Sing 4 Your Life! THE BLOG For Singers!

From February, 2005 newsletter to my singers:

RECORDING and “LIVE” PERFORMANCE
 

I want to speak you all this month about how to get the best out of your singing lessons.
Whether you have a teacher locally that you visit regularly, or you take long distance lessons
from me here at Sing Your Life, it’s important that you know this.

During the intervals between your lessons with your teacher or coach, YOU must act as both the
teacher AND the student. Since your teacher cannot be with you everytime you practice, you need
to practice as if the teacher WERE with you. In other words, instead of self-editing the sounds you make
during practicing, and judging your sessions subjectively, you should be monitoring your progress from a distance, you know, as if you were helping someone else to improve their singing and performance skills.

A practice session should go something like this:
You begin to practice an element of your singing that you feel needs improving…let’s say for this example, that your support seems to give up during a song and you tend to lose power, tone quality and breath as the song continues.

The best way to practice this element is to begin the song you are practicing with the fundamentals firmly established.
Okay, so you breathe in through the nose and into the belly, you bear down and start singing. All is well, but you notice that as you approach a more difficult part of the song, you are tensing up or pulling the voice up into your throat. What to you do?

Well, what would your teacher do if she/he were there watching you? The teacher would stop you and ask, “where is the tension that is causing you to pull the voice up into your throat?”
You might answer, “I feel as if I’m running out of air as I approach this passage”. The teacher would then ask, “What’s going on with the diaphragm? Is is taught or relaxed?”
Then you might notice that you’ve stopped using it altogether.

So when you’re singing by yourself, you need to be asking these kinds of questions to locate the tension, and determine why it is occurring. Then you simply make corrections each time you locate an area that needs correction.

What you DO NOT do is beat yourself up, listen to how bad the sound is, and start the song from the beginning and sing it over and over again getting more and more frustrated and tearing up your throat in the process.

Remember what I’ve said in the past, “singing is NOT practicing”. You need to practice ELEMENTS of singing individually and repetitively until that particualr element is no longer and issue, much the way a tennis player practices a serve, backhand or overhead smash.

And as you act as coach during the those times BETWEEN your supervised lessons with your teacher, you gain the objectivity needed to raise your game to the next level, and you help your teacher do his/her job.

No teacher can give you a magic potion to make you a better singer….not without YOU. So be the mirror for yourself between visits…stay objective as you dissect a song into areas to practice and then
repeat them often enough to make them “Stick”.

You will find as you practice this way that the elements you practiced until they “stuck” will also “stick” in other songs that present the same area of concern.

So the rule is:
STOP! At the first sign of tension,
Locate the tension in the body.
Determine the reason for it,
Go to the appropriate drill to handle it,
repeat the passage or line in the song that contains the area to improve…
repeat several times,

DO NOT sing the entire song again until the element of concern has been handled.

That’s it, Singers. Let me hear from you.

Thanks….til next time…

PS - There’s a video on this at my YouTube Channel. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/user/Sing4aLifetime09

I was involved in a project with about 5000 others online a couple of years ago now.
We were each discovering things about ourselves and seeking ways to have an impact on the world we live in. What I learned about my self and my motivation charged my spirit with all sorts of new ideas for the future.

As I write this, I am acutely aware that some of what I am about to talk about with you guys will be received by you in a variety of ways. Some of you will think, ‘Yeah, she’s right. It’s exactly like that’, while others will disagree totally.

I suspect that most of you will be somewhere in between because as artists we are fairly, albeit faintly aware of what goes on behind our eyes, and in the deepest part of ourselves, even those parts we keep hidden from the rest of the world outside of us.

That being said, I start by saying that I believe we human beings come into this world each endowed with certain gifts. Some of us discover very early on what those gifts are, and for some of us, they can take a lifetime to reveal themselves. While others may never find them, many will discover their gifts in the later time
of their earthly experience and wonder why it took them so long to see them.

One thing IS certain though, and it is that every one of us DOES have gifts, and from my view, our only job on earth is to use them for good.

I have spoken to you guys about this before and quite often I know, but while I was researching material for the 6th eBook, I came across some quotes by musical artists that truly touched me very deeply.

When I tell you people that your gift of song can heal the planet, I’m not just being dramatic. I’m dead serious about that.

What’s wrong with the planet is from my perspective really quite simple to diagnose. We are lost! And we are standing at the top of a hill, looking down into a valley, thinking, ‘is that the way…there?’
suddenly, we hear a small voice, behind us, like a child, and turn to look at it and THAT’s when we see the road back. All we needed to do was turn our heads.

But we are so preoccupied with day-2-day survival game we are forced to play on this planet, that we cannot appreciate the value of LOVE, and that’s what music is, you know…LOVE.

