Wishing, Wanting, Hoping, and...Quiting

The title seems to tell it all, but let's explore the details, okay?

Wishing

Wishing is a sort of daydream. We all have dreams, some of them are fantasies, some are whimsical, some are very real and passionate. It's those that I am speaking of...the passionate ones. You've heard me say before, that walking by a store window and saying, "Oh I wish I had that outfit", is not a dream. It's a whim and can easily be replaced by any other distraction. I have found that lots of my prospective students start out with a wish, and after the first week, they are bored and distracted and move on to something else.

Wanting

Even wanting can be a fleeting thing. Children want things all the time and plead with parents to get whatever it is for them, only to discard it after a short time of having it. This tendency exists in adults as well. How many times have you said you wanted something or someone, and after you get whatever or whoever it was, you may be on cloud nine for a week or a month, but the glow fades...and you remain unfulfilled. There have even been songs written about this phenomenon. The one that comes to mind is "After You Get what you Want, You Don't Want It". Yes, it's a real song...

Now let's See what some great minds have said about HOPE!

Hoping

"In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments."
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1878

"There is nothing so well known as that we should not expect something for nothing - but we all do and we call it Hope."
Edgar Howe

"Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops... at all."
Emily Dickinson

"Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds, above the storms, if you only let them."
William James

"Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness."
Alfred Nobel

We all hope for things, and many of us only hope and never DO. To Some singers, Hoping sometimes becomes Waiting for some divine intervention to perform miracles on their behalf. That kind of hope is ineffective. To me, Hoping is action...and many of us don't really get that!

Passion!

But those who DO get it are the ones with more than wishing, wanting, and hoping. It is those with PASSION who commit and dedicate themselves to their dreams. If the passion does not exist, then comes the Discouragement and the Quitting!

Quitting

Quitting can occur because of no support from people you think you need, or from whom you seek support and encouragement. It is not uncommon among people who are creative to find that many of them have a stronger need for approval than other people, but it is also important to note that the truly creative, passionate artists often have little need for approval from anywhere!

Their drive and passion to express themselves is far stronger than their need for acceptance. In fact, most of the truly wonderful artists that I can think of faced rejection countless times before their own "voice" began to break through. The key is passion and committment, doing your vocal drills without fail every single day, learning what you need to learn to improve your musicianship, (I can't even count the singers out there who still don't know what keys they sing in...that's just unacceptable, and will never get you the respect you deserve as a vocalist). If you don't, at the very least know the keys you sing in, you are relegated to the Karaoke Screen forever.

Harsh words?

Perhaps. And I will apologize to anyone who has taken offense, for that's not my intention at all. I just want you guys to OWN your talent and to get respect for it! And let me tell you, the pleasure and satisfaction that comes with getting on a bandstand and immediately making an impact on the instrumentalists on the stage does wonders.

Once they respect you they will make you sound as wonderful as they can. The complete opposite is true if they don't. Years ago in Las Vegas the band I traveled with was asked to back up a famous singer in one of the clubs. This singer was famous, but she was also a bad singer and did know anything about music, she couldn't read it, or count out the measures, or anything. This of course made her feel intimidated by the band so she exhibited very rude and nasty behavior toward the band during all the rehearsals; yelling, insulting, and using foul language. The boys did not appreciate it and extracted their revenge during her act by playing badly and in essence, ruining her act. Matter of fact, I don't seem to recall that she worked very much after that gig.

Now, contrast her with a singer like Streisand, or a Bonnie Raitt, or Anne Wilson from "Heart" who can not only read and write music, play an instrument and even conduct the orchestra if they have to, but also sing like an angel...these are the singers with staying power and the ones instrumentalists respect the most and will go any lengths to work with. So passion for your music comes with certain responsibilities. You must strive to be better and better at what you are doing...every day.