Ever try to eat an elephant in one bite? Ridiculous I know. How about lifting a house? A task for a super being, but not us. Okay, let's be reasonable, ever eaten an entire 12" wide apple pie in one bite? I know, I'm being a bit silly, but here's the thing: Focusing entirely on your end goals without thinking about the small steps is just as ridiculous. This is arguably where the 'ten year overnight success' cliché comes from. Enough of clichés and thought experiments, what does this look like. Let's work it from back to front. For the sake of argument, let's say: I want to record an album. Ni ..read more

I really enjoy talking about clichés as I imagine you've noticed, so here we go: You miss every shot you don't take In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take Life is inherently risky, there is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is doing nothing. Don't fear failure, fear being in the exact same place next year. Now here's the thing, I can hold on to the idea that those are true, but how do I reconcile those against any shame or anxiety I have about the act of trying. I started thinking about this a few days ago, and can't remember an instance where t ..read more

Habits take time to form. It also isn't enough to experience something once, and expect to be able to repeat it consistently. This is why we practice, and it behooves us to practice with intent. I had a teacher who told me that the acquisition of new skills took six months. That once you could experience singing in a particular way, it would take six months to fully integrate it into your performance practices; six months to expect it to be consistently accessible. I think she was being generous! There are some aspects of my performance practice that I've been working on for years, and they sh ..read more

I had a great idea for a newsletter this week. It came to me right while I was editing videos and I thought, 'that's so good, there's no way that I'll forget it.' Don't worry, I'm not going to bury the lead here. I totally forgot it. Now, if this was the first time that this happened to me, one might understand and have some compassion. Fact is, this happens more often than I can believe, and still happens with some regularity. This isn't so much a blog post or piece of advice as it is a public service announcement, and here it is: Have a strategy Now more than ever we can capture our creative ..read more

I've been thinking about this for some days, and struggling a bit to decipher the words from the sentiment. It's easy to fall back on clichés when talking about this. Since I've mentioned that though, here's one of my favorites: If you're not falling, you're not trying hard enough. A little context - I am an avid rock climber. In fact have a secondary YouTube channel that I'm slowly filling up with shorts about climbing. I don't want to get off topic though, but I'll leave a link at the bottom of this post. Having said that, as a climber, if you only ever climb what you can already climb, you ..read more

This is another popular cliché, and I admit, I'm not fond of this one either, but what if we thought of it as lifetime learning? Does that make it any better? The hard part of this, in my opinion, is two-fold. One more insidious than the other. The first is humility. No matter how far along the journey we are, we still have more to learn. That is the beauty, and frustration of music. Perhaps the most interesting part of it all, is that we do it to ourselves. I read somewhere that mastery of a subject is the ability to envision just beyond your ability to execute it. The more we learn and hone ..read more

The simplest of ideas can be the most profound. If something isn't working, choose again. Still singing out of tune? Then choose again how you approach your appoggio breath management. Choose again how you listen to and evaluate your vowel alignment. Choose again how you have practiced your ear training. Choose again whether or not you know the notes of the melody that you are singing and how they overlay onto your singing range. Choose again what you cover in your daily singing practice. Choose again if the key of the song is appropriate to your singing range. Again and again we get these cho ..read more

I have never been a fan of that saying. It reeks of dishonesty or of being disingenuous; not traits that I wish to embody. Yet it frequently is deployed when discussing how to manage stage fright. Okay, what about: Mood follows action That, I would submit, is what 'Fake it 'til you make it' really means, and it isn't dishonest at all. This is especially true when we couple our actions with our values. All of these elements together, bring us closer to our goals, in spite of our performance anxiety. For example: Let's say that I wish to express great drama at a certain point in a song. This is ..read more

Most of us have probably heard that we have to practice music every day. This is because the skillset is developed over time, and the muscle control involved in it needs accurate repetition in order to be second nature. I would also like to posit that there is another reason, and it relates to why it sometimes feels as if we are getting worse instead of better. Learning music is a mental and physical process. We are mostly familiar with the physical experiences of singing scales or practicing an instrument. What I find is too frequently left out of the conversation is our change in perspective ..read more

Proudly Sponsored by Capital One Shopping   This is a paid promotion by Capital One Shopping - but before you click away two things -   1. I bought the Elgato Stream Deck over a year ago with my own money. 2. I had already been using Capital One Shopping when they contacted me for this promotion.   In other words, I would be saying everything in this post anyway, and it’s an opportunity to talk with you about a great device and a way to save money if you choose to get it.   Let’s cut to the chase, if you want a great time saving and workflow smoothing device at a great pric ..read more