Clarissa wrote:
>I just wanted to say that I get SOOO frustrated!!! I mean it seems as
>if no matter how hard I try or how well I sing, I am never good
>enouogh. It sucks. I just finished my jury,and my grades ranged from
>an 88 to two 95's, and everything in between- the two 95's were from
>voice teachers I talk to regularly abput sinigng in general, so yeah
>they like me. It just sucks. I get so sick of comments like "Good
>potential" When I am singing my heart out. Does that mean I am not
>good yet but I might be someday? I wish I could tell every judge in
>there that I went into my jury hoarse,a dn that I had just barely
>gotten my high notes back after weeks of not having them due to vocal
>misuse. I wish I coudl tell them I leanred four of my songs in 1
>month- the month OF my jury,after my teacher and I dropped them due
>to tooo mcuih techincal difficulty, or my not being able to get the
>high notes becayuse I was sick. I wish they could see so many things,
>but that's not the case. they see me for all of 5 minutes, and just
>grade what they (think) they hear- some vocie teacher told my I am
>not a hgh soprano, when let's jsut say, mty friends play the "Let's
>see how high Clarissa can go" game). Do any of yall feel like I do?
>Like you will alwyas be the girl with the "pretty voice" and nothing
>more. BTW I HATE that comment. I don't want to have a pretty voice,
>I want a vocie that will blow peopel away. So if youa re one of thsoe
>many many voice students who will always be the cute girls
>with "Pretty voices", or are just frustrated in any way, please post.
>thanks yall!
I think we can all relate to these feelings of frustration! It's part of
the life of a singer, Clarissa, and as you gain more experience you'll find
ways of calming yourself down and letting it get to you less.
A couple of specific points that I hope might help:
1. You were smart to save your voice while recovering from hoarseness.
It's unfortunate that you had to sing your jury before you were totally
ready. It's a good lesson for the future. Anytime you are battling with
your own body, it's best not to push yourself. If you *ever* are in that
kind of situation again and have the option to cancel, you now know that
cancelling is a good idea! Be glad this happened in a jury rather than in
Carnegie Hall with the New York Times reviewer sitting in the audience.
Going through with it isn't always a good idea, and you're so lucky to have
learned this important lesson while you're young and the stakes are
relatively low.
2. "Good potential" & "pretty voice" are comments that many singers would
kill to get! Congratulations to you for showing the beauty of your voice
and the strength of your potential even when you weren't at your best!
3. One of the hardest things about our business is that we don't get the
chance to make excuses for ourselves. Even though *you* know that there
were very good reasons why you didn't show yourself to your absolute best
advantage in your jury, all the faculty had to judge you on was that
five-minute audition. They weren't downgrading you to be mean (actually
your scores still seem pretty good to me!), but rather because they could
only evaluate what they heard. They don't know what you've been through.
And in the so-called real world, when you get a review, you're going to
have to sit still and take it, good and bad. You don't get to argue with
other peoples' opinions of you. It's a really good idea to start taking it
easy on yourself and others. What people say about you -- it's just
information. Some of the information will be helpful to you now, some not
so helpful. Some may be helpful far in the future when you're able to
understand it better. Just take it all in, talk it over with your teacher
and decide what you can use to your advantage to improve yourself as a
performer.
4. I'm also one of those cute girls with a pretty voice! I know what you
mean about wishing you could have a voice that could blow people away.
Please believe me when I tell you that as you get older and more
experienced you will develop the skills so that you can blow people away,
even in the chirpy music that singers like us often wind up singing.
There's a lot more music out there, and as you gain the technique you'll be
able to sing it in such a way that you can stop peoples' hearts and make
them cry and all the rest.
Patience is the most useful asset a singer can develop. It's not easy. (I
struggle with it all the time!) Please think about being nicer to yourself
and respecting your abilities. Learning to sing is a lifelong process --
there will always be more that you want from yourself. But at the same
time, you can learn to enjoy where you are now, even as you aim higher and
higher.
Keep up the good work!
Naomi Gurt Lind
omigurt@m...
omigurt@m...
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