Thursday, January 18, 2018

The Voice Within

I love music!  It can be vocal, piano, orchestra, etc.  There is something about hearing someone sing a sing that tells a story or listening to a person play the keyboards on the piano.

I am not a singer or a concert pianist.  When I was younger, I did take a couple of years of piano.  I could sit and listen to someone playing the piano all day long.

There is an enjoyment of listening to someone sing.  I especially love music where someone tells a story and you can feel the emotions that they are going through.

I did try singing in the church choir, but I felt that I couldn't carry a tune.  I felt embarrassed.  So of course, I quit. Growing up, my personality was if I couldn't be good at it, I would just no longer do it.  As I have gotten older, I have tried to stick with something and keep on persevering even when I wanted to throw up my arms and say no more.

With maturity, I have learned that sometimes you have to go through valleys to reach the mountains.

I have a friend who told me that everyone can sing.  They just have to find their voice. Last week, I took my first voice lesson.  My instructor began the class with talking about what I wanted to accomplish from these lessons.  The one thing I want to accomplish is to be able to sing with friends and not to feel embarrass about my singing.

It was an aha moment when I realized how important it is to exercise the voice.  How do I stand and how do I breathe?  We did some stretches with the body, with the neck area, the jaw, etc.  We focused on warming up with vowels.

I am beginning to discover that learning to sing is like exercising my body.  I need to have cardio and weights to tone up.

After my first two weeks, I still feel embarrassed.  There are demons that tell me "Why are you doing this?  You are sixty-four.  You will never be able to carry a tune."

I am banishing those demons.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  I will practice.  I will keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I am sixty-four, but I do have a lot of life in front of me.  Who knows, maybe I could be the next candidate for the "The Voice"? 


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