“To sing is to love and affirm,
to fly and to soar,
to coast into the hearts of people who listen,
to tell them that life is to live,
that love is there,
that nothing is a promise,
but that beauty exists, and must be hunted for and found.” Joan Baez - American Singer/Songwriter

Do you think that human beings who are feeling that kind of love would be interested in raging wars for profit?

“When I am singing, I am inside of it…I feel, oh, like it feels when you’re first in love, when you’re touching someone–chills, things slipping all over me…A lot of times, when I get off the stage, I want to make love” - Janis Joplin - American Blues Singer

Would a CEO feeling like that create a mission statement to lay off a million people just to make a few more dollars?

“Once I had a dream to live and love, and this dream became music. It touched all of the beautiful experiences I have searched for or known. Each sound was a color, and each color was a warm feeling, and my heart kept the tempo.” Les McCann - American Jazz Pianist

Can a person who understands this quote spend his afternoons spreading ugly rumors about his/her neighbor over the backyard fence?

“The funny thing about enlightenment is that it’s like you’re searching for something– say your hat–and you’re tearing the house apart and suddenly you look in the mirror and you see it sitting on top of your head.
Music is where I experience that. I’m in a flow, I’m in a zone, there’s a definite shift in consciousness, without desire, without my ego, without me thinking, ‘oh wow, I’m sounding great’.
Just experiencing it as a flowing living moment.” Vernon Reid - British-American Guitarist

Can you recall a time in your life when you were so full of joy you wept? Was your ego involved?

“For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God”. Inayat Khan - Indian Sufi Master

The Runner runs - and it becomes a prayer. For me, singing is my meditation.

“Music is the harmonious voice of creation. An echo of the invisible world [of spirit].”
Giuseppe Mazzini - Italian Patriot and Revolutionary

Singers - SEE your place in this miraculous creation!

“He who lets his breath, hence his life force,
flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice
from the depths of his body,
sings his life;
for singing means to affirm life,
to free oneself, and thereby to bring happiness
and prosperity to oneself,
and consequently to one’s fellow man.” - Marius Schneider

This is the quote that gave me the name of my first website. I have been literally singing my life since I was 3,
and there is nothing I cannot endure as long as I keep singing.
How can I impress upon you people, the value of your gift for this planet?
How can I make you see that your voice + my voice + all the singers’ voices can make so much music, that the entire earth will be continuously singing.
You can make this happen just by singing your song…making your own “sound sacrifice” to heal the hearts of a lost society. It’s your job….TO SING!

Well, please do forgive my proclivity for phlolisophical discourse, but as Nietzsche once said,
“Has anyone ever observed that MUSIC emancipates the spirit…gives wings to thought? and that
the more one becomes a musician, the more one is also a philosopher?”

Guilty.

I leave you with this thought to ponder, and I invite you to leave your comments on the blog as soon as this is posted there. I know you must have some remarks to make about my attempts here to stir things up in you. Don’t be shy. There IS a way to leave a comment anonymously, so go for it!

“Wherein lies the power of songs? Maybe it derives from the sheer strangeness of there being singing in the world…a mystery like mathematics, wine, or love. Song shows the world that it is worthy of our yearning, it shows us our selves as they might be…The mystery holds the key to the unseen…There are occasions when the bolts of the Universe fly open and we are given a glimpse of what is hidden…
Glory bursts upon us in such hours, and reveals the radiance of singing.” - Salman Rushdie - British Author

See ya soon, Singers!

DEVELOPING YOUR STYLE

It says this on my business card: Discover the Voice Inside You.
Over the weekend, I gave it someone and she asked me what that phrase meant.
I thought about it for a sec and told her this.

“Well, when we’re learning how to sing, it’s not unusual to try and sound like someone else, usually some singer who we admire and have listened to often. As we grow in technique and confidence, we start to trust our own interpretations of the songs we’re singing and rely less on the imitation of other artists.”

She replied:
“So once I develop my own sound, I shouldn’t imitate anyone else?

“Well”, I continued, “Yes and No. Actually its not just developing your sound, it’s your personal STYLE that you’re developing and it goes even further than that. Your own personal style will certainly be your own and no one else’s, but you must realize that you’ll never sing every song the same way with the same style, so while you’re developing your own voice and style, you are also learning to respect the music you sing by singing to each different song as IT dictates”

My companion seemed totally confused by this so I went on to explain further:

There are 3 levels of artistry a singer develops.

The first level is singing to him/herself.
This is learned in bedrooms across the globe in front of one’s mirror with a hairbrush as the microphone. Many singers never get past this level and fall in love with the sound of their own voices. It doesn’t matter what song they sing, they always sound the same on every single song, and they like it, even if no one else does.

