So, have you made your resolutions? Everyone I know is making them. "I'm going on a diet", one friend has proclaimed...for the 3rd year in a row.
"I'm going to save some money", another friend has stated, one who has been known to shop 'til she drops.
The thing with resolutions is that they have no meat! By that I mean, not a lot of power.
They are wishes, and only stated as resolutions. Noone really intends to carry through with them and usually by the middle of January, sometimes sooner, they fall into those places of the mind where we store unfinished business. It's a place we don't like to visit too often, and so as time passes we conveniently forget.
And that's fine because to remember just makes us feel bad.
The words "I am going to..." carry no power whatsoever! Talking in the future tense cannot move the universe's energy to assist us because Divine Intervention only knows the "NOW".
If you have read "The Art of Singing" you already know this. In the guided meditation I give you, you see that what we are creating is a visualization of what we want this very moment, not tomorrow or next week.
So, when you make your "resolutions" to practice more and pursue your dreams of singing and making it in the music biz, try writing them down in the present tense.
"I am a singer! I know it's my destiny to be successful. I practice every day, and the Divine Spirit that runs the universe is right this minute working to give me my heart's desire! I am confident that as I continue to work on my dream, it cannot help but materialize for me."
Something like that, but using your own words and feelings, repeated daily for several minutes at a time, will produce remarkable results. See how much more powerful "I am" sounds rather than "I'm going to"?
This is known as the "Act as if" method. And trust me on this, singers. IT WORKS!
Happy practicing!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Cabaret - No! Not the Musical
I want to talk today about the art of Cabaret performance.
Let's make an important distinction right now.
Singing in church, or on the auditorium stage of your highschool or college is not the training ground for the kind of performing I am speaking of, for I DO believe that the only way to understand how to connect with the audience is to get closer to them...physically as well as emotionally.
And the way to do that is to play in a venue that forces you to look into their eyes and guage their response to you. It moves you to communicate with THEM rather than being overly involved with the sound of your own voice. This style of performing that I speak of is called "Cabaret".
Cabaret consists of not just singing, but of interacting with the audience through patter and story-telling.
When you do a "cabaret act", you choose material that will reveal the essence of who you are, one that has the potential of literally casting a spell on the audience and making them hang on your every word, spoken or sung.
When you let them KNOW you, they become your friends and they feel connected and special to be there listening to you.
I am always amazed when I have a student who tells me he/she wants to be the next "American Idol", and then when I ask them to perform for me, they become embarrassed and make some excuse like, "with no mike?" or, "It makes me nervous when you look at me."
Let me say right here and now, if you can't look at your audience, and I mean into their eyes, then you're not a performer, at least not yet. Singing Cabaret-style allows you to learn how to present your own unique talent and your particular spin on life as a performer, for an intimate audience.
And let me add here that a Cabaret Act does NOT have to include perfect vocal technique, for it is more than just singing...much more!
It differs from other onstage disciplines, in that the "wall" between artist and audience is erased. There are no bright lights in your face to shield you from seeing how you're going over.
When you sing in an intimate setting, you are inviting the audience into your world.Cabaret allows you to share who you are and what you feel. And this type of performing can start in your own living room, singing for friends and family members. The idea is to get intimate and tell the story of who you are through your voice and your musical selections, which become woven into your "story".
In cabaret, you can sing anything, as long as it is justified by a personal connection to the material. Cabaret acts can have a theme or not, can honor a single composer or be about someone's life, as long as it's an honest representation of you, the performer, and engages the audience on a personal level.
When I left NYC years ago and was doing a cabaret act on the road, I always included a set of songs about "home". Luckily for me, there are a ton of songs about NYC, so I had a wealth of material to choose from. I'd start out with somethin like, "We'll have Manhattan", and slowly build through 4 or five more songs to the big finale of "New York, New York". My audiences from Peoria to Butte, from Kennebunkport to Phoenix reallyloved that set.
I also had sets of Cole Porter Medleys, Frank Sinatra Songs, and always always always did an entire set of audience REQUESTS.
So what do you want to say at this point in your life? Choose songs that will tell your listeners all about that!
Because keeping your performance honest will convince your audience of your sincerity and make them adore you.
Let's make an important distinction right now.
Singing in church, or on the auditorium stage of your highschool or college is not the training ground for the kind of performing I am speaking of, for I DO believe that the only way to understand how to connect with the audience is to get closer to them...physically as well as emotionally.
And the way to do that is to play in a venue that forces you to look into their eyes and guage their response to you. It moves you to communicate with THEM rather than being overly involved with the sound of your own voice. This style of performing that I speak of is called "Cabaret".
Cabaret consists of not just singing, but of interacting with the audience through patter and story-telling.
When you do a "cabaret act", you choose material that will reveal the essence of who you are, one that has the potential of literally casting a spell on the audience and making them hang on your every word, spoken or sung.
When you let them KNOW you, they become your friends and they feel connected and special to be there listening to you.
I am always amazed when I have a student who tells me he/she wants to be the next "American Idol", and then when I ask them to perform for me, they become embarrassed and make some excuse like, "with no mike?" or, "It makes me nervous when you look at me."
Let me say right here and now, if you can't look at your audience, and I mean into their eyes, then you're not a performer, at least not yet. Singing Cabaret-style allows you to learn how to present your own unique talent and your particular spin on life as a performer, for an intimate audience.
And let me add here that a Cabaret Act does NOT have to include perfect vocal technique, for it is more than just singing...much more!
It differs from other onstage disciplines, in that the "wall" between artist and audience is erased. There are no bright lights in your face to shield you from seeing how you're going over.
When you sing in an intimate setting, you are inviting the audience into your world.Cabaret allows you to share who you are and what you feel. And this type of performing can start in your own living room, singing for friends and family members. The idea is to get intimate and tell the story of who you are through your voice and your musical selections, which become woven into your "story".
In cabaret, you can sing anything, as long as it is justified by a personal connection to the material. Cabaret acts can have a theme or not, can honor a single composer or be about someone's life, as long as it's an honest representation of you, the performer, and engages the audience on a personal level.
When I left NYC years ago and was doing a cabaret act on the road, I always included a set of songs about "home". Luckily for me, there are a ton of songs about NYC, so I had a wealth of material to choose from. I'd start out with somethin like, "We'll have Manhattan", and slowly build through 4 or five more songs to the big finale of "New York, New York". My audiences from Peoria to Butte, from Kennebunkport to Phoenix reallyloved that set.
I also had sets of Cole Porter Medleys, Frank Sinatra Songs, and always always always did an entire set of audience REQUESTS.
So what do you want to say at this point in your life? Choose songs that will tell your listeners all about that!
Because keeping your performance honest will convince your audience of your sincerity and make them adore you.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Holiday Gift-Giving! How 'Bout You?
Forgive me, singers, for missing the entire month of November with regard to the newsletter, but I have been preoccupied with some serious health concerns, and I am undergoing continuous procedures and treatments to correct the problems.
I must admit to some depression about the state of my physical self, although I can say that the cliché, “behind every cloud lies a silver lining”, is valid. In the midst of my anxiety and self-pity, I rediscovered the profound love of my two sisters, which I had forgotten was there, and they stepped up to support me through this entire ordeal. They are my angels.
Anyway, my students and I still plan to make the rounds of the senior communities and nursing homes with our holiday music program. I cannot emphasize enough the value of such an exercise, singers. When you share your gifts with others in such a heartfelt way like singing, you generate the quality of JOY. And JOY, it is said, is the key to attracting the desires of your heart into your experience. So I invite you to visit some nursing homes with your karaoke machines and share your talent this holiday season.
Some time ago, we conducted a survey of all our subscribers asking a variety of questions, some of which included age and preferred musical genre.
And my private practice here in Corpus Christi, while it does consist of several mature singers, is mostly comprised of young female singers, ages 11-16. However, the majority of my readers of this newsletter are between 45 and 70, and you enjoy singing Broadway, Country, and most of you prefer Jazz or Cabaret. (BTW, I have written an extensive article about the genre of Cabaret, which I will be placing on this blog for those of you who are interested.)
I bring this survey up again because mainly, when most singers reach age 40, any and all fantasies of singing professionally have already withered and we decide to give up.
I have spoken ad nauseam on the subject of giving up, but let me briefly point out...again...that if you want your life to work, you need to stay connected to the things of life that you love. And if you like to sing....THEN SING!!! The passion you allow yourself to experience causes beautiful things to happen for you, so there is never a valid reason to quit engaging in the activities of your heart and soul that you are passionate about.
