What Does a Singer Need?

Happy 4th of July to all of you who celebrate!

As we enter the lazy days of summer,  it can be a great time to re-evaluate,  to re-negotiate,  to re-discover what you need,  what you want,  what your goals are for the upcoming season,  what you want to achieve through the summer.

So what does a singer NEED in order to create an environment to learn, to develop & to succeed in their development?

Talent aside,  there are many other things that can be more tangible or realized.


Talent is nothing without development.  Potential sucks if it's not developed.


What do you need?

A burning desire to sing.  Not a plan B or C;  not an excuse;  not a "yeah, but";  Just a simple burning desire to sing because that it was gives you a sense of yourself like no other.

You need to WANT to sing.  You need to WANT to learn that role, that song, that aria.  You cannot WAIT to throw yourself into the learning process because to sing is to be alive.


A capacity for major doses of reality.  The DESIRE is fueled by this.  You have to know what you are capable of doing and why;  and what you are not ready to do,  may never do,  and why not.

Do you know what it will take to pursue a career?  Are you ready to commit to that?  What are you ready and willing and able to commit to?  What can you glean from that commitment?

Knowledge is power,  and power is knowing.  The singer must have both and recognize that the balance of the two is constantly in flux.

AWARENESS is key.   Where am I?  What can I do?  What am I willing to do?  How do I make that work to achieve my goals?  Are my goals realistic to my talent, my desire, my tenacity, my commitment?  If not,  how do my goals shift in order to make my choices more realistic?

What are my priorities?  Do they line up with what I want or say I want or do they reveal something more important that I need to pursue or acknowledge?

Are you aware of your own psychology?  Are you clear what it represents?

Are you aware of your emotional and mental strengths, and even more importantly, your weaknesses?  Do you know how to develop your sense of self awareness?
Do you acknowledge self-doubt?  Self-sabotage?
Do you recognize what you need to do to move through it?

Are you willing to take responsibility for your emotional life in order to be healthy enough to explore a professional life as a singer?  What are you doing to achieve that goal?

Find a mentor.  Find that person that is willing to invest in you and challenge you.  A mentor will hold up a mirror to give you permission to see what needs to be seen.  They will help you continue to ask the questions in order to discover some answers, and probably some more questions.  They are not there to enable,  to tell you what you want to hear, but rather, to encourage,  and create an environment safe enough to hear what you NEED to hear and help you find ways to DO something about it.

I think mentoring is like reality training in a safe environment.

As singers,  as human beings,  we need this desperately.

What else do you need?

A solid,  unrelenting work ethic.

A focused consistency.

An unapologetic self-discipline.

The ability to laugh at yourself but always take the work seriously.

The ability to forgive yourself.

The emotional and psychological fortitude to say "no".

The emotional and psychological fortitude to ask "why".

The self-discipline to take a day off and not feel guilty.

The self-discipline to get back to work,  even when the obstacles take your breath away.

The desire and focus to always follow through.  ALWAYS.

So,  what are you working on?  What do you need?  What are you willing to do to acknowledge it,  and develop it and find more of it?

Nothing is promised,  but you have RIGHT NOW to make some choices that will allow you to find your "next".

Happy discovering!!

NO EXCUSES!

happy snow day on the east coast of the US!

Self-sabotage:  Such a loaded phrase, isn't it?

We all do it, or have done it,  or fall into it.  None of us are immune to this at some point or other.

So,  when are YOU going to release it and follow through?

How does it start?

A simple insecurity can trigger it.

A simple "yeah, but..." can paralyze you.

It's a reaction to something much, much deeper. 

I see self-sabotage regularly in the studio.  It's one of those things that is often more obvious to someone outside of it - especially if that someone has dealt with it personally as well (!!).  Takes one to know one.

I do not chastise you for the self-sabotage.  Sometimes it's simply a form of self-preservation,  or control, or something. 