The second level is singing to an audience.
This is a dangerous level as it is often dictated by the listeners rather than the singer, and therefore may contain all the right notes and words but absent of personal expression which is the true measure of an Artist! It’s also where the temptation to start sounding like someone is most insistent. And we’re all subjects of this temptation because we want to meet with approval from our audience…it’s totally natural to want to please them. And it’s also okay to…AS LONG AS we remain true to our own personal style while doing so. If you’re singing a Celine Dion song that the audience has heard a thousand times, you can still sing it as YOUR personal expression, even if there’s a pull to hit all of Celine’s notes and imitate her mannerisms. There’s only one of Celine Dion, but there is only ONE of YOU TOO. Remember that! Performing is about expression and not impression!

Which brings us to 3rd level of artistry. Singing to the SONG!
When we sing to the song, we are confident enough to allow the song itself to dictate our style. It’s not possible to sing every song exactly the same way, which is why I always admonish my students to choose the right songs if they want to showcase their true talent.

Singing to the song means that the words, and the notes and the accents of the song must conform with the inclinations of the performer.

And basically what that means is that if someone wants to hear “Crazy”, when I’m performing somewhere, I don’t have to sing it like Patsy Cline, BUT, I shouldn’t sing it with a Jazz inflection either simply because the song dictates a certain style and vocal turns that are the opposite of the way Jazz does. So what do I do? I sing the song as my own personal expression of the words, remembering that performing is all about the CONVERSATION and not so much about each individual note. So it ain’t Patsy Cline, but its pleasing to the crowd, and I kept my own artistic integrity, see that?

If I sing a song in Portuguese, the song is going to dictate where to put the accents, so I am careful to choose foreign language songs will compliment my own style without making me sound false or forced.

I have become quite impressed with this young Country artist on this season’s American Idol. He’s definitely a Country singer, but his willingness to explore what’s beyond his natural roots in that music and reveal something else lurking in his soul, demonstrates exactly what I mean when I say, “Discover the Voice Inside You”

You are invited to read all my archived blogs and articles on singing and performing by visiting my Singers Social Network!!

And here are additional websites where you will find my bloggings. We are very busy putting together a compilation of all of my meanderings for the last 10 years. Please come back and stay tuned for when that eBook will become available!!

http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/chrys_page.html

http://www.singyourlife.spruz.com/blog.htm

http://www.singyourlife.com/blog

http://www.mysingersblog.blogspot.com

And thanks for stopping by to read.

Sin[g]cerely, - Chrys

At a point in my development as a human being I became a part of a program called the “Boundless Living Challenge.” It was a place where I participated with others, spending 45 days at a time focusing on a specific intention or desire for my life.
It could be anything I desired to do or have, or it could be something about myself or my situation that I would’ve liked to change, but somehow have felt unable to do so.

I found that using deliberate intention, I CAN achieve things I never even dreamed of, and I had multitudinous a-ha moments of clarity, insight and wisdom by being part of the Boundless Living Challenge.

I also learned interesting and valuable lessons, one of which I want to talk to you about this month.

It can be a great thing to enter into a process of self exploration to discover the real YOU, the powerful and talented person you may never have allowed to come out and play before, but there CAN be a danger too.

The danger lies with the ego…and the possibility of becoming self-absorbed, which can lead to thoughts of fear, resentment, even embittered envy toward others. This can happen IF we lose sight of the fact that our talent is a gift and NOT something we ourselves created. This gift doesn’t make us better or more special, (although what we DO with our gifts DOES make us very special.)

The danger in self-exploration can also lead to comparing ourselves with others and in doing so, feeling competitive and wanting to WIN. It’s at these times that we really need to start changing our thinking from the competitive to the creative, and with complete and utter gratitude, use our talents for the good it can do in the world.

That, of course, does not mean that you must only be relegated to singing in your church choir and cannot have a wonderful life and earn a sizeable income from your talent.

When I say use your talent for good in the world, of course, I am including the good it can do for your own world as well as those you touch. It’s more the quality of joy you bring forth than anything else…do you see this?
I want you to OWN your talent and be proud of it, but not to flaunt it, or make others feel bad about themselves because they don’t seem to have it.

I have come to understand that music is not part of “arts and entertainment” as the newspaper section would have us believe. It’s not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass
time.

Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our
lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds.

A piece of music has the ability to crack your heart open like a walnut; it can make you cry over sadness you didn’t know you had. Music can slip beneath our conscious reality to get at what’s really going on inside us the way a good therapist does.

I bet that you have never been to a wedding where there was absolutely no music.
There might have been only a little music, there might have been some really bad music, but I
bet you there was some music. And something very predictable happens at weddings-people
get all pent up with all kinds of emotions, and then there’s some musical moment where the
action of the wedding stops and someone sings or plays the guitar or something. And even if the music is lame, even if the quality isn’t good, predictably 30 or 40 percent of the people who are going to cry at a wedding cry a couple of moments after the music starts. Why?