And when you consider the singers who are still performing in their 70’s and 80’s, AND, that their audiences coming out to listen to them are still enthralled by the performances, you must admit that it’s never too late. Broadway, Jazz and Cabaret happen to be very forgiving genres, and one doesn’t need to be young and skinny to attract an audience. Think about these singers:
Tony Bennett
Barbara Cook
Elaine Strictch
Carol Channing
Each of these are currently pulling in huge audiences across the country.
Or these, who just about sang until they dropped:
Frank Sinatra
Rosemary Clooney
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitgerald
Each of these artists maintained a huge fan base right up to the end of their lives.
Okay, I can hear what you are saying, “Well sure, they can sing into their 80’s since they were legends at 30 and the public knows who they are. What about us 50 year-olds who never really made it, but we cannot get rid of the “itch” to keep trying.”
To this, I say simply…Perhaps you are approaching it from the wrong angle. The question is NOT how to get rid of the “itch”, but how to fulfill your dream of performing at the age you are now.
I just cannot think of a Loving Spirit that would continue to give you this “itch” if there were not a way to materialize it. I will never believe in a cruel or prankish God!
So what IS there to do about your desire? Again…your job is to share it…and trust me there are people who need for you to do just that.
Do you recall the now famous line from the movie, “Field of Dreams”? “Build it…and they will come”. This seems on face value to be some supernatural admonishment that most people, including some characters in the movie, believe is just some nonsense.
But let’s use something more conventional as an example.
Suppose you are lonely and you desire a mate, maybe just a dear friend.
What do all the commercial magazines tell you to do? Sit alone and wait for the phone to ring? No! They may tell you to go get a make-over, lose some weight, and you could do those things but still sit home and wait. The more new-age publications may suggest that you get out into the world with your new make-over and thin bod…and EMIT an energy of confidence. For it’s THAT, the energy you emit, that will attract the desired person to you.
Another example:
Why is it that people with means are the ones who always seem to win at the roulette table or slot machine, when the poor person using his rent money usually loses it?
The answer is the energy being emitted by these people. The person with money to lose is relaxed and even enjoying himself while gambling, while the poor person is generating a desperate and negative energy.
Instead of fretting and complaining over the fact that you never made it as a professional singer, be joyful that you have been given this talent, and then use it to uplift others….maybe not in Carnegie Hall or Radio City Music Hall, but somewhere.
And the more you share it, the more joy you bring to others, the more happiness you attract to yourself, along with inspired action to take to become a true professional whatever the age.
There is a singer among you who shall remain nameless, who at the age of 60 started to sing at some nursing homes in her city. She became so popular that she had to start hiring other singers to cover jobs that she had double booked. She made sure that the programs performed by these singers matched her own with the kind of music that she had learned was preferred by the audiences she serviced.
Before long she had 20 bookings a week, and it was then that she received inspiration to start a booking agency for the specific purpose of providing entertainment to senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living establishments. She maintains a thriving business to this day, one that has exceeded her expectations and gives her a handsome retirement income, which at 60, she thought had passed her by.
I tell you these things because, I think that what you truly want is the satisfaction and joy singing will bring you, and not so much the fame and fortune. After all, you’re not 15 anymore, right?
And the holidays, my friends, are the perfect time to begin. I am learning every day that it is never ever too late to begin something that can have a positive impact on the rest of your life, no matter how long or short a time that seems to you. Doing something different, thinking about something in a different way, even something as simple as changing the route you usually take to work can be the start of a new and brighter future for you.
Sounds silly? Well, I invite you to try it and prove me wrong.
But DO write and let me know how a small change in the way you do or think something made you feel, okay?
Happy Holidays, Singers!!
I must admit to some depression about the state of my physical self, although I can say that the cliché, “behind every cloud lies a silver lining”, is valid. In the midst of my anxiety and self-pity, I rediscovered the profound love of my two sisters, which I had forgotten was there, and they stepped up to support me through this entire ordeal. They are my angels.
Anyway, my students and I still plan to make the rounds of the senior communities and nursing homes with our holiday music program. I cannot emphasize enough the value of such an exercise, singers. When you share your gifts with others in such a heartfelt way like singing, you generate the quality of JOY. And JOY, it is said, is the key to attracting the desires of your heart into your experience. So I invite you to visit some nursing homes with your karaoke machines and share your talent this holiday season.
Some time ago, we conducted a survey of all our subscribers asking a variety of questions, some of which included age and preferred musical genre.
And my private practice here in Corpus Christi, while it does consist of several mature singers, is mostly comprised of young female singers, ages 11-16. However, the majority of my readers of this newsletter are between 45 and 70, and you enjoy singing Broadway, Country, and most of you prefer Jazz or Cabaret. (BTW, I have written an extensive article about the genre of Cabaret, which I will be placing on this blog for those of you who are interested.)
I bring this survey up again because mainly, when most singers reach age 40, any and all fantasies of singing professionally have already withered and we decide to give up.
I have spoken ad nauseam on the subject of giving up, but let me briefly point out...again...that if you want your life to work, you need to stay connected to the things of life that you love. And if you like to sing....THEN SING!!! The passion you allow yourself to experience causes beautiful things to happen for you, so there is never a valid reason to quit engaging in the activities of your heart and soul that you are passionate about.
And when you consider the singers who are still performing in their 70’s and 80’s, AND, that their audiences coming out to listen to them are still enthralled by the performances, you must admit that it’s never too late. Broadway, Jazz and Cabaret happen to be very forgiving genres, and one doesn’t need to be young and skinny to attract an audience. Think about these singers:
Tony Bennett
Barbara Cook
Elaine Strictch
Carol Channing
Each of these are currently pulling in huge audiences across the country.
Or these, who just about sang until they dropped:
Frank Sinatra
Rosemary Clooney
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitgerald
Each of these artists maintained a huge fan base right up to the end of their lives.
Okay, I can hear what you are saying, “Well sure, they can sing into their 80’s since they were legends at 30 and the public knows who they are. What about us 50 year-olds who never really made it, but we cannot get rid of the “itch” to keep trying.”
To this, I say simply…Perhaps you are approaching it from the wrong angle. The question is NOT how to get rid of the “itch”, but how to fulfill your dream of performing at the age you are now.
I just cannot think of a Loving Spirit that would continue to give you this “itch” if there were not a way to materialize it. I will never believe in a cruel or prankish God!
So what IS there to do about your desire? Again…your job is to share it…and trust me there are people who need for you to do just that.
Do you recall the now famous line from the movie, “Field of Dreams”? “Build it…and they will come”. This seems on face value to be some supernatural admonishment that most people, including some characters in the movie, believe is just some nonsense.
But let’s use something more conventional as an example.
Suppose you are lonely and you desire a mate, maybe just a dear friend.
What do all the commercial magazines tell you to do? Sit alone and wait for the phone to ring? No! They may tell you to go get a make-over, lose some weight, and you could do those things but still sit home and wait. The more new-age publications may suggest that you get out into the world with your new make-over and thin bod…and EMIT an energy of confidence. For it’s THAT, the energy you emit, that will attract the desired person to you.
Another example:
Why is it that people with means are the ones who always seem to win at the roulette table or slot machine, when the poor person using his rent money usually loses it?
The answer is the energy being emitted by these people. The person with money to lose is relaxed and even enjoying himself while gambling, while the poor person is generating a desperate and negative energy.
Instead of fretting and complaining over the fact that you never made it as a professional singer, be joyful that you have been given this talent, and then use it to uplift others….maybe not in Carnegie Hall or Radio City Music Hall, but somewhere.
And the more you share it, the more joy you bring to others, the more happiness you attract to yourself, along with inspired action to take to become a true professional whatever the age.
There is a singer among you who shall remain nameless, who at the age of 60 started to sing at some nursing homes in her city. She became so popular that she had to start hiring other singers to cover jobs that she had double booked. She made sure that the programs performed by these singers matched her own with the kind of music that she had learned was preferred by the audiences she serviced.
Before long she had 20 bookings a week, and it was then that she received inspiration to start a booking agency for the specific purpose of providing entertainment to senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living establishments. She maintains a thriving business to this day, one that has exceeded her expectations and gives her a handsome retirement income, which at 60, she thought had passed her by.
I tell you these things because, I think that what you truly want is the satisfaction and joy singing will bring you, and not so much the fame and fortune. After all, you’re not 15 anymore, right?
