Take Off The Blinders

Blinders don't give you determination. Blinders don't give you drive. Sure, they help a 1,300 lb. horse run faster in a straight line or a single direction --

But, you'll notice, the "little guy in charge" never wears blinders....

So, which kind of artist are you?

Like a thoroughbred; tunnel-visioned, blinders on, can't even see the crowd and spent at the end of the race?

Or like the rider; flexible, strategic, in command, ready to "see the whole field" and ride again and again?

It's your art.

The flag is up!

The Failure Dance

Work toward your successes, don't dance over your failures.

And, fer Pete's sake, don't practice catastrophes.

Gimme a second, I can explain...

Whether we are doing a vocal warm-up, learning a new song or going over repertoire, every student of mine knows that if they stop, I'll just keep going. I'm not trying to be mean or anything. It's just that, if you practice stopping in a song whenever things "aren't right" or you "made a mistake" or something "was weird," then you are "practicing a catastrophe."

Deep inside, you know that there is no perfect venue for singing.

There is no perfect day, night, time or temperature for singing.

Thus, EVERY singing experience will be imperfect, so get used to it.

Seriously. Get used to it.

Something's always going to be a little weird or different somewhere, so don't stop in the middle of your song when you're rehearsing. Why practice stopping? Why stop and then dance around about how you missed a note (with all the energy you should have used to produce the note in the first place...!). Get over yourself and get back on the pony while it's still near you -- not after it's galloped away.

The sooner you embrace the imperfection, the sooner you may exhibit the perfection.