However, I will challenge you about it.  Why?  Because if you say one thing and then go against that, why shouldn't I say something?

Many of us who work with singers and actors regularly are always amazed at the ability to self-sabotage on epic levels.  It can happen so easily,  and so gradually,  sometimes I don't even think you realize you've done it for yourself.

How do we challenge ourselves to not fall down this particular rabbit hole?

Here are some ideas:

Who holds you accountable?

Do you have that person in your world who will call you on your shit?  I mean, REALLY call you, not enable you?

We do not need people who tell us what we want to here:  we need those people who will tell us what we NEED to hear.  Find that person.  Demand the truth from them.  Prepare for it.

Are you willing to look at your language?

What you say in public,  what you say in a voice session,  what you complain about online, all reveals something about you and where you are and what you want, what you have and what are fearful of.

Check that language.  What are you hiding from?

Are you excuse ridden?  Are you deflecting?  Are you "fabulous" all the time?  Is everything "great"?

Any extreme reveals some sort of sabotage.  Check it.

Is there drama?

Is there "Kaflamma"?

This generally means distraction.  With distraction comes excuses.  With excuses comes sabotage.

Why are you doing something?

What AREN'T you doing something?

What's your first answer to these questions?  Now, sit and breathe, and REALLY answer it.

What protects you by using sabotage?

What does it actually protect you from?

Is it working?

But, Susan, you might be saying,  it's just HARD.  I am NOT sabotaging.  It's just HARD.

Okay...

What's hard exactly?

Are you in the same place as last year?  Why or why not?

What can YOU change to begin to move forward?  What have you NOT changed in order to stay EXACTLY IN THE SAME PLACE.

The great things about choices:  you can always TRY something,  and if it's not working, you can MAKE ANOTHER CHOICE.  That's action-oriented.

Self-sabotage makes no choice but to stay stuck.

You have choice.  No, you REALLY do!

Make a choice,  make a NEW choice,  find a new class, a different teacher or even a consultation to get a different perspective!  We can learn from EVERY situation.  If we start a possibility with "yeah but..." we lose the possibility before we even acknowledge.

Every possibility has a "maybe".  Don't shut it down before you start!

So, on a day that has made you stop - a day full of storm and snow - give yourself permission to say "I WANT TO...."

Dream a little...

What do you want to achieve?  What could you change or suggest or explore to perhaps explore a slightly different perspective in order to keep pursuing that achievement?

Say you are a scared.  That's the first step of releasing the self-sabotage.

Say you aren't sure.

Say you don't know.

Say you have no idea.


All these things are not failures, or flaws.  These things open the possibilities.

Possibilities are scary as hell.  Possibilities make you breathe differently.  Possibilities allow you to dream again.

So are you going to feel dragged down by PFO letters,  no audition or no call back,  or are you going to say, "NO".

Are you going to surrender to the self-sabotage?

Are you going to pretend?

Are you going to create another reality that only YOU live?

That takes a great deal of energy - more than you really can deal with.  Sadly the self-sabotage and delusion is yours, and yours alone. 

Or, are you going to say, "NO WAY."

Are you going to relinquish the chip on your shoulder,  the excuses, the jazz hands and pretend?  All coping mechanisms,  and needed in moments but not something you can rely on in the long run.

Are you going to build on that shallowness,  or get your hands dirty and dig into it all and say NO MORE SABOTAGE!

Decide to seek truth.

Decide to seek change.

Decide to claim what you have.

Decide to claim and develop what you do not yet own.

Be still,  feel it all,  mourn it,  and release it. 

The people that see you clearly,  will rejoice with you,  not blame you!

Dare to discover YOU and what YOU need.  You find that when it's time to find it.

However, it's you and ONLY you,  and nobody can claim it but you.  You have nobody to blame if you don't.  You have nobody to answer to, if you DO!

Releasing self-sabotage allows us a new day,  a clean slate,  and an opportunity to pursue and develop and claim ALL of what we are meant to do and be.

