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The Seven Habits of Great Singers
The stadium is filled, the excitement is palpable. The stage is waiting, the band members have taken their place. At any moment the announcement will be made, "ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've been waiting for has arrived! Bring it up for..." and as soon as the great singer's name -- YOUR name -- will be heard, all 30,000 people will erupt with a deafening welcome. How sweet it is! So how do you get there? There are seven crucial qualities that you need to become a great singer. And you know what? Having a great voice is not one of them! Louis Armstrong did not have a great voice. Frank Sinatra sang well but he was not half as good vocally as hundreds of thousands of people you and I have never heard of. True, you must be able to sing on key and put in a solid performance, but it is the seven qualities that will set you far above the rest. What are they? Quality Number One: Truth A great singer is not a candy bar wrapper. She is not about posing, looking a certain way, or even sounding a certain way. That's karaoke, that's not great singing. Great singing comes from a place of truth. It means believing each and every song you sing. It means singing each song as if you are alone with the person you are singing to. It means making the lyrics personal and real. When you sing "You are so beautiful to me", you visualize yourself singing it to the most beautiful person in the world who is in your life. Truth means not being afraid to cry on stage if the song makes you feel that way. Of course you cry within the song, making it part of the song. Not derailing it. Truth means smiling from the inside, and letting it shine on the outside naturally. Truth means honestly connecting with your audience, sharing your love of singing with them. They are the focus, not you. Pursue truth in singing and you will take a huge step towards being extraordinary. Quality Number Two: Endless Discovery Great singers are always seeking out adventure. Not only are they seeking new songs and material, new venues and new people to work with, they are seeking new adventures in the songs they've been singing for years. They never get old, they never get rusty. Think of the Broadway actor doing eight shows a week for a year or more. Think of how they have to sing each song as if it's the very first time. How do they do it? Endless discovery. Because they are dedicated to truth, great singers will never sing a song the way they did it yesterday if they do not feel it that way today. They are open to new emotions, new reactions. They regard "studied" performances as to be avoided at all costs. They love new challenges with new or old material, places, people, things, because that makes them grow. Great singers are singers who have allowed themselves to grow constantly. Quality Number Three: Study the Greats Human knowledge is collective. We learn from each other, and then we add our own experience. In that way, knowledge increases the more people we study from. And we make our contribution as well. Great singers have learned the timeless lessons of what makes for greatness. Be a lifelong student of great singers, and you will begin to touch their greatness. And you will find their greatness inspires you to discover your own. Watch them, listen to them, read their biographies, learn where and how they studied. Find out how they prepare a song. Learn everything you can. Quality Number Four: Study With the Greats No matter how truthful, wonderful, talented you are, you are partial to your self. We cannot see ourselves, and even when we look in a mirror, the image is backwards. An experienced teacher will guide you to discover things outside of yourself. She will push you to not accept mediocrity, but to strive for excellence. She will let you experiment freely, and give you the feedback you need to constantly improve your skills. She will show you how to be a great singer. Go get a great teacher, it is well worth any price. Quality Number Five: Love Practicing Believe it or not, there are some people who want to be great singers but do not like singing. If they are drop dead gorgeous, they may even succeed in having something of a career. But believe me, they will disappear with the first wrinkle or when the next beauty shows up on the scene. Great singers never fade. Ella Fitzgerald was timeless even in her late career performances. Barbra Streisand goes on and on. It is because these women love singing so much. And if you love singing, you will do it all the time. You will practice and practice and practice. When you practice a song, you must feel the lyrics, you must live the story. You can sing the same song 20 times and each time discover new feelings and meanings. Because of that, you will love practicing and you will become a great singer. Quality Number Six: Sing Anywhere You Can Great singers are not snobs. They feel as at home in a stadium as in a living room. They will sing for free for a charity or for a hundred grand on TV. They will sing for a sick child in a hospital room, and they will sing in the shower. They sing for the love, they sing for the joy. If they're in a field on a bright summer day with a blue sky and gentle clouds floating across, they will burst out into song. And every song is a new discovery. If there are people in the room, you discover how the song connects to them. If you're in the field, you discover how the song connects to nature. If you're in the elevator, you discover how the song connects to you. Great singers sing. They can't stop. That's what makes them great. Quality Number Seven: Help Other Singers Great singers love singing so much that they want everybody to do it. They will share their secret techniques, they will give their best advice. They sing for the love of singing, and that causes them to try to get the whole world to sing. "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" is the feeling of a great singer. And this has a practical benefit as well. As you help others, as you coach them, you will learn new techniques. When you are forced to teach, you are forced to understand your own instrument better. When you see how others succeed, you will learn new things. And as many teachers will tell you, they often learn more from their students than their students learn from them. At the end of the day, great singers soar on the wings of music. The more music in the world, the more wings they have to soar on. Great singers fill the world with great music. And now, my friend, you better get out on that stage with all of your heart and soul!
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