And the holidays, my friends, are the perfect time to begin. I am learning every day that it is never ever too late to begin something that can have a positive impact on the rest of your life, no matter how long or short a time that seems to you. Doing something different, thinking about something in a different way, even something as simple as changing the route you usually take to work can be the start of a new and brighter future for you.
Sounds silly? Well, I invite you to try it and prove me wrong.
But DO write and let me know how a small change in the way you do or think something made you feel, okay?
Happy Holidays, Singers!!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Rejection - Ouch! That Hurts!
As artists, we often times face rejection. However, not only as artists but in many areas of our lives. And I think it becomes much easier to deal with if we remember that we are not rejected because of who WE are but because of who the other person is.
If we understand this, and if we do not personalize it, life would be much calmer, more peaceful and certainly more productive.
My son goes on a lot of auditions in Hollywood, and quite often he is not chosen for the role he wanted. He says, "I don't take it personally. I just accept that on that particular day, I was not what they were looking for, and move on. It's not a judgment of ME!"
If I were to try out for the part of Laurie in "Oklahoma", for example, I would have expect to be turned down. After all, my voice, and character don't fit that role at all. So it would be ludicrous to feel bad about not getting that part. You see that, right?
Personal rejection has an even greater sting, tho', doesn't it? I had a recent experience with personal rejection and I can say for sure, it hurts. Prone as I am to revealing parts of my personal life to you readers, still, I'll just give you the abbreviated version here:
I met a man online...a lovely man with whom I shared much. We seemed to click really fast, and in a matter of a month, we were on the telephone with each other almost every night, singing song lines to each other and guessing the songs, talking about our growing feelings of comfort and friendship, and the easy way we were with each other.
I started smiling all the time, feeling good, and young, and able to move mountains. Yes! (Even at my advanced years, it's still possible to recapture the rapture of youthful romance, singers.)
Anyway, one night, as we were cooing on the telephone, I said, "I think we should meet."
All was silent for what seemed like an eternity, tho' I'm sure it was only a few seconds.
Finally, he said that there was a pressing matter he needed to attend and said a quick good night.
He never called again.
I emailed him...several times, and when he finally did answer, it was to explain that he had allowed himself to be swept away by his own romantic notions and had responded to my attentions in an uncharacteristic manner. He was not prepared to take our relationship further, but of course still cared for me deeply and wished to remain friends.
Well, that smarted a little...Hell! A LOT!! My very first instinct, and thankfully not the one that ultimately prevailed, was to write him a nasty letter tell him off for what was clearly a flight of fancy for him at my heart's expense.
But then I saw it! This was HIS problem, not mine. He could not allow himself to be happy! He could NOT see a way of bridging the physical distance between us and so made a decision to crawl back into his comfort zone, empty and lonely as it was. How sad is that?
If I felt any deep rejection from this guy it was for about 5 minutes! Then all I could muster was pity. He, on the other hand, continues to write and inquire if I am "okay". It's actually funny to me now...let me add this:
I do not regret one second of romantic feelings, conversations, and exchanges with this man. It made me feel great and there's certainly nothing wrong with that!
Yes, rejection is tough. It doesn't matter whether the rejection comes from a director, a business associate, a friend, husband, wife, lover, or even a total stranger, it still hurts. If we possess any sensitivity at all, it's natural for us to feel bad. The trick is not to mind too much, not to focus all our energy and time on saying, "How could they, (he, she) do this to me."
When we can stay in the present and realize that it's in the re-experiencing of the moment of rejection that builds in us and makes us nuts, then we can feel the feeling,
in that moment, and just let it go! Our ego just wants to re-live it over and over, but we don't need to let it!
Richard Bach, one of my top 5 favorite writers, had already written a number of books when he sent his new manuscript to a major publisher. It was promptly rejected with a note attached as to its quality. But he believed in his work and continued to send it out, realizing that his subject matter was NOT going to be preferred by a lot of publishers.
Seventeen or eighteen rejections later, his manuscript was finally accepted by Macmillan. It was Richard's positive way of looking at life that made him keep on. I am sure that the rejections bothered him a bit, but was quickly neutralized with the publication of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which resulted in Richard Bach gracing the cover of Time magazine. And today, each of his meaningful books have touched the hearts of millions of readers.
This, dear singers, you MUST remember!! There's no one else on earth with your talents and your abilities. No one else can do what you do. You are unique, a special person-- someone whose hopes and dreams span eternity itself.
Don't let rejection bring you down. Just "see" it differently from the way you're accustomed to, 'cause it's not really a rejection of you, your singing, your personality or your soul. It's a commentary on the one who is doing the rejecting.
As Terri Cole-Whittaker once wrote in her book of the same name,
"What You Think of Me of None of My Business".
My mission for your singers is that you explore your world of song as you are. Hide nothing from yourself. It does not matter if you are a professional or a silenced voice who sings in the confines of a hidden corner. This is your place to shine, your time to learn, your opportunity to expand all that you are in the music you create!
I'm here to help you do that!
'Til next time, Singers!
If we understand this, and if we do not personalize it, life would be much calmer, more peaceful and certainly more productive.
My son goes on a lot of auditions in Hollywood, and quite often he is not chosen for the role he wanted. He says, "I don't take it personally. I just accept that on that particular day, I was not what they were looking for, and move on. It's not a judgment of ME!"
If I were to try out for the part of Laurie in "Oklahoma", for example, I would have expect to be turned down. After all, my voice, and character don't fit that role at all. So it would be ludicrous to feel bad about not getting that part. You see that, right?
Personal rejection has an even greater sting, tho', doesn't it? I had a recent experience with personal rejection and I can say for sure, it hurts. Prone as I am to revealing parts of my personal life to you readers, still, I'll just give you the abbreviated version here:
I met a man online...a lovely man with whom I shared much. We seemed to click really fast, and in a matter of a month, we were on the telephone with each other almost every night, singing song lines to each other and guessing the songs, talking about our growing feelings of comfort and friendship, and the easy way we were with each other.
I started smiling all the time, feeling good, and young, and able to move mountains. Yes! (Even at my advanced years, it's still possible to recapture the rapture of youthful romance, singers.)
Anyway, one night, as we were cooing on the telephone, I said, "I think we should meet."
All was silent for what seemed like an eternity, tho' I'm sure it was only a few seconds.
Finally, he said that there was a pressing matter he needed to attend and said a quick good night.
He never called again.
I emailed him...several times, and when he finally did answer, it was to explain that he had allowed himself to be swept away by his own romantic notions and had responded to my attentions in an uncharacteristic manner. He was not prepared to take our relationship further, but of course still cared for me deeply and wished to remain friends.
Well, that smarted a little...Hell! A LOT!! My very first instinct, and thankfully not the one that ultimately prevailed, was to write him a nasty letter tell him off for what was clearly a flight of fancy for him at my heart's expense.
But then I saw it! This was HIS problem, not mine. He could not allow himself to be happy! He could NOT see a way of bridging the physical distance between us and so made a decision to crawl back into his comfort zone, empty and lonely as it was. How sad is that?
If I felt any deep rejection from this guy it was for about 5 minutes! Then all I could muster was pity. He, on the other hand, continues to write and inquire if I am "okay". It's actually funny to me now...let me add this:
I do not regret one second of romantic feelings, conversations, and exchanges with this man. It made me feel great and there's certainly nothing wrong with that!
Yes, rejection is tough. It doesn't matter whether the rejection comes from a director, a business associate, a friend, husband, wife, lover, or even a total stranger, it still hurts. If we possess any sensitivity at all, it's natural for us to feel bad. The trick is not to mind too much, not to focus all our energy and time on saying, "How could they, (he, she) do this to me."
When we can stay in the present and realize that it's in the re-experiencing of the moment of rejection that builds in us and makes us nuts, then we can feel the feeling,
in that moment, and just let it go! Our ego just wants to re-live it over and over, but we don't need to let it!
Richard Bach, one of my top 5 favorite writers, had already written a number of books when he sent his new manuscript to a major publisher. It was promptly rejected with a note attached as to its quality. But he believed in his work and continued to send it out, realizing that his subject matter was NOT going to be preferred by a lot of publishers.
Seventeen or eighteen rejections later, his manuscript was finally accepted by Macmillan. It was Richard's positive way of looking at life that made him keep on. I am sure that the rejections bothered him a bit, but was quickly neutralized with the publication of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which resulted in Richard Bach gracing the cover of Time magazine. And today, each of his meaningful books have touched the hearts of millions of readers.