Music allows us to move around those big invisible pieces of ourselves and rearrange
our insides so that we can express what we feel even when we can’t talk about it. Can you imagine watching Indiana Jones or Superman or Star Wars with the dialogue but no music?

What is it about the music swelling up at just the right moment in ET so that all the softies in the audience start crying at exactly the same moment? I guarantee you if you showed the movie with the music stripped out, it wouldn’t happen that way.

Music is the understanding of the relationship between invisible internal objects.

If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don’t expect it
will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it
to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as
much war as they have peace.

If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives.

Please be proud as a peacock for your talent, but also be grateful, okay Singers?

See ya next time!!

Our Singers’ Network is growing daily and from what I see, it’s becoming a real resource for our members. Let me encourage those of you who have been part of the Sing Your Life family by reading the newsletters to take that next step and join the community of singers we have created for you at www.singyourlife.spruz.com

I think I have figured out why many of you are reluctant to join. I think as we mature, some of us become extremely private and do not wish to expose ourselves to the trivial chatting that comes with being part of a social network. And with Facebook and Twitter out there, It DOES seem like overkill to some of you, right?
Even my SoCal contingent, who have supported me for years have been laying back from coming into our “family” for fear of having unwelcome emails showing up in their inbox on a daily basis.

So let me once again, make this very clear. My Singers’ network is a safe and nurturing space, where YOU decide what messages you get in your inbox, YOU participate in whatever way you choose to:
• you can read what your fellow singers are expressing about their singing lives,
• or watch an instructional video by yours truly,
• or post some music
• or simply lay back and stay pretty much anonymous.
It’s totally up to you, singers!

So let me tell you what we’ve got coming up.

Coming soon:
We will cover some of the issues you wanted addressed with the Q&A series of videos, but which require more in depth responses like:
1. How to sing with Emotion
2. Being totally comfortable on stage
3. How to put together a show
4. How to hold your audience for the duration of the performance

I will coax some of my friends to join me as special guests many of whom have been conductors for many famous artists, to offer their unique perspectives on what it takes to truly succeed on any stage.

We’re also continuing with the mini-lessons on vocal technique, and the Q&A series on video.

And I want to start having monthly tele-classes which will be free of charge to our members to discuss whatever singing and performance issues you have. There’s so much we can gain from each other as long as we share, singers!

OKAY! On with this month’s featured article!!

With the “hoop-lah” buzzing over with this season’s “American Idol”, I became inspired to write another book as a companion to the “The Art of Singing” series, we’ve had on the market now for 7 years.

Those books have hit a resonant chord with singers of all ages, all skill levels, all genre preferences, and from all corners of the earth.

The first book teaches basic singing technique to give the singer the correct way to sing as an automatic cell memory so he/she cam perform without ever having to think about how to breathe, how to “attack” notes, but just concentrate on communicating with the audience.

Book # 2, on Stage Presence, which is offered on our singers’ network as our gift to our members, talks about the ego’s interference and other distractions when we get up onto a stage to perform.

The 3rd Book is all about musicality, and seeks to teach the singer how to understand the notes, rhythms, and harmonies of the songs he/she sings, and how to know his/her range and keys he/she sings in, and how to count the beats of music.

And the 4th Book is all about Promotion, and how to navigate through the labyrinth of “come-ons” and move from the hyped up salesman speak to controlling one’s own destiny with regard to a career in music if that is the desire.

And NOW, since watching this season’s American Idol, where it became pretty clear that the outcome had been planned to be exactly what it became, I decided upon a serious guide book of rules for the aspiring singer, which I am naming, ”Get Off The Bandstand”. Generally speaking, this book is meant to keep you in a state of total gratitude for your talent, and in the mood to share it always, but with respect for it and for yourself!

Have you ever been to a wedding where one of the guests approaches the bandstand to request that “Aunt Sally” be allowed to come up and sing for the happy couple? After many moments of Q & A with the band members, which might go somewhat like this:
“What would you like to sing?”
“Um…Gee, I can’t think of anything.”
“Well, how ‘bout a nice wedding song?”
“Uh, Yeah…I know um…the “Hawaiian Wedding song?”
“Okay, key?”
“Huh?”,
“What key do you sing it in?”.
“Oh! Dunno! Wait! Someone once told me I sing in C. Does that sound right?”
“whatever!”
Aunt Sally sings the song, in the wrong key and forgetting most of the words, but nevertheless, the wedding guests, wishing to be polite and supportive, enthusiastically applaud her efforts…which she reads as artistic approval, (wrong read…entirely), and so she decides to sing more songs. The problem is that Aunt Sally cannot really sing, doesn’t really know any song all the way through, and after the initial support from the crowd, they are restless, embarrassed, clearly uncomfortable, and the band doesn’t know how to graciously get rid of this person, as she has most assuredly worn out her welcome…big time!

