Wow, thank you so much bluage for, firstly, taking the time to listen and, of course, for being so wonderfully kind as to write such a detailed and supportive comment. You're absolutely spot on - one can't really go wrong with "Amazing Grace". On listening back to it, there are things that even I notice are not quite there (for example, some of the long notes at the end of phrases that I hold, sometimes even over dissonant harmonies, or the crescendi I make on some notes which shouldn't really be there) - but this at least is totally true: I sang from the heart, it's a hymn I absolutely love, so thank you so much for seeing that.

Many of my friends who've heard me try to sing say this about my attempts: "you deliver the song, no matter what". It's that "no matter what" that's been bothering me a little, haha ... I would dearly love to take my singing up a notch somehow, to eliminate as many technical difficulties as possible - if only so as to communicate the music better. But yes - if it IS a matter of choice (which it really shouldn't be!), I'd rather sing musically well than technically spotless, of course. It just feels like this: I already seem to have the musicality, why not work on my weak parts and fix any fixable technicalities?

You are again right, though - so many people out there forget about the music in their search for perfect technique - they sound incredibly polished and incredibly, incredibly bland at best. So, all in all, I'll settle for what I have, for the moment at least ... and will try to shorten those long notes and curb some of those unwarranted crescendi next time! haha. Maybe I'll do more takes (I did this one in one take, and it shows, haha), take my time on it, etc.? or maybe it's just a matter of being more confident in my own abilities when I sing? Who knows. But, in short - to be praised for my musicality in such a wonderful way as you have done is something so truly rewarding for me ... THANK YOU SO MUCH for such marvellous words!

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