This, dear singers, you MUST remember!! There's no one else on earth with your talents and your abilities. No one else can do what you do. You are unique, a special person-- someone whose hopes and dreams span eternity itself.
Don't let rejection bring you down. Just "see" it differently from the way you're accustomed to, 'cause it's not really a rejection of you, your singing, your personality or your soul. It's a commentary on the one who is doing the rejecting.
As Terri Cole-Whittaker once wrote in her book of the same name,
"What You Think of Me of None of My Business".
My mission for your singers is that you explore your world of song as you are. Hide nothing from yourself. It does not matter if you are a professional or a silenced voice who sings in the confines of a hidden corner. This is your place to shine, your time to learn, your opportunity to expand all that you are in the music you create!
I'm here to help you do that!
'Til next time, Singers!
Monday, September 8, 2008
It's Not Just About YOU!
It's Not About Just YOU!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I suspected, many of you were confused by my last blog entry. "What the Heck are you saying?" seemed to be the words to express the general feeling among those of you who were kind enough to read the thing.
I know I've been coming on a little heavy lately, and that many of you may be wondering what's going with me, so I'm going to tell you right out!
My entire life has been about music, singing it, teaching, making it! And I have encountered so many singers across the globe who are about the same thing as I am... dedicated, committed, and determined to make the music a central part of their lives.
So when I wrote "It's Your Job", with all the crazy quotes, and "deep" thoughts, reminiscent of Stuart Smiley, (remember him? HA HA!), my intention was to encourage you, entice you, coerce you, pursuade you, even intimidate you if necessary to never give up on your singing.
It's interesting 'cause when I was editing that piece, it suddenly dawned on me that I was really writing it for my older sister, who made a decision to stop singing altogether because in her view, she's just not good enough to be heard. That is just Not Okay!! If there's a song in your heart, you MUST sing it! And I sure as Heck know it's in Hers!
I haven't always felt this way, y'know! Time was, and until very recently, I, like Simon Cowell, believed that people who can't sing, who cannot hold a pitch, should never open their mouths.
We should be spared from such dissonance, indeed cacophony in the world and allow only the "perfectly pretty" voices be heard!
Then I discovered something rather startling! I met a deaf woman whose deepest passion was to sing. And when I say passion, I mean a burning in her heart that could never heal until she gave into it.
And with all the courage she could pull out of herself, she sang a song, recorded herself and posted her song online for all to hear.
And I heard it! And I broke down sobbing because it was so beautiful! And what made it beautiful was not all the perfectly placed notes and dulcit tones of her voice, for they weren't perfect, but it was the sheer joy in her expression that you simply could NOT deny or escape from.
This woman and many other people who courageously aspire to change their life experience through an artistic expression do not only change their own lives, but others as well. I AM changed!
Now, there are many of you who CAN hear, and WHAT you hear from your mouth, you are not happy with, so you've decided to quit, and do something else. And if you're smiling when you say that, (pahdnuh), then I wish you well on your new journey!
But if your reason for quitting is more like,
"If I can't win Idol, then I'll just go back to school and learn a trade where I can make a bunch of money", or like, "If I don't win this particular game, I'm taking my marbles and going home."
Well, I don't know about you, but that does not sound like a winner to me.
There's a much bigger picture out there singers. And YES! I call ALL of you on this list a singer, even the ones who don't believe they can sing...but you CAN! And you MUST!
Do you guys want a better life than the one you've got right now? A better world? More kindness? More joyfulness? More Peace? How 'bout more peace?
Then DO WHAT YOU LOVE, SINGERS! See the bigger picture....PLEASE! We're all part of the larger life...you could even say that we've each got a part to play in the grand scheme of things. To do those things that make us happy and to share our gifts...PERIOD! End of Story!
We can provide you with all the tools you need to share you music; backing tracks, sheet music, instruments to play on, and instruction.
I'm almost sure that you agree with me, but I can hear you saying things like, "Well that sounds fine and good, but I deal with reality! I got bills to pay, obligations!
I'm too old to be chasing rainbows".
And I'm not suggesting that you rearrange your entire existence and become a troubador, guys!
Why does it have to be all or nothing? Why can't you just love to sing and allow yourself that pleasure? Does it have to be a record deal or quit?
A Broadway Show or quit? Do you think my deaf friend thinks that way? Did Marlie Matlin think about the limitations when she went on "Dancing With the Stars" with the whole world watching?
I wish I could get you guys to realize that it's not about just YOU! Your love of singing, or of anything really...it's YOUR LOVE that can touch others, and have a ripple effect that is healing!
I want to tell you a little story that I read just yesterday, a fairy tale, I guess...about the heroine who went to get living water to bring back to life someone near and dear to her.
The living water was on top of a mountain. Whoever wanted to get it had to climb the mountain without turning back, even for a moment.
If she turned her head back, she would turn into a stone and well...game over. The voices other climbers of the mountain had heard were horrifying, terrifying, and warning, compelling her/him to turn back. So far no one could resist them.
She was determined to succeed in her quest. To minimize the risk of succumbing to the voices and turning her head, she plugged her ears and proceeded up the mountain that was covered with stones, without paying attention to horrifying voices, noises and threats because she did not hear them.
Finally, she reached the top of the mountain and got the living water. When she was going back she sprinkled some of the living water on the stones, which immediately turned back into people who over the centuries tried to get to the living water but, frightened by the voices, turned their heads and turned into stones.
So, she had not only achieved her own goal but she also brought many people back to life.
'Til next time, Singers!
Sin[g]cerely,Chrys
P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please pass it on to your friends. Just be sure, you include the copyrights. Many thanks, Singers!
(Copyrights property of Chrys Page and Sing Your Life Enterprises)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I suspected, many of you were confused by my last blog entry. "What the Heck are you saying?" seemed to be the words to express the general feeling among those of you who were kind enough to read the thing.
I know I've been coming on a little heavy lately, and that many of you may be wondering what's going with me, so I'm going to tell you right out!
My entire life has been about music, singing it, teaching, making it! And I have encountered so many singers across the globe who are about the same thing as I am... dedicated, committed, and determined to make the music a central part of their lives.
So when I wrote "It's Your Job", with all the crazy quotes, and "deep" thoughts, reminiscent of Stuart Smiley, (remember him? HA HA!), my intention was to encourage you, entice you, coerce you, pursuade you, even intimidate you if necessary to never give up on your singing.
It's interesting 'cause when I was editing that piece, it suddenly dawned on me that I was really writing it for my older sister, who made a decision to stop singing altogether because in her view, she's just not good enough to be heard. That is just Not Okay!! If there's a song in your heart, you MUST sing it! And I sure as Heck know it's in Hers!
I haven't always felt this way, y'know! Time was, and until very recently, I, like Simon Cowell, believed that people who can't sing, who cannot hold a pitch, should never open their mouths.
We should be spared from such dissonance, indeed cacophony in the world and allow only the "perfectly pretty" voices be heard!
Then I discovered something rather startling! I met a deaf woman whose deepest passion was to sing. And when I say passion, I mean a burning in her heart that could never heal until she gave into it.
And with all the courage she could pull out of herself, she sang a song, recorded herself and posted her song online for all to hear.
And I heard it! And I broke down sobbing because it was so beautiful! And what made it beautiful was not all the perfectly placed notes and dulcit tones of her voice, for they weren't perfect, but it was the sheer joy in her expression that you simply could NOT deny or escape from.
This woman and many other people who courageously aspire to change their life experience through an artistic expression do not only change their own lives, but others as well. I AM changed!
Now, there are many of you who CAN hear, and WHAT you hear from your mouth, you are not happy with, so you've decided to quit, and do something else. And if you're smiling when you say that, (pahdnuh), then I wish you well on your new journey!
But if your reason for quitting is more like,
"If I can't win Idol, then I'll just go back to school and learn a trade where I can make a bunch of money", or like, "If I don't win this particular game, I'm taking my marbles and going home."
Well, I don't know about you, but that does not sound like a winner to me.
There's a much bigger picture out there singers. And YES! I call ALL of you on this list a singer, even the ones who don't believe they can sing...but you CAN! And you MUST!
Do you guys want a better life than the one you've got right now? A better world? More kindness? More joyfulness? More Peace? How 'bout more peace?
Then DO WHAT YOU LOVE, SINGERS! See the bigger picture....PLEASE! We're all part of the larger life...you could even say that we've each got a part to play in the grand scheme of things. To do those things that make us happy and to share our gifts...PERIOD! End of Story!