My book will serve as a guide for aspiring artists who have the urge and desire to sing, but do not yet understand the correct protocol for doing so. Whether a professional singer or not, if you choose to perform, please know when you do, you represent an art form that celebrates personal expression of the deepest level and therefore MUST be treated with reverence and respect, even awe!

I suppose it was inevitable that mediocrity would eventually creep into the world of the Arts! And indeed, some would say, it has always been here…hiding in the shadows. I suppose that’s correct. And I can remember my parents absolutely despising the 50’s doo-op songs, but their disdain motivated them to take us kids to the opera and expose us to big bands, or insist that we listen to the Greek Hour every Sunday. And my parents’ parents probably thought Benny Goodman was as dangerous as Elvis, so sure…it’s a matter of personal taste, and I get that!

And it could also be said that although commerce dictates the “trends” in music, and that the bubble gum sounds of the Disney Channel represent a segment of the listening public who keep the music business’s economy running, this fact alone is not enough of a reason to relegate music into some insipid “entertainment” category, much the same as video games and gambling. Shouldn’t we be maintaining the importance of music in our lives as more than some superficial “feel-good” pill? Especially for those of us who SING to express ourselves, it IS so much more than that, isn’t it?

“To sing is to love and affirm, to fly and to soar, to coast into the hearts of people who listen, to tell them that life is to live, that love is there, that nothing is a promise, but that beauty exists, and must be hunted for and found.”
Joan Baez - American Singer/Songwriter

“When I am singing, I am inside of it…I feel, oh, like it feels when you’re first in love, when you’re touching someone–chills, things slipping all over me…A lot of times, when I get off the stage, I want to make love”
Janis Joplin - American Blues Singer

“Once I had a dream to live and love, and this dream became music. It touched all of the beautiful experiences I have searched for or known. Each sound was a color, and each color was a warm feeling, and my heart kept the tempo.”
Les McCann - American Jazz Pianist

“He who lets his breath, hence his life force, flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life; for singing means to affirm life, to free oneself, and thereby to bring happiness and prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one’s fellow man.”
Marius Schneider – German Musicologist who found musical symbols in German Mythology

I know I’ve used these quotes before, but I write them down here again to remind you of the value of the gift you have been given of a singing voice. It’s a gift to be grateful for and to be cherished and treated with care and respect, always!

Note: I am gathering stories about experiences you may have had either as a singer singing with a band, or as a band member dealing with a singer on stage. Please send me whatever you have, funny, sad, outrageous, whatever. Feel free to change names so no one’s embarrassed, okay?

See ya next month, Singers!!

Sin[g]cerely,
Chrys

Yikes! I simply can’t get over how fast the time is fleeting by and half the time I don’t even notice its passing.

Here we are once again with another Holiday Season upon us, and as singers that means invitations to parties, and dragging out the
Christmas tunes, making sure that we can still sing them in the same key that was good last year. If we’re over a certain age, that particular element
can definitely change from year to year…UNLESS of course you have mastered the “voice for a lifetime in 30 days”.
My keys haven’t seriously altered since 1979. (Oh, Chrys! Quit braggin’).

I feel very fortunate to be working this season because as many of you know, the “holidays” are not my favorite thing. But the one thing I DO love about them is singing the music of the season, and this year I will do a lot of THAT!

Looking forward to riding the train over to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with my son, AND to conduct a workshop for the singers I left behind when I originally left there in 2006. It’ll be great to see…and HEAR them all again.

Earlier, it occurred to me, as I was sitting on the floor with sheet music strewn everywhere, that being a professional singer…at any rung of the so-called ladder to success, is hard work…that is IF you really want to do this for a living and for a lifetime, and the the often hateful or simply mean things people say about musicians needing to get a real job is ridiculous!

This IS a real job, and I just spent 6 hours on my livingroom floor working out sets of music for a variety of functions I will sing at this season and then writing out the music in my keys, and alphabetizing all 168 songs into a readable format for myself, my guitar player and bass player. And I have to ask…”Why does loving what we do NOT count as work?”
Shouldn’t everyone love what he/she does for a living? Do you?

A lot of my younger students don’t get that….yet! But I am confident that they will at some point. Even they have bought into the myth that being a professional singer is a walk in the park. Or that one never has to work at it. Just ask any “famous” artist about that! The rude awakening is enough to lead many young artists into harmful behaviors. If it isn’t having to work to stay on top of their game, it’s reading their own press and thinking that they are somehow in a space where the air is more refined and they get to breathe it in over the rest of us.

However, with the right influences early, I think young aspiring artists can be educated in a gentle and non-intrusive manner about the business of music.