Take the time it takes to find it all,  release it all,  develop it all - and make excuses for NOTHING.

HAPPY "YOU"  YEAR!

I dare you...

Finding Your Niche

Sunday musings...at the end of November...

Are you finding your niche?  Where you can inhabit?

There are so many factors in our lives as artists.

Some are artists.

Some have artistic temperaments.

Some are performers.

Some are artists who perform.

Some are craftspeople.

Some are process people.

Some are a quick bolt of lightening.

Some are a slow burn.

Finding out WHAT you are,  and then WHERE you are reveals even more,  and can be thoroughly exhausting and confusing.

We fight the constant "in the box" mentality to allow our artistic individuality to be allowed to breathe.  We need to do that if we want to find authenticity as an artist.

However, then there's the business of show.  If we want to work,  make a living or some semblance,  are we ready to go where our talent takes us?  And how do we know not just how we WISH to be seen, but how we ARE being seen?

I see the frustration.  I've experienced it.

As I get older,  I have decided not to succumb to the box,  but rather, enjoy the process of creating MY OWN.

And I don't want a box,  I want a niche.  It allows for my uniqueness to be displayed as opposed to being put away. 

As a performer,  you want your uniqueness remembered.  You want to be in the minds of someone who is casting who sees you clearly.

Here's the catch:  the only way they see you clearly is if YOU see you clearly.

If something doesn't add up,  it's too much time and effort to riddle it out,  and your head shot and resume are placed unceremoniously in THAT OTHER PILE.

You, the artist, You, the performer,  must discover what makes you unique, where your niche will be, and occupy that space!

Get creative with it.  Come on!  You say you are an artist,  so BE one!  Create!  Create yourself!

Don't get caught in the regular,  boring, non-descriptive adjectives.

Carve out a place for yourself!

How aware of yourself are you?

Time to ask the hard questions of yourself, and people you trust that can keep it real.  This doesn't need to hurt, but rather invigorate you to discover what space you can truly call yours!!

There are so many people trying to work in this business,  Music Theatre, Theatre, Film, TV, Opera - all of which have their own specificities and quirks.

There is always going to be someone better than you,  hungrier than you,  more determined than you.

So what makes YOU the best YOU, the most unique YOU,  the most qualified YOU?

The pieces of the puzzle don't have to fit in a "traditional" way - sometimes the "quirks" we find that don't seem to fit can end up becoming the recognized niche we need.

Are you ready for that?

So much of the time we are constantly trying to CHANGE something.  If only I had...If only I could do...If only...one day...

What about saying the square peg does belong in the round hole and this is how it works?

And claim it.  And demonstrate it.  Show us.  Create the niche.

What are your personality quirks? What makes you YOU?  Ask the people that love being around what they love about you.  Also ask them what drives them NUTS.

What are your physical attributes?  Don't value judge!  They are all real.  If you think perfect physical specimens are the only ones working,  (whatever THAT means) you are mistaken!!!  You are a perfect physical specimen for a role if you embody the niche you say you do and it works!

What can you emphasize about your energy?  Do you know what your energy reveals?  Are there differences in that energy when you are with your friends?  Your family?  Business people?  In an audition room?  In a class?   What happens?  What changes?  What can you use????

Does your voice match your body?  Do you have options?  What are they?

What can do you to still be true to your physical self and your vocal self at the same time?

You are only stuck if you decide to be.

If you feel stuck,  guess what?  That's what "they" get in the room:  This person doesn't know what they want us to see;  they don't know who they are;  next!

So often, we think we must de-emphasize something.  What if we were to really emphasize that quirk, so-called oddity,  interesting quality,  fascinating tic?   What niche could you occupy and thereby, inhabit, within the business?

Okay, I hear the question now:  but if I try to get too specific, doesn't that limit my ability to get hired?