We can provide you with all the tools you need to share you music; backing tracks, sheet music, instruments to play on, and instruction.
I'm almost sure that you agree with me, but I can hear you saying things like, "Well that sounds fine and good, but I deal with reality! I got bills to pay, obligations!
I'm too old to be chasing rainbows".
And I'm not suggesting that you rearrange your entire existence and become a troubador, guys!
Why does it have to be all or nothing? Why can't you just love to sing and allow yourself that pleasure? Does it have to be a record deal or quit?
A Broadway Show or quit? Do you think my deaf friend thinks that way? Did Marlie Matlin think about the limitations when she went on "Dancing With the Stars" with the whole world watching?
I wish I could get you guys to realize that it's not about just YOU! Your love of singing, or of anything really...it's YOUR LOVE that can touch others, and have a ripple effect that is healing!
I want to tell you a little story that I read just yesterday, a fairy tale, I guess...about the heroine who went to get living water to bring back to life someone near and dear to her.
The living water was on top of a mountain. Whoever wanted to get it had to climb the mountain without turning back, even for a moment.
If she turned her head back, she would turn into a stone and well...game over. The voices other climbers of the mountain had heard were horrifying, terrifying, and warning, compelling her/him to turn back. So far no one could resist them.
She was determined to succeed in her quest. To minimize the risk of succumbing to the voices and turning her head, she plugged her ears and proceeded up the mountain that was covered with stones, without paying attention to horrifying voices, noises and threats because she did not hear them.
Finally, she reached the top of the mountain and got the living water. When she was going back she sprinkled some of the living water on the stones, which immediately turned back into people who over the centuries tried to get to the living water but, frightened by the voices, turned their heads and turned into stones.
So, she had not only achieved her own goal but she also brought many people back to life.
'Til next time, Singers!
Sin[g]cerely,Chrys
P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please pass it on to your friends. Just be sure, you include the copyrights. Many thanks, Singers!
(Copyrights property of Chrys Page and Sing Your Life Enterprises)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Vocal Anorexia
This article was written by me last year, but I have decided to reprint it here for your comments! So comment, already!
We know what Anorexia looks like, right? A 5'4" woman, weighing 80 lbs. will stand in front of a mirror gazing at her image and will see FAT! To her eyes, as she stands in front of the mirror, examining every inch of her body, her body weighs 250 lbs.
Anyone else; yes, ANYONE ELSE sees the reality of her weight which is 80 lbs. Her skeleton is clearly observed below the skin surface, which has such little mass, that to the objective observer, this woman appears malnourished and maybe even close to dying.
The only conclusion that can be drawn is that this woman is seeing a distorted image her body that no one else, I mean NO ONE ELSE sees. And that's her illness!
The cure, if there is one, is several weeks in an institution where the "patient" is taught to rely on AND TRUST what OTHERS are seeing, and not on his/her own reflection in a mirror. Once the patient is able to understand that her view of her body is not real, but distorted, then she starts to see herself through the objective eyes of those around her who are telling her the truth...the truth that she has not been able to see... that she weighs 80 lbs., not 250.
Well, how does this relate to what I call "Vocal Anorexia"?
"Vocal Anorexia" is a condition where a singer will hear the sounds that emit when he/she sings a song that NO ONE ELSE hears.
Take the case of the people who audition for American Idol.
They will sing...badly...excruciatingly AWFUL.
Simon will say, "Do you think that was good?", and they will reply, "Yes! I was great!"
But they were about as terrible as they could be. What's going on? The person is hearing something that is not real; sounds that objective listeners hear as unpleasant and even painful to hear. The only person who does not hear how bad it is is the person singing. And that's an illusion.
It takes hours, months, maybe even years of ear training for a person with this affliction to improve their singing. And I know this because I've had students like this in my studio, and believe me, they CANNOT hear how bad they sound. They remain under an illusion that they sound great...a false illusion!
By the same token, I have encountered numerous singers who will sing a song, and sound exquisite, simply wonderful. The vocal tone, the expression of the lyric, the entire performance could make one melt, but to the singer's ear, it sounds frightfully horrendous. If this singer is told how wonderful he/she sounds, it translates in the singer's brain as, "They're just being nice", or "They didn't hear all the mistakes, so they don't know".
The same inability of the anorexic patient to SEE what is plain as day to an objective eye is apparent here as the anorexic singer cannot HEAR what is clearly beautiful to the objective listener. And the cure, if there is one, is for the anorexic singer to hear him/herself through OTHERS' ears and not his/her own.
This takes discipline and a continuous inner conversation where the singer must repeat often,
"What I am hearing is not real. I will not judge my singing or rely on my own listening for it is flawed by my condition."
This is what Martha Graham was saying to her student, Agnes DeMille in her letter, and although I have referred to that letter many many times, it bears repeating here once again.
Agnes DeMille, for those of you who do not know, was the choreographer for the first Broadway production of "Oklahoma". She became so critical of her own work that she almost quit, but instead wrote to her mentor, Martha Graham, for some advice. And this is an excerpt of the note she got back. I strongly recommend that you read it SLOWLY, making sure you understand every word, especially if you feel that you may be one of those who suffer from vocal anorexia.
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
As always, your comments, positive or negative are welcome, singers!
We know what Anorexia looks like, right? A 5'4" woman, weighing 80 lbs. will stand in front of a mirror gazing at her image and will see FAT! To her eyes, as she stands in front of the mirror, examining every inch of her body, her body weighs 250 lbs.
Anyone else; yes, ANYONE ELSE sees the reality of her weight which is 80 lbs. Her skeleton is clearly observed below the skin surface, which has such little mass, that to the objective observer, this woman appears malnourished and maybe even close to dying.
The only conclusion that can be drawn is that this woman is seeing a distorted image her body that no one else, I mean NO ONE ELSE sees. And that's her illness!
The cure, if there is one, is several weeks in an institution where the "patient" is taught to rely on AND TRUST what OTHERS are seeing, and not on his/her own reflection in a mirror. Once the patient is able to understand that her view of her body is not real, but distorted, then she starts to see herself through the objective eyes of those around her who are telling her the truth...the truth that she has not been able to see... that she weighs 80 lbs., not 250.
Well, how does this relate to what I call "Vocal Anorexia"?
"Vocal Anorexia" is a condition where a singer will hear the sounds that emit when he/she sings a song that NO ONE ELSE hears.
Take the case of the people who audition for American Idol.
They will sing...badly...excruciatingly AWFUL.
Simon will say, "Do you think that was good?", and they will reply, "Yes! I was great!"
But they were about as terrible as they could be. What's going on? The person is hearing something that is not real; sounds that objective listeners hear as unpleasant and even painful to hear. The only person who does not hear how bad it is is the person singing. And that's an illusion.
It takes hours, months, maybe even years of ear training for a person with this affliction to improve their singing. And I know this because I've had students like this in my studio, and believe me, they CANNOT hear how bad they sound. They remain under an illusion that they sound great...a false illusion!
By the same token, I have encountered numerous singers who will sing a song, and sound exquisite, simply wonderful. The vocal tone, the expression of the lyric, the entire performance could make one melt, but to the singer's ear, it sounds frightfully horrendous. If this singer is told how wonderful he/she sounds, it translates in the singer's brain as, "They're just being nice", or "They didn't hear all the mistakes, so they don't know".
The same inability of the anorexic patient to SEE what is plain as day to an objective eye is apparent here as the anorexic singer cannot HEAR what is clearly beautiful to the objective listener. And the cure, if there is one, is for the anorexic singer to hear him/herself through OTHERS' ears and not his/her own.
This takes discipline and a continuous inner conversation where the singer must repeat often,
"What I am hearing is not real. I will not judge my singing or rely on my own listening for it is flawed by my condition."
This is what Martha Graham was saying to her student, Agnes DeMille in her letter, and although I have referred to that letter many many times, it bears repeating here once again.
Agnes DeMille, for those of you who do not know, was the choreographer for the first Broadway production of "Oklahoma". She became so critical of her own work that she almost quit, but instead wrote to her mentor, Martha Graham, for some advice. And this is an excerpt of the note she got back. I strongly recommend that you read it SLOWLY, making sure you understand every word, especially if you feel that you may be one of those who suffer from vocal anorexia.
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
As always, your comments, positive or negative are welcome, singers!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
It's Your Job!!
Gads! I can't believe it's been an entire month since I lasted posted to my blog!