One of my dearest young students has been with me since the age of 12. When we first met, she was into some really poor excuse for a singer on the Disney Channel.

I used to tell her that she’d outgrow her childish admiration for these people, and even pass them, leaving them all in the dust with her talent.

She would listen politely, and ignore me. It’s 5 years later and she’s turning into as beauty as well as an accomplished singer AND songwriter.

She sings rings around Miley Cyrus, and her writing skills are getting better every day. And she no longer thinks singers on the Disney Channel are all that much. And she has parents who are involved and keep her grounded.

And this makes me wonder about the so-called “Pop-Culture”, as its defined by 12 year olds. I guess I wonder…WHY??? Why is the culture of what is happening in the movies, on TV, and in the music industry, being dictated by 12 year olds?

And then I recall the days of doo-opp an how much my parents hated it. Same chords for every song, same rhythm.

Lucky for me, my mom’s brother was into jazz and he used to play it for me constantly…
and my father had 3 passions, 2 of which I embraced just to be near him, (because, as the middle child, I felt less loved than my older sister), and the passions he passed on to me were for baseball, and opera. So I had a foundation of music appreciation that served me well as I grew and matured.

I guess when I think about it, these men were the models for what I try to teach today in a way. I expose my students to different kinds of music so that they can know, that
there IS history at work here and that although they can enjoy the top 40, just like my generation did and as every generation has, stretching oneself into another KIND of listening, can only enhance the overall musical experience. I certainly have no intention or desire to dissuade any young person from the latest pop culture symbols…except….when it comes to GLEE!!!

Oh, the music is okay…the production levels pretty fine, the dancing top-notch, so what’s my beef?

Its the celebration of MEAN, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS, UNSCROUPULOUS, JEALOUS, UNETHICAL, HATEFUL behavior of the characters that just really burns my
brain! Maybe I’m just an old fogey, (I believe we are often called “Old Pharts”), but there’s more than enough mean-spirited TV on the airwaves right now. Wouldn’t it be nice
if the show that has the minds and hearts of our youth at the moment, demonstrated KINDNESS, INTEGRITY, FRIENDSHIP, SELFLESSNESS,
LEADERSHIP, ACCEPTANCE, AND JOY, be something?

Hey, I don’t know. I sort of live in my own world more and more as the years pass. Like the song says…
“I got plenty of nothing and nothing’s plenty for me…got my Lord, got my song, got Heaven the whole day long…”

Let’s talk about GLEE…whaddaya say, huh?? Come on over to the Sing Your Life Singers Network and put in YOUR 2 cents.
singyourlife.spruz.com/blog.htm

Or you can just respond to one of the places where this newsletter will appear:
Here are the addresses:
www.singyourlife/blog
www.mysingersblog.blogspot.com

And before I forget…WE’RE on “MY SPACE” NOW TOO!
Here’s that URL: www.myspace.com/556673795 (or just search for “Chrys Page” in the music devision)

See you over there???

Happy Holidays Everyone…

Sin[g]cerely,

Chrys

I cannot say it enough! IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO GO FOR YOUR HEART’S DESIRE!!
This month I want to talk about ACCEPTANCE, FORGIVENESS, and PASSION!

But before we get into that, let me profoundly apologize to each and every one of you 1300 singers who may be receiving JUNK mail from my email address Chrys41@msn.com. I’ve been on the phone with MSN for weeks trying to straighten this out with no success whatsoever! Seems that email address has been hacked and everyone on my mailing list is receiving junk mail from it. I am so so sorry.
The only solution is to delete the email address permanently and that’s what I shall do. It’ll take a little time, cause I have to communicate with every vendor and website who may have it with whom I have been doing business for 10 years. So please just delete anything “fishy” you may get from that address, especially offers for Viagra. Geez! Utterly ridiculous!! That ship sailed a long time ago…ha ha!!

Okay then…let’s talk…
Following my “escape” from Texas, I thought I needed sufficient time to decompress, so the moments of low energy and and being seemingly disinterested in most things did not appear to be unusual.
It’s always amazing to me how well we think we know ourselves, when in reality, what we know about ourselves is only the ego-self, not the higher self. Here I was insisting on my limitations, (after all, I’m 70…no need to push…no need for high energy…just relax, grin and bare life…for now)
“NOT!!!” said the Universe!

All sorts of situations and circumstances began to cave in on me, forcing me to ACT, not sit! I found myself panicking at every turn, anxious about everything, upset over little things. Everything I had studied and integrated into my psyche seemed to leave me, and I became an emotional wreck with nothing to look forward to…for several weeks.
But here’s the kicker…ANY energy is better than NO energy! And my panic became ACTION and that became ENTHUSIASM, and that became OPPORTUNITY, and that has become SATISFACTION AND FULFILLMENT!

