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August 13, 2006

Songs To Learn And Sing

Yesterday, I started taking singing lessons.

I've wanted to learn how to sing for a long, long time. I love music, but I never took an instrument as a kid (being too busy geeking out on computers to get into band), so my stock response whenever asks me "if I play" is to reply "yeah ... the stereo."

I do sing today, of course, but in the same way most people do - in the shower, in the car. I would never, ever sing in public other than warbling "happy birthday" with 10 of my coworkers or "the Star-Spangled Banner" with the rest of Key Arena. I've decided to change that.

The desire to sing well, defined as, "The ability to take the stage at karaoke and not embarrass oneself," is something that I haven't been able to shake for more than a decade. It's been one of those personal things that's always lost out to other, more pressing things on my calendar (startups, marathon training, yadda yadda), and yet it never let go of its hold on my imagination. So, after much hemming and hawing (it's a bit scary to put myself out there in that way), I decided to do something about it.

Hence: lessons.

I found my instructor, Sarah, as a referral from a friend. She's terrific (and, amazingly, her studio is just a mile from my place ... a nice bonus). We spent most of our first session talking about personal goals, the psychological anxieties of singing (apparently, I'm not the only person on the planet with some fear, here), and her methods. We wrapped the hour with some breathing exercises and lung-capacity tests (being a former swimmer = bit of an edge), and closed with some "la-la-LA-la-la" scale work.

It's going to take about six months of lessons, plus outside-lesson work, to start seeing results.

So I'm excited, nervous, happy. I can't really believe I'm doing this (and I'm about a million miles away from doing it in front of anybody), but I need to know if this is something I'm actually capable of doing. It's been kicking around my psyche for too long, and too strongly, for me to ignore it any more.

(And who knows? Maybe one day I'll be belting out "Sit Down" someplace where others can hear it.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer at August 13, 2006 9:13 AM. Posted to Misc.

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