Learning music as an adult

Picking out "Skip to My Lou" gets ever smoother as I struggle to learn "Polly Wolly Doodle," returning to the easier song every time the going gets too rough. Even harder is practicing the strumming part - in large part because I'm still nervous about singing if there's any chance that another person might hear me (and where, exactly, can I go in my small apartment where noone can? I can hear the folks next door change their minds.) But to practice strumming the chords to the music, I need a melody line - traditionally provided by singing along. I've seriously considered buying a children's sing-along tape, just to have the melody line for the songs I'll be learning. Or maybe finding a way to get my computer to play the melody line so I don't have to sing where someone could possibly hear me. I've already tried to record me playing the melody, but recording music onto the computer is harder than you might think.

*sigh* Somehow, I've managed to convince my inner critic that banjo playing is okay. I'm allowed to produce music and it's not that bad and getting better every day. But the minute I open my mouth to sing, the internal chorus provides way too much dissonance. Maybe if I get that children's tape, I can sing and play along and that will be enough to silence the criticism from inside.