I’ve been offered a job singing with a local Jazz trio of superb world class musicians, and my vitality and zest for life has fully returned! I am acquiring more and more students and now have the interest AND the energy to coach them with all I have to give, which is plenty!!
NOTHING is PERMANENT! Everything in the Universe is in constant fluctuation, so what looks like a big fat BORE today, or a big FAT PROBLEM, or a GIGANTIC MESS at this moment, can turn into something really wonderful in the very next instant.

It seems to start with some form of ACCEPTANCE. And when I say that, I’m not talking about resignation, which I see as a negative emotion with very low energy. Acceptance is something positive, something adult, mature, practical. It’s an
“Okay, this IS what it IS. I can handle this. I can forgive my silly mistakes. I can do what is needed to be okay with this.”

That was the beginning for me.

And just like the song goes…the one from some Christmas Cartoon my kids used to adore, “Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking ‘cross the floor…put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be headin’ out the door”.

Is there anyway I could have anticipated or dreamed that I’d be still working at this stage of my life, AND that I’d LOVE every second of it? No! my little ego-self still thinks I belong on a beach somewhere sipping Mai Tai’s. But see? That’s not who I am…not the real me. You gotta dig DEEP to get to the real you, singers. And trust that your REAL SELF, the HIGHER YOU can lead you to where you truly want to be.

I want to encourage you to check in with Andy De Campos, who gave up his day job to pursue his passion. He’s got a wife, a baby, and another on the way. But he believes in himself, and he’s raking in the dollars with singing jobs all over Ontario, Canada. Check him out at YouTube.com. or on Face Book! As they say in Italy…Coraggio!! and BRAVO!!

We never run out of time to love our life, singers! Just go for it!

And let me hear from you.
SING YOUR LIFE ENTERPRISES - ALBUQUERQUE, NM

News From Chrys, November 2010

I am saying it again, singers, and to demonstrate the point, check this video out.

So it’s fine and cute to watch little 7-11 years olds sing like adults, but nothing is as wonderful as listening to an 80-year-old with the power and resonance of this singer…Janey Cutler.

OMG! She’s fabulous!

http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/7464575?fr=yvmtf

Please pay attention to the muscles she uses to get that sound. It’s not in her throat. It’s in her belly!
Yes, there’s a bit too much vibrato there, but have you heard Liza lately?? or Shirley Bassey EVER???
This singer has style, power and a lot of courage.

How ’bout YOU????

So, this past Sunday, I did my first actual gig with the trio I was telling you about last time. 3 beautiful players: a guitarist, drummer and bassist. I would say we’re all in the same age range more or less, tho’ I think I’m a bit older than they by about 10 years or so.

Anyway, we had had a short rehearsal the previous Friday and had a list of about 20 tunes that we’d gone over, but as the evening progressed, it became obvious that 20 vocals was not gonna cut it. We would need twice that number or more to play the 3-hour gig.

Well, I had made a list of tunes in my keys of 130 songs, and we did ‘em all on the fly….and it was great! A few missed entrances, a few guitar chords that didn’t work, but y’know what. It didn’t matter!! The audience loved the whole thing….we were enjoying each other and the folks listening could tell how much fun we were having up there, and it was infectious!

We were asked back and will now be playing there every other Sunday. I can’t express to you what a joyful experience that is, but when you look into the face of Janey Cutler in the video above, you can pretty much see what I am talking about.

I would like to encourage all of you to join the little Social Network of Singers we have on line. It’s an opportunity to be reminded on a regular basis of the pure love you have for singing and to share it with other singers just like yourself!
Here’s the link: www.singyourlife.SPRUZ.com/

We are living in a world of rapid changes in music, and there are days when we feel so totally out of the loop, what with the rappers and the hip-hoppers, and the screamers, right? Our little network is made up mainly of singers like us, a little on the mature side whose dreams of stardom faded years ago, but the passion and love remains…for the Tin Pan writers like Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Kahn, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern and so many more. The songs we sing are the ones in the American Songbook that Jonathan Schwartz calls it, and I would hate for us to become shrinking violets because our grand kids don’t understand our music. Heck we don’t get theirs either, right???

Joining the network is totally free and your participation, while desired is not mandatory.

Post your singing…or not. Post your photo…or not! Post a comment to some else’s discussion…or not. It’s all up to you.

Just know that there is always a place for you to be with your passions and your dreams. You are always welcome and invited to take part in the music we share together….or not.

Last newsletter I ended with this Quote:
“We never run out of time to love our life, singers! Just go for it!”

While I believe strongly in that, this time, I end with a quote I put on my Facebook page by Henry Miller:
“If there is any peace it will come through being, not having.”

