Today I read an interesting question from an aspiring singer in a forum.
——————————————————————————-
“I am fairly new at singing and want to improve. However, with quarantine I am rarely ever home alone. The walls are also quite thin, so I have this anxiety in my head that someone will hear me. What should I do? This is really setting me back and I want to overcome it”
——————————————————————–
My answer to this would be…
Scream from the top of your lungs.
What this timid young singer doesn’t see is a perfect opportunity to grow his voice in two ways.
1. Letting everyone know that he’s a singer and boosting his self-image by saying so.
2. Using the additional time to work on his voice.
But cutting himself short and seeking out ways how to dimm his voice will cause a greater damage to his confidence AND his voice than he can probably think of.
Don’t get me wrong here. I know where this kid’s coming from.
And I would be lying if I’d say I never felt this way.
Because when you’re just starting out and you see all these pro singers performing like animals you think they’re so perfect.
And then you look at yourself…unsure…cracking…pushing…constantly off-key.
And you think to yourself “I’m not a legit singer. I’m just trying to sing. But unless I have everything in place I can’t call myself a singer.”
And that’s a real problem…
Because your thoughts determine your words…and your words determine your actions.
So how can you escape that downwards spiral?
Simple as that..
Don’t wait for approval to call yourself a singer. Just BE a singer. And let the world know.
So, in his case I would say something like this to my roommates “Hey, you know how I want to improve my voice. So I’m going to do a couple exercises and sing two or three songs for the next 30 or 40 minutes. Just that you know.”
And maybe after this some of the guys would come around and say: “Well, the exercises sounded really weird and the first song you did was pretty crappy. But I liked the second song. What was it again?”
Now, can you imagine how the kiddo would feel then? Filled with pride, that one real person liked one of the songs he did.
And this feeling alone will free up his voice more than doing a hundred scales.
You see, that’s the mindset that’s fatally overlooked by almost all singing courses out there (I don’t know all of them, but I take a brave guess here).
And from my own experience I can tell you…
You’ll be amazed how having the right mindset dialed-in will benefit your voice in a way unimaginable to you.
That’s why…
Watch your thoughts…and your voice…about how you see yourself in relation to your voice.
And if you find some unhealthy self-images…CHANGE them.
Felix “vocal coach” Cerny
P.S. If you find yourself in the trap of not-believing-in-yourself (may it be with singing or any other area) you should totally try this affirmation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVv4m1SY_8