Hi!
Do your room mates know you are taking vocal lessons, and that you enjoy singing? If so, they should appreciate that you need to practise, and that the more you do practise, the better you'll get and the happier you'll be!!
I obviously don't know what your voice sounds like, but I do think you should ditch the towel and sing out loud! I know that may sound easy for me to say, but honest I know the feeling. I've always loved singing, and have always been very shy. I would sing all the time to myself, but never ever dare to sing in front of anyone else. Eventually I gave in to my nerves and just sang to a couple of friends, and ever since I can't stop singing and it doesn't bother me who is listening (despite the fact I'm still extremely shy otherwise!!).
I think if you casually sing around the house - say along to the radio (or in the shower is a good place to sing - it's away from the watching eyes of your room mates yet they still may be able to listen, and plus the fact the echoey-ness of the bathroom is great for acoustics!!!) that'll break the ice, and you'll probably feel more comfortable in singing around them. I'm sure they won't think it as a big deal if you suddenly start singing - and they might be so impressed with your voice that they want you to sing all the time!
And if anyone does tell you that you sound horrible, please please don't let that stop you from singing. Everyone has different idea's of a good voice, and the more you sing the more you'll improve. And it's not really going to be much use singing into a towel, because singing (especially the fact of singing in tune!) relies on relative pitch, and to develop that you have to be able to hear yourself properly. That's why singers whose earplugs are not working properly on stage cannot sing properly - because they can't hear themselves and/or the music to guide their pitch.
Remember - your voice is special in it's own way, and no one can take that away from you. Keep telling yourself you can sing well, because the more you tell yourself that, the more confident you'll become, and so you can show more people who will admire your voice (or if not, they'll at least admire your courage to sing to them!)
Breakin the ice is scary. But once you do it, it's so much easier, I promise!
Hope that was of any help (and I was rambling too much
) Let me know how it goes!
Laura
XxX
