Questions for Your Artistic Self - #3

If you're a vocalist, how important are the lyrics to you?

To me - if you’re a vocalist performing the lyrics in the group – you have a great responsibility to communicate them so that whomever is listening can understand what the message is. The entire band has the music but only you have the words and those words are powerful. Someone wrote them, maybe even YOU wrote them. They communicate the message of what the music is trying to convey. The audience should at the very least…understand you. In addition, the audience wants to not only know what you’re talking about but also your point of view.

Show them you intention of choosing the particular piece you’re performing. Show them that you mean what you're singing about and audiences will believe in you. Think about how important lyrics are to you and make them even more important and your listening audience will want to take a small piece of you home.

Questions for your Artistic Self - #1

This is the start of a series of questions I've posed to myself and some of my students. I believe these questions inquires us ask ourselves about our why and what we express creatively. Today is the first one and every week, a new question will be posted for you to ponder. Since this is a forum focused on the voice, some questions will have that as a starting point yet most of the questions could used by anyone involved in producing art of whatever sort. Feedback is welcome.

Why do you sing and/or play a musical instrument?

This is a simple question on the surface and look at it from as many angles as you can and feel your reaction to what comes up. The question is asking you to look at what drives you to create and your intentions as a creative person. It may help better inform artistic decisions down the road you. The answer can be what ever comes up and feel “right” to you. As you develop your craft/art/voice more, you surely will be tested on your beliefs and convictions…I believe it is a strong force in creative people to confront issues such as these and transform what they discover back in their art to show again, one more perspective on any given theme. It broadens and deepens the human experience.