And I answer:  Generic is generic.  There is tons of generic out there.  How does one differentiate? If you find your specificity,  then you focus on working in THAT niche.  The work could be constant frankly,  because you would be filling a niche that is uniquely you.


Type, Fach, Hit - whatever you use to "define" is there as a guideline.  The basic description is generic.  YOU define your niche by what you bring and how you hone and how you reveal.

Get creative with it! 

As an example:
We are all a little quirky.  What are your specific quirks?  Quirky how?  Describe your descriptives!!!

Find the roles that would fit YOU as you occupy and inhabit your niche.

Decide where in the business that takes you....you might be surprised as to how much possible work there is,  if you decide to focus in instead of get frustrated with a generality.

Happy discovery!

Google is your Friend...

Sunday musings...

Perhaps it is being of a pre-computer generation,  where "pounding the pavement" literally meant getting up,  and taking materials into casting offices;  where searching meant going to the library,  knowing the Dewy Decimal System and finding books with information;  when you sent inquiries via hand written letter with a stamp on it and waited for the response;

What I am finding lately,  is that the computer generation - information literally at your fingertips - is separated not by your talent per se,  but by your ability to type in your question to a search engine or not.

What has not changed,  and will not change,  is the human aspect of this:  curiosity,  and the willingness to do the work to find the answers.

Whether it is literally pounding the pavement,  or whether it is discovering the right questions to ask and where,  THIS is what often separates the wheat from the chaff.

Nobody can hand you a career.

Nobody has all the answers.

Nobody can do your work for you.

YOU have to do it.

So how do you start?

Sit on your bum,  in your pjs with your coffee beside you and begin a list of questions of things you want to know.  Let that list develop as things occur to you.

So often,  I see this "list" posted on facebook pages,  or forum message boards.  This my gentle snowflakes,  is your INSIDE list.  Nobody sees it but you.  Don't share your inside list.  You need to absorb that list and let it gestate internally with a pen and paper or on your hard drive.

As the list develops,  then start asking the questions by typing them into that search engine called Google.  Yes,  Google is your friend.  Google isn't going to say "that was a really stupid question";  Google isn't going to laugh at you;  make fun of you;  chastise you;  Google is simply going to provide you with some valuable sites it feels may answer those questions.

Then,  YOU pour over the "answers" and see if what you are reading helps your query.  Maybe it leads you to another question.  Maybe it fulfills the question.  Maybe you gain information that can allow you ask an even more specific question.

The questions you pose via anonymous forums or message boards reveal much about you.  First,  nothing is that anonymous.  Second,  the world is small.  Six degrees of Kevin Bacon remember?

How do you want to be seen?  Does your question reveal that or does it reveal something else?

If a question you ask of someone or a place is something that the more knowledgeable see as an easy "Google" question,  you are marked as lazy,  clueless,  and a whole bunch of not particularly nice words. 

People in our business are more than happy to help each other,  if they see the person asking is doing their work and finding their answers!  We are the first to smack you upside the head if we see you asking questions that are easy to Google and show your unwillingness, inability, or pure laziness, to simply type and hit send.

No question is stupid when it comes from common sense,  your ability to reach out and find answers, and truly want to know. 

Even though things have changed in how quickly we can access information,  some things have not.  It still comes down to your ability to research,  to discover,  to know how to ask the right questions,  to recognize and follow the breadcrumbs.

Don't give up.  Keep asking the questions.  Ask those questions in the right places, and absorb the answers.  Don't make excuses for the answers if you asked the question.

So pour another cup of coffee,  take a big breath,  and begin the "inside" list.  Then open that browser,  and type in that question and hit send.  You will be amazed at what you find!

Ever try to exhaust Google?  I dare you!  It will then lead you to the human beings that can specifically answer your SPECIFIC questions based not on your lack of knowledge, naivete, or laziness,  but rather, based on your research and your discoveries.

THAT is what we want to see.  Performers and artists that are willing to DISCOVER for THEMSELVES.