To my newsletter readers, so sorry for the delay in posting this article, but I've been wrapped up in this Boundless Living Challenge, and it's having an incredible effect on me. But that's another article altogether. I'll be able to tell all the details after the challenge ends on Sept 2.
Meantime, here's todays article, just a couple of weeks late...
It's Your Job!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As mentioned above, I am involved in a project with about 5600 others online. We are each discovering things about ourselves and seeking ways to have an impact on the world we live in. What I am finding out about my self and my motivation is charging my spirit with all sorts of new ideas for the future.
As I write this, I am acutely aware that some of what I am about to talk about with you guys will be received by you in a variety of ways.Some of you will think, 'Yeah, she's right. It's exactly like that', while others will disagree totally.
I suspect that most of you will be somewhere in between because as artists we are fairly, if faintly aware of what goes on behind our eyes, and in the deepest part of ourselves, even those parts we keep hidden from the rest of the world outside of us.
That being said, I start by saying that I believe we human beings come into this world each endowed with certain gifts. Some of us discover very early on what those gifts are, and for some of us, they can take a lifetime to reveal themselves. While others may never find them, many will discover their gifts in the latter period of their earthly experience and wonder why it took them so long to see them.
Well, duh...it takes as long as it takes for each individual rose to blossom.
One thing IS certain though, and it is that every one of us DOES have gifts, and from my view, our only job on earth is to use them for good.
I have spoken to you guys about this before and quite often I know, but while I was researching material for the 5th eBook, I came across some quotes by musical artists that truly touched me very deeply. When I tell you people that your gift of song can heal the planet, I'm not just being dramatic. I'm dead serious about that. What's wrong with the planet is from my perspective really quite simple to diagnose. We are lost! And we are standing at the top of a hill, looking down into a valley, thinking, 'is that the way...there?' and suddenly, we hear a small voice, behind us, like a child, and turn to look at it and THAT's when we see the road back. And the voice was our own...inner child calling us back to LOVE!
All we needed to do was turn our heads. But we are so preoccupied with day-2-day survival game we are forced to play on this planet, that we cannot appreciate the value of LOVE, and that's what music is, you know...LOVE.
"To sing is to love and affirm,to fly and to soar,to coast into the hearts of people who listen,to tell them that life is to live,that love is there,that nothing is a promise, but that beauty exists, and must be hunted for and found."
Joan Baez - American Singer/Songwriter
Do you think that human beings who are feeling that kind of love would be interested in raging wars for profit?
"When I am singing, I am inside of it...I feel, oh, like it feels when you're first in love, when you're touching someone--chills,things slipping all over me...A lot of times, when I get off the stage, I want to make love"
Janis Joplin - American Blues Singer
Would a CEO feeling like that create a mission statement to lay off a million people just to make a few more dollars?
"Once I had a dream to live and love, and this dream became music.It touched all of the beautiful experiences I have searched for or known. Each sound was a color, and each color was a warm feeling, and my heart kept the tempo."
Les McCann - American Jazz Pianist
Can a person who understands this quote spend his afternoons spreading ugly rumors about his/her neighbor over the backyard fence?
"The funny thing about enlightenment is that it's like you're searching for something--say your hat--and you're tearing the house apart and suddenly you look in the mirror and you see it sitting on top of your head. Music is where I experience that. I'm in a flow, I'm in a zone, there's a definite shift in consciousness, without desire, without my ego, without me thinking, 'oh wow, I'm sounding great'. Just experiencing it as a flowing living moment."
Vernon Reid - British-American Guitarist
Can you recall a time in your life when you were so full of joy you wept? Was your ego involved?
"For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God". Inayat Khan - Indian Sufi Master
The Runner runs - and it becomes a prayer. For me, singing is my meditation.
"Music is the harmonious voice of creation.An echo of the invisible world [of spirit]."
Giuseppe Mazzini - Italian Patriot and Revolutionary
Singers - I encourage you to SEE your place in this miraculous creation!
"He who lets his breath, hence his life force,flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life;for singing means to affirm life,to free oneself, and thereby to bring happinessand prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one's fellow man."
Marius Schneider
This is the quote that gave me the name of my first website.
I have been literally singing my life since I was 3, and there is nothing I cannot endure as long as I keep singing.
How can I impress upon you people, the value of your gift for this planet?
How can I make you see that your voice + my voice + all the singers' voices can make so much music, that the entire earth will be continuously singing.
You can make this happen just by singing your song...making your own "sound sacrifice" to heal the hearts of a lost society. It's your job....TO SING!
Well, please do forgive my proclivity for phlolisophical discourse, but as Nietzsche once said,
"Has anyone ever observed that MUSIC emancipates the spirit? gives wings to thought? and that the more one becomes a musician, the more one is also a philosopher?"
Guilty.
I leave you with this final thought to ponder, and I invite you to leave your comments. I know you must have some remarks to make about my attempts here to stir things up in you.
Don't be shy. There IS a way to leave a comment anonymously, so go for it!
"Wherein lies the power of songs? Maybe it derives from the sheer strangeness of there being singing in the world...a mystery like mathematics, wine, or love. Song shows the world that it is worthy of our yearning, it shows us our selves as they might be...The mystery holds the key to the unseen...There are occasions when the bolts of the Universe fly open and we are given a glimpse of what is hidden...Glory bursts upon us in such hours, and reveals the radiance of singing."
Salman Rushdie - British Author
See ya, Singers!
Sin[g]cerely,
Chrys
To my newsletter readers, so sorry for the delay in posting this article, but I've been wrapped up in this Boundless Living Challenge, and it's having an incredible effect on me. But that's another article altogether. I'll be able to tell all the details after the challenge ends on Sept 2.
Meantime, here's todays article, just a couple of weeks late...
It's Your Job!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As mentioned above, I am involved in a project with about 5600 others online. We are each discovering things about ourselves and seeking ways to have an impact on the world we live in. What I am finding out about my self and my motivation is charging my spirit with all sorts of new ideas for the future.
As I write this, I am acutely aware that some of what I am about to talk about with you guys will be received by you in a variety of ways.Some of you will think, 'Yeah, she's right. It's exactly like that', while others will disagree totally.
I suspect that most of you will be somewhere in between because as artists we are fairly, if faintly aware of what goes on behind our eyes, and in the deepest part of ourselves, even those parts we keep hidden from the rest of the world outside of us.
That being said, I start by saying that I believe we human beings come into this world each endowed with certain gifts. Some of us discover very early on what those gifts are, and for some of us, they can take a lifetime to reveal themselves. While others may never find them, many will discover their gifts in the latter period of their earthly experience and wonder why it took them so long to see them.
Well, duh...it takes as long as it takes for each individual rose to blossom.
One thing IS certain though, and it is that every one of us DOES have gifts, and from my view, our only job on earth is to use them for good.
I have spoken to you guys about this before and quite often I know, but while I was researching material for the 5th eBook, I came across some quotes by musical artists that truly touched me very deeply. When I tell you people that your gift of song can heal the planet, I'm not just being dramatic. I'm dead serious about that. What's wrong with the planet is from my perspective really quite simple to diagnose. We are lost! And we are standing at the top of a hill, looking down into a valley, thinking, 'is that the way...there?' and suddenly, we hear a small voice, behind us, like a child, and turn to look at it and THAT's when we see the road back. And the voice was our own...inner child calling us back to LOVE!
All we needed to do was turn our heads. But we are so preoccupied with day-2-day survival game we are forced to play on this planet, that we cannot appreciate the value of LOVE, and that's what music is, you know...LOVE.
"To sing is to love and affirm,to fly and to soar,to coast into the hearts of people who listen,to tell them that life is to live,that love is there,that nothing is a promise, but that beauty exists, and must be hunted for and found."
Joan Baez - American Singer/Songwriter
Do you think that human beings who are feeling that kind of love would be interested in raging wars for profit?
"When I am singing, I am inside of it...I feel, oh, like it feels when you're first in love, when you're touching someone--chills,things slipping all over me...A lot of times, when I get off the stage, I want to make love"
Janis Joplin - American Blues Singer
Would a CEO feeling like that create a mission statement to lay off a million people just to make a few more dollars?
"Once I had a dream to live and love, and this dream became music.It touched all of the beautiful experiences I have searched for or known. Each sound was a color, and each color was a warm feeling, and my heart kept the tempo."
Les McCann - American Jazz Pianist
Can a person who understands this quote spend his afternoons spreading ugly rumors about his/her neighbor over the backyard fence?