Let me hear from you.
SING YOUR LIFE ENTERPRISES - ALBUQUERQUE, NM

Hi Singers,

The count down continues to my departure from the various features of Sing Your Life as it was created originally on the web in 2000…

This month, I am sadly having to let go of the long distance lessons. It has simply taken up too much time and the frustration with less than perfect synchronization of sound and video has rendered
the entire process more distracting for both the student and the teacher and
not as helpful as I imagined.
And once again, I don’t have the resources to increase the quality of the broadband. So it has to go…

On the other hand, and with a little more cheer, I have decided to bring the site down to only a few pages, improve the
navigation and offer more FREEBIES to members of this mailing list.

In a few days, I will have completed compiling a list of all the POP backing tracks I have and I’ll be placing the list on the Members Only page. This list has taken a really long time because it’s the longest list and was housed in
folders and subfolders I didn’t even know I had. But it’s getting there and will be available for download for
you to select your most coveted tracks for only 75¢ each.

Of course, the singers social network is still going strong as a place where we singers can gather, sing for one another, discuss whatever we wish, (as long as
it’s in good taste), blog, make videos, and share personal stories across the
vastness of cyberspace. And I shall
continue to blog on the importance of staying the course with the dreams you
have of singing, for this is my mission.

As long as there is breath inside of you and the deep longing to sing your life’s story into the ethers, I am here to encourage that act and the courage it takes
to keep that flame going long after those around you have decided that it’s
just too late and/or that it’s time to grow up.

And that brings me to my featured talk for this month…

They say that we tend to TEACH that which we need to LEARN the most. I believe that’s true. In fact, I KNOW it! It is the reason I CAN NOT and WILL NOT let go of the passion that I’ve had for music since the age of 3. But more than that…

Well let me tell you a story…

The earliest performance of mine that I can recall was at about 5 or 6 years old, standing on a picnic table in a family friend’s back yard and singing a “La Vie En Rose”…

And feeling the praise and love from all those around me, I wanted that to go on forever. There was never a thought in my head as a small child that I would ever wish to do anything else with my life…only to sing and keep on singing…cause that’s where the love was…at least where I felt it the strongest.

But the times in which I came into my own, and my own lack of courage to go after my dream and possibly meet with disapproval from my loved ones, kept me from my life’s dream. And although I made a life and a living from singing for a long
time, raising my children and gaining respect and admiration form fellow musicians…

Well…In the words of Terry Malloy, the character in the movie, “On The Waterfront”, played by probably one of the top 5 greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda BEEN somebody…”

Now don’t misunderstand me here. I am not by any stretch whining about the fact that I never DID get to sing at Radio
City Music Hall, (Hey, it could still happen…).

I tell you this because the ONLY real joy we get to experience in this life, is the joy that we ourselves create. The “yeah, but’s” that our loved ones shower upon us may be meant well, but only
keeps us from our dreams.

Courage! That’s the mantra!! And having said that, I am so so proud of my daughter, Jen Olive, (www.jenolive.com), who unlike her mother, has had the guts and passion to stay the course for over 20 years, through bad times and bad relationships, and raising 2 kids, and is still coming out on top!!

She was signed to an Indie record label in the UK last year, and yesterday, her CD was released to a throng of accolades and fan approval. I am posting a link to the video she did in the studio at APE HOUSE records, her label.
http://apehouse.prevuz.com/2010/03/jen-olive-querquehouse-live/

I could not be more inspired…Hope you will be too…

And while the style of music she offers may not be palatable to the masses,
(Taylor Swift, she ain’t, ha ha. And Thank Goodness!), the musicianship, the vocals, the uniqueness of her compositions, the choiring reminiscent of the Beach Boys, Carpenters, and even Les Paul and Mary Ford, cannot be denied. It does weave a spell…but then I’m her mom so…

My point is this. When I tell you NOT to compare yourself with any other artist, I realize I have just asked you to “NOT THINK OF A PINK ELEPHANT”.

So perhaps I should be saying…OKAY, compare away, but know this: The result of your “research” will be that you will find that about 50% of singers you hear will be better than you and about 50% of them will not be as good.

The truth is that of the 40 million telephone votes for singers in last night’s “IDOL” show, the lowest number of votes are still more than enough to sustain a career. So whoever goes home tonight will still have opportunities to sing and perform and have a successful career. Google any of the top ten from seasons past, who sing for the love and passion of it and NOT the celebrity, and you’ll find working singers, not waiters and sales girls.

Check it out for yourself:
http://www.watchingamericanidol.com/category/where-are-they-now/

So I have no desire or intention to go quietly into that good night. And neither should any singer who still has the desire and ability to GIVE!

“He who lets his breath, hence his life force, flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life; for singing means to affirm life, to free oneself, and thereby to bring happiness and prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one’s fellow man.” Marius Schneider

See ya next time, singers!!