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Read MoreDoing the Dumb and the Difficult
TL: DR: Waiting hurts more than doing.
Like you, I thought we’d be back to “normal” by now. But, this IS the normal. If only there was a date on the calendar where everything would reopen and stay open. I wrote a song about it, in fact! ;)
“I haven’t picked up my guitar in five months.” “I’m just trying to hang on.” “I’m overwhelmed, grateful, and discouraged.” “I’ve let fear of failure hold me back.” “My motivation just disappeared.”
These are real quotes from real clients and colleagues of mine, past and present. They completed the free, no-obligation "2021 Planning Survey” that I launched earlier this month. Their responses floored me. (You can take the survey here!)
Having places to perform and dates on the calendar gives us a sense of control, organization, purpose, and hope. When those guardrails aren’t there, it’s natural to feel like it’s not even worth picking up the guitar, writing down a lyric, taking a class on Zoom, or singing in the car. Why bother getting better just to play to your own four walls?
I invite you to stop comparing the current “Normal” to last year’s “Normal,” except in one way that might hurt a little:
The reasons you’re not making music now were there a year ago.
Blame the pandemic for ruining a lot of things, but you can’t blame it for taking away your ability to make music. You still have the ability. However, it might be buried under a lot of self-imposed conditions.
If you were only motivated by playing at open mics, you’re lost without them. If you are busy thinking about how to get everything done and don’t have room or time to practice in your crowded house — you had a variation on that excuse in 2019, too (I sure did). If you depended on auditions to give you a reason to learn a new song, then yeah, you’re out of reasons.
And if you still think Zoom and Facebook Live are the only ways you can make music online, you’re screwed. Yeah, I said it. I have spent most of this pandemic trying to show you and everyone I know that there are musical alternatives that let you play live, in collaboration with other players and in front of an audience. Are you listening? :)
Stop waiting for someone or something to sanction your musical activity. It’s in your power to play right now. Just like a certain other activity that usually gets more enjoyable even when you’re not initially in the mood, you can get into the mood for music. No candles or special lighting needed!
Step One: Do something you think is dumb. Set a timer and play three scales in one minute, then put the guitar down until tomorrow. Play wrong notes on purpose. Find a warmup video on YouTube (this one is only two minutes long!) and sing along badly, then turn it off and throw in another load of laundry. Sing, but don’t sing in your own voice. Sing in your best Kermit The Frog voice. Then do a Marilyn Monroe voice. Keep it short, and keep it dumb. Take all the risk out of it so you can put the fun back into it.
Step Two: Do something you think is difficult. Take the workshop about how to use online music tech. Come to the songwriting seminar. Do morning pages in “The Artist’s Way.” Buy a microphone for your laptop on Amazon and record cover songs. Let your kids teach you how to use social media so you can share your performing. Listen to a new Spotify channel of music you really dislike, and find two good things about it. Audition for my next studio album, even if you don’t like country music! Take a big risk. Don’t wait for months on end, in the hopes of going back to before. Normal is now.
Doing the dumb and the difficult works in and out of pandemics. Short, stupid music actitives keep you from feeling overwhelmed. Undertaking something big makes you feel like the rock star you actually are. Bring musical mojo back into your life by changing your expectations. It feels a lot better than missing what’s already gone.
Don't go off half-asked
TL; DR: Ask, so ye shall receive: Take this survey!
About a month ago my students released Holly Days, an album of original songs. It was the second studio album my private voice studio released in 2020 — here’s a link to the first one, “Six Feet From Stardom.” Heck yes I’ll take that victory lap! Most voice studios do recitals, not album releases. pats self on back
Each album was an intense three month project. It involved a thousand little decisions along the way, asking myself (and my students) questions like: This workshop presenter or that one? A chorus here, or a double chorus there? What kind of guitar to use in the demo track? Are these lyrics memorable? Are they singable? Record harmony for the ending or the beginning? Record safely at your house or mine? Release online or as a physical CD? Copyright or no? Charge per track or per album? Make a music video to go with it? Where to film that video? Who’s going to be in it? Premiere on Facebook or Insta?
Each question and answer got us a little closer to a satisfying finished product. The students had control over a lot of the project, even though I was the one doing the coaching, arranging, playing and producing. The questions and decisions kept us all in close communication.
Here’s a question for you: Did you know it takes at least seven “contact mentions” before most of us are cognizant of an event or product? You have to see the widget in an ad, hear your friend mention the widget, glance at the widget display in the store, watch the informercial about the widget at 2am, throw away the junk mail about the widget, and then see an influencer use the widget in her Instagram story. Suddenly you think, “Wow, new widget!” It may take several (hundred?) more contacts before you actually commit to a purchase.
Promotion is important, whether it’s a personal project or a huge public event, and it has its own decision process. My students promoted their songs on social media (I shared the “Seven” rule with them) and to their individual networks, and the results were satisfactory. I decided to send free copies of the album to several members of the press and in online groups. I was grateful that one of them bothered to follow up — this year especially, in a busy time of year. It’s a journalist whose work I admire.
Our phone interview was rushed, and the questions were more like monologues that barely gave me space to answer. It reminded me of the run-on non-questions that reporters ask presidential candidates in those interminable “town hall” meetings. “Candidate X, our nation’s financial health is a source of concern for many, as the Congressional Budget Office has indicated we will be running bazillion-dollar deficits for the next three generations, and Candidate Y thinks more or fewer windmills could be part of the solution or the problem if only the other political party would vote for and/or block them in a congressional bill that has yet to be written, as John F. Kennedy once said to Mahatma Ghandi . . .”
When reporters ask questions that way, I wanna go all Calvin Coolidge on them and just give one-word answers: Yes. No. Perhaps. But that doesn’t help me, the journalist, or the interview.
I did what I could to cram in some good quotes but felt lousy about it as soon as we hung up. The published article didn’t even include information on how to find the album (so what was the point?). There’s no bad press, but there’s forgettable press, which is why I’m not including a link here.
The moral of the story is: Don’t half-ass your asks.
It’s amazing what people tell you when you ask the right questions, and listen to the response. It’s frustrating to field questions that barely give you time to answer, and make you feel like you haven’t been heard (Although it can lead to some pretty great songs).
I work very hard to ask each client (and prospective client) the right questions when we meet, and to listen carefully to the answers. Asking “What do you want to learn in voice lessons?” is important, but I get more revealing answers when I ask, “What is your least favorite memory of your singing and why?” Careful questions and detailed answers help me help you.
So I have some questions to ask you, right now. Tell me the best and worst things about your musical 2020. And tell me the one thing that you think will keep you from having a satisfying, musical 2021. Take the musical survey here. They’re good questions and I know you’re going to give great answers. You can complete it for yourself, or share it with others — no strings. Finished surveys get you a free online music planning session with me this month!