"The funny thing about enlightenment is that it's like you're searching for something--say your hat--and you're tearing the house apart and suddenly you look in the mirror and you see it sitting on top of your head. Music is where I experience that. I'm in a flow, I'm in a zone, there's a definite shift in consciousness, without desire, without my ego, without me thinking, 'oh wow, I'm sounding great'. Just experiencing it as a flowing living moment."
Vernon Reid - British-American Guitarist
Can you recall a time in your life when you were so full of joy you wept? Was your ego involved?
"For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God". Inayat Khan - Indian Sufi Master
The Runner runs - and it becomes a prayer. For me, singing is my meditation.
"Music is the harmonious voice of creation.An echo of the invisible world [of spirit]."
Giuseppe Mazzini - Italian Patriot and Revolutionary
Singers - I encourage you to SEE your place in this miraculous creation!
"He who lets his breath, hence his life force,flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life;for singing means to affirm life,to free oneself, and thereby to bring happinessand prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one's fellow man."
Marius Schneider
This is the quote that gave me the name of my first website.
I have been literally singing my life since I was 3, and there is nothing I cannot endure as long as I keep singing.
How can I impress upon you people, the value of your gift for this planet?
How can I make you see that your voice + my voice + all the singers' voices can make so much music, that the entire earth will be continuously singing.
You can make this happen just by singing your song...making your own "sound sacrifice" to heal the hearts of a lost society. It's your job....TO SING!
Well, please do forgive my proclivity for phlolisophical discourse, but as Nietzsche once said,
"Has anyone ever observed that MUSIC emancipates the spirit? gives wings to thought? and that the more one becomes a musician, the more one is also a philosopher?"
Guilty.
I leave you with this final thought to ponder, and I invite you to leave your comments. I know you must have some remarks to make about my attempts here to stir things up in you.
Don't be shy. There IS a way to leave a comment anonymously, so go for it!
"Wherein lies the power of songs? Maybe it derives from the sheer strangeness of there being singing in the world...a mystery like mathematics, wine, or love. Song shows the world that it is worthy of our yearning, it shows us our selves as they might be...The mystery holds the key to the unseen...There are occasions when the bolts of the Universe fly open and we are given a glimpse of what is hidden...Glory bursts upon us in such hours, and reveals the radiance of singing."
Salman Rushdie - British Author
See ya, Singers!
Sin[g]cerely,
Chrys
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Singers With Musicality
Singers with Musicality
I was overjoyed and totally delighted when I moved to Corpus Christi from Los Angeles to realize that I hadn't left everything behind. I knew there were going to be enormous changes that I would have to adjust to, and there have been to be sure. But one thing I still have here in Texas is Ovation TV.
I know it doesn't sound like much, and if you've never had the pleasure of watching this channel, you may not get what it means to me, but let me try and tell you anyway.
If you're anything like me, and you truly believe in your heart that the salvation of the human race lies in its art, then maybe you can imagine what Ovation TV has to offer. Masterpieces of Art, Film, Literature, Poetry, Opera, Jazz, Singing, Plays, Sculpture, Photography, indeed creation of any and every kind of art imaginable are represented, celebrated and encouraged on this station.
You can watch a play, a symphony orchestra, an opera, a jazz concert on one day, and a film on Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Sylvia Plath or Martha Graham on another day. There is no end to to the glorification of art that goes from morning 'til night on this channel. And it was here that I encountered 30 minutes of this celebration last week on the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald.
Growing up in the canyons of New York City, my sisters and would often go up to the roof to escape the heat during the summer months, and I would always bring my transistor radio along to listen to my favorite station WNEW, where William B. Williams would teach me how to listen to singers, and not just listen...but analyze, appreciate... hear what the horns were doing, the bass lines, everything.
Frank and Ella were "IT" for me and were why I knew from very early on in my lfe, 5 or 6, that it would be my life's work to sing like those 2.
The short film showing on Ovation took the time to trace the history of Ella's rise to the top in the recording industry, but went further to explain, why she was adored and respected by her listeners and peers alike. One after another, musicians who had worked with her or just listened to her records, stepped in front of a camera and proudly boasted,
"It was her Musicianship"!
Now, Ella had a fluid, lush, pure, glorious voice, that warmed your heart when you heard it, and also could do anything on earth she wanted it to do, but here were these people saying, "It was her musicianship!"
Several of those interviewed from this film recalled that early on in her career, the bands she auditioned for didn't really want her. "It wasn't personal", one tenor sax player said. "It was that the guys in the band didn't hold too much respect for girl singers back then...well I guess it's the same today. You know, girl singers just want to be the center of attention and more often than not, their talent doesn't deserve that attention. But when Ella sang, not only could you tell instantly that she could hear every chord and every beat we were playing for her, she even made us look for better chords and beats to play just to keep up. She made us all better players!"
There were 2 current jazz singers in the film too, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Anita Wardell, who talked about what it means to sing when you know the music...ALL the music, not just the melody line, and how the whole band knows that you know it, and you know that they know that you now it.
That's a ride on a magic carpet, singers and it's woven from the golden thread of the singer's musicality.
Now you know I've talked about this before, singers, and I've mentioned with regard to eliciting respect from your fellow musicians, but after watching this film, I realized there was something else...something more I wanted to express to you about musicianship, (or musicality if you prefer), and it's this.
When you and your accompaniment (whether it's a full big band or orchestra or YOU playing for yourself) are in total synchronization, the performance is MAGICAL! It infuses YOU and the band and every person sitting in the audience. And believe me, there is no greater satisfaction than singing with a bunch of musicians who are feeling you and playing the best they can to make the whole thing sound wonderful. And you find that singers with musicality don't worry so much about drawing all the attention from the crowd. They are team players and every body knows it and respects it, just as all those guys respected Ella.
So when I try to encourage you singers to learn an instrument, at least enough of one to understand chordal structure and rhythms, I'm trying to show you that the more musicality you possess, the further you will progress with your singing.
Seriously singers, if you are dead on committed about working as a professional, you're going to have to have a "live accompaniment". You cannot rely on backing tracks indefinitely.
I was overjoyed and totally delighted when I moved to Corpus Christi from Los Angeles to realize that I hadn't left everything behind. I knew there were going to be enormous changes that I would have to adjust to, and there have been to be sure. But one thing I still have here in Texas is Ovation TV.
I know it doesn't sound like much, and if you've never had the pleasure of watching this channel, you may not get what it means to me, but let me try and tell you anyway.
If you're anything like me, and you truly believe in your heart that the salvation of the human race lies in its art, then maybe you can imagine what Ovation TV has to offer. Masterpieces of Art, Film, Literature, Poetry, Opera, Jazz, Singing, Plays, Sculpture, Photography, indeed creation of any and every kind of art imaginable are represented, celebrated and encouraged on this station.
You can watch a play, a symphony orchestra, an opera, a jazz concert on one day, and a film on Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Sylvia Plath or Martha Graham on another day. There is no end to to the glorification of art that goes from morning 'til night on this channel. And it was here that I encountered 30 minutes of this celebration last week on the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald.
Growing up in the canyons of New York City, my sisters and would often go up to the roof to escape the heat during the summer months, and I would always bring my transistor radio along to listen to my favorite station WNEW, where William B. Williams would teach me how to listen to singers, and not just listen...but analyze, appreciate... hear what the horns were doing, the bass lines, everything.
Frank and Ella were "IT" for me and were why I knew from very early on in my lfe, 5 or 6, that it would be my life's work to sing like those 2.
The short film showing on Ovation took the time to trace the history of Ella's rise to the top in the recording industry, but went further to explain, why she was adored and respected by her listeners and peers alike. One after another, musicians who had worked with her or just listened to her records, stepped in front of a camera and proudly boasted,
"It was her Musicianship"!
Now, Ella had a fluid, lush, pure, glorious voice, that warmed your heart when you heard it, and also could do anything on earth she wanted it to do, but here were these people saying, "It was her musicianship!"
Several of those interviewed from this film recalled that early on in her career, the bands she auditioned for didn't really want her. "It wasn't personal", one tenor sax player said. "It was that the guys in the band didn't hold too much respect for girl singers back then...well I guess it's the same today. You know, girl singers just want to be the center of attention and more often than not, their talent doesn't deserve that attention. But when Ella sang, not only could you tell instantly that she could hear every chord and every beat we were playing for her, she even made us look for better chords and beats to play just to keep up. She made us all better players!"
There were 2 current jazz singers in the film too, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Anita Wardell, who talked about what it means to sing when you know the music...ALL the music, not just the melody line, and how the whole band knows that you know it, and you know that they know that you now it.
