By Michelle Latour
As singers, we learn very early to be extremely self-critical. In voice lessons, a good teacher diagnoses a technical problem and comes up with solutions to fix that problem. So early on, students learn that they are doing something wrong and that it needs to be fixed. In the university or conservatory setting, singers participate in semester-end juries whereby the voice faculty writes comments about what singers are doing well and inevitably, what they need to improve upon.
We learn to always think that the glass is half empty; “I am not supporting enough,” “There is extraneous air in my middle voice,” “My high notes are flat,” “My German diction is horrible,” and on and on the cycles goes. We become so self-critical that we often lose sight of why we chose singing to begin with. We love singing, and we are good at it! We had to have been good enough for a choir teacher or family member to encourage us to pursue music as a career.
So why do singers forget to celebrate their accomplishments? “Yes, I rocked that high note,” “My melismatic runs are fantastic,” “My acting skills are great,” or “I nailed that audition.” Oftentimes when I ask a singer to tell me three things they did well during a master class or performance, they are dumb founded. They immediately want to point out the negative and sometimes even have a difficult time stating what they did well; “I got through it,” “My knees didn’t shake,” “I remembered to smile,” or “I got all my entrances correctly.” Well, ok, that is a start.
Ann Baltz, Artistic Director and Founder of OperaWorks taught me one of the most important lessons I have ever learned as a singer. Write down a list of 10 things you do well as a singer. What makes you special, unique and hire-able? When you feel like you had a bad lesson, a horrible audition, or crashed and burned in juries, pull out this list and remind yourself why you chose music to begin with.
I am a firm believer that we do not choose music as a career that it chooses us. We often try other paths but are more miserable without music in our lives. I can attest to that 100%. So embrace it. Yes, you need to improve your technique and become the best singer possible, but wouldn’t it be easier to enjoy the ride and not see every technical issue as a negative?
Soprano Michelle Latour is active as a singer, teacher, writer, adjudicator, and workshop presenter throughout California, Nevada, and the Midwest. Visit her online at www.thelatourvoicestudios.com.
