \* > \*\*So… this is where you come in. Pleeeease? Go to [my website](http://www.mp3.com/antaresjb/), listen to a song or two… and give me your honest opinion. > While I would certainly love a few "OMG you’re awesome!"s, and I can take a few "You suck!"s, what I’m really hoping for is something a little deeper. What can I do better? Help? I’ll love you all forever. \*\* There is a website called [somesongs](http://www.somesongs.com) where you post a song and people will give you feedback on it, and even vote whether they think it is “good”, “bad”, or “okay”. People there will get all detailed on your song, if you want them too. You may enjoy visiting there. ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/6 "2002-11-26T03:33:24Z")
Thanks for posting so far, guys, I appreciate it. The deal with the guitar work being pathetic – I only learned to play guitar last September, I took a classical guitar class here at school and basically taught myself some extra chords and stuff. It’s basically boring strumming because at this point that’s about all I can do. You may not have noticed, but it’s also all very simple chords (I love my capo!) because I have short fat fingers and barre chords are my enemy. So yes, the guitar sucks, and I freely admit it, which is why I’m currently in search of a band, so I can fob guitar duties off on someone else and concentrate on writing and singing. Keep the reviews coming guys. I must admit a couple of the songs up there are not my best work, but my recording habits are haphazard at best; (I have a crappy microphone, and guitar, and a hijacked version of Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 – I do what I can with what I’ve got.) Recommended if you’re only going to listen to one or two: “Overrated” and either “All Over Again” or “Beautiful”. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/7 "2002-11-26T03:36:12Z")
Your voice is good but uneven - best thing you have going for you - Might want to look into voice training lessons to learn to avoid being overly nasal. Guitar playing needs a lot more development Lyrics need most help. Sincere but mostly standard high school girlish glurge - need to sharpen up imaging and flow ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/8 "2002-11-26T04:28:35Z")
**astro** - I am currently in the midst of my third year of classical voice training at a PA university. Believe me… I used to sing completely through my nose. I have improved a lot and am constantly getting better. But I still tend to lapse into nasality when I don’t focus on it. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/9 "2002-11-26T04:53:45Z")
Oh, one more thing … you need a DJ! Absolutely EVERYTHING has a DJ on it these days! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-if-i-suck/138789/10 "2002-11-26T22:01:10Z")
Knowing you mainly for your “I may never go back to penis again” line, when I saw your thread title, I automatically assumed “probably not.” 🙂