That's a ride on a magic carpet, singers and it's woven from the golden thread of the singer's musicality.
Now you know I've talked about this before, singers, and I've mentioned with regard to eliciting respect from your fellow musicians, but after watching this film, I realized there was something else...something more I wanted to express to you about musicianship, (or musicality if you prefer), and it's this.
When you and your accompaniment (whether it's a full big band or orchestra or YOU playing for yourself) are in total synchronization, the performance is MAGICAL! It infuses YOU and the band and every person sitting in the audience. And believe me, there is no greater satisfaction than singing with a bunch of musicians who are feeling you and playing the best they can to make the whole thing sound wonderful. And you find that singers with musicality don't worry so much about drawing all the attention from the crowd. They are team players and every body knows it and respects it, just as all those guys respected Ella.
So when I try to encourage you singers to learn an instrument, at least enough of one to understand chordal structure and rhythms, I'm trying to show you that the more musicality you possess, the further you will progress with your singing.
Seriously singers, if you are dead on committed about working as a professional, you're going to have to have a "live accompaniment". You cannot rely on backing tracks indefinitely.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Measuring the quality of art!
I've been watching a lot of tennis this week! And I've noticed something interesting that I wanted to share with you.
Clearly one's athletic prowess can be objectively measured by numbers.
You win! Your ranking goes up, your income goes up, your endorsement opportunities go up, your popularity goes up. It's all measured by the stats.
It's like this in almost every sport, and when an athlete, whether a tennis player, baseball player, basketball or whatever, is winning, excelling at his sport...even HE or SHE must admit how good he or she is at it. Isn't that right? Ask Roger Federer, or Tiger Woods. Neither of these men who say that they are not great at what they do.
But artistic performance cannot be measured by statistical data, can it? Art is SUBJECTIVE!
Remember Andy Warhol's painting of a Campbells's soup can? It was highly successful, but even today, there are numerous people out there who do NOT consider it art, and therefore not worthy of artistic praise. And one may wonder what Andy was thinking at the time.
I point this out because we, as artists each need to get to the bottom of this goodness or badness, this merit or lack thereof of our own performances.
How can we measure something that cannot be scientifically measured? And how can we know when it's not up to standard without displaying it to a large group? How can we call something bad based on just our own opinion, formed by the doubts and fears we have inside? How do we measure the quality of art in any form?
Oh yes! We have "experts" to tell us what is good art and what is bad or inconsequential, sure! Well, I don't know about you, but personally I love the movies the critics hate, and I read all the books the book reviewers label as second-rate. Maybe I think that critics are self-imposed experts who don't know any more, (or any less) than I do, so I can make up my mind.
That's really the point.
With an art form, the quality of it lies in the receiver, the listener if it's musical, the viewer if it's visual, etc.
But rankings?
Isn't it quite possible for a singer to be at the top of his or her game in poularity and still sound terrible to a lot of people? Of course that's possible...and occurs frequently.
Whereas, if a baseball player is batting 400+ and has hit a gazillion homers, one CANNOT DENY the quality of that effort, and quite often even the person who's made it.
So tell me, dear readers....what say YOU about this theory of mine?
We've got 3 juicy topics going on right now and you are welcome to comment on all of them if you'd like to. So SING OUT!
Clearly one's athletic prowess can be objectively measured by numbers.
You win! Your ranking goes up, your income goes up, your endorsement opportunities go up, your popularity goes up. It's all measured by the stats.
It's like this in almost every sport, and when an athlete, whether a tennis player, baseball player, basketball or whatever, is winning, excelling at his sport...even HE or SHE must admit how good he or she is at it. Isn't that right? Ask Roger Federer, or Tiger Woods. Neither of these men who say that they are not great at what they do.
But artistic performance cannot be measured by statistical data, can it? Art is SUBJECTIVE!
Remember Andy Warhol's painting of a Campbells's soup can? It was highly successful, but even today, there are numerous people out there who do NOT consider it art, and therefore not worthy of artistic praise. And one may wonder what Andy was thinking at the time.
I point this out because we, as artists each need to get to the bottom of this goodness or badness, this merit or lack thereof of our own performances.
How can we measure something that cannot be scientifically measured? And how can we know when it's not up to standard without displaying it to a large group? How can we call something bad based on just our own opinion, formed by the doubts and fears we have inside? How do we measure the quality of art in any form?
Oh yes! We have "experts" to tell us what is good art and what is bad or inconsequential, sure! Well, I don't know about you, but personally I love the movies the critics hate, and I read all the books the book reviewers label as second-rate. Maybe I think that critics are self-imposed experts who don't know any more, (or any less) than I do, so I can make up my mind.
That's really the point.
With an art form, the quality of it lies in the receiver, the listener if it's musical, the viewer if it's visual, etc.
But rankings?
Isn't it quite possible for a singer to be at the top of his or her game in poularity and still sound terrible to a lot of people? Of course that's possible...and occurs frequently.
Whereas, if a baseball player is batting 400+ and has hit a gazillion homers, one CANNOT DENY the quality of that effort, and quite often even the person who's made it.
So tell me, dear readers....what say YOU about this theory of mine?
We've got 3 juicy topics going on right now and you are welcome to comment on all of them if you'd like to. So SING OUT!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Ugh! That sound is Awful!!
I hear it from my clients all the time, and many of my colleagues and friends as well. Even my own son, and my daughter too, complain to me about it. And yesterday, while recording a vocal guide for an original backing track I made for a student, I actually saw and heard myself vocalize an expression of loathing of my own voice.
And the moment it happened, I thought, "Aahaah! None of us are immune from this! Each of us, in one way or another, absolutely HATE the sound of our own voice."
So the question becomes,
THEN WHY DO WE CHOOSE TO ENGAGE IN AN ACTIVITY IN WHICH WE USE OUR VOICE MORE THAN ANY OTHER BODY PART?
I mean, if we hate the sound of our voice so much, why don't we just do things where we don't ever have to speak... and definitely not sing...like reading or something like that?
For me there are 2 answers:
1> We are programmed to be self-effacing, self-critical, overly humble, and non-threatening.
2> It's an ACT!
Before I actually elaborate on these concepts, I'd like your take. So whaddaya say? Take it away!!
And the moment it happened, I thought, "Aahaah! None of us are immune from this! Each of us, in one way or another, absolutely HATE the sound of our own voice."
So the question becomes,
THEN WHY DO WE CHOOSE TO ENGAGE IN AN ACTIVITY IN WHICH WE USE OUR VOICE MORE THAN ANY OTHER BODY PART?
I mean, if we hate the sound of our voice so much, why don't we just do things where we don't ever have to speak... and definitely not sing...like reading or something like that?
For me there are 2 answers:
1> We are programmed to be self-effacing, self-critical, overly humble, and non-threatening.
2> It's an ACT!
Before I actually elaborate on these concepts, I'd like your take. So whaddaya say? Take it away!!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Is the Ego a healthy thing for a singer to have?
Yeah, okay, I already have strong opinions about this, but don't let that stop you from voicing your own, okay?
I tell my singers, and they will testify to the never-ending diatribes that they have to endure from me, that the ego is the enemy of a true artist...that while you're up there thinking...
"Look at me, look, LOOK! See me, hear me, pay attention to me ME ME! Oh God, what's the next line? Should I go for that high note tonight? Do I have the strength? Oh Geez! They're not even listening....BLAH BLAH BLAH"
...you're losing them fast!
How can you connect with anyone with all that chatter going on in your head? That's your ego.
So I tell my students to stay in the present, and just communicate! Tell 'em a story. Pull 'em in. Be more interested than interesting.
What do you think? Do you think your ego is who you are? Is that where you get your individualality? Or does the creative part of you come from some other place?
G'head....talk to me.
I tell my singers, and they will testify to the never-ending diatribes that they have to endure from me, that the ego is the enemy of a true artist...that while you're up there thinking...
"Look at me, look, LOOK! See me, hear me, pay attention to me ME ME! Oh God, what's the next line? Should I go for that high note tonight? Do I have the strength? Oh Geez! They're not even listening....BLAH BLAH BLAH"
...you're losing them fast!
How can you connect with anyone with all that chatter going on in your head? That's your ego.
So I tell my students to stay in the present, and just communicate! Tell 'em a story. Pull 'em in. Be more interested than interesting.
What do you think? Do you think your ego is who you are? Is that where you get your individualality? Or does the creative part of you come from some other place?
G'head....talk to me.
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