25 Things You Need to Know About Having a Singing Career: 2. A Blizzard of Special Snowflakes
I think I'm going to narrow this thing down to careers for singers, since that's where my expertise is. I will however, open this thing up to cover many genres of singing. The do not be an asshole rule always applies. At some point, I will re-order this list so that the asshole rule fits in a more appropriate place where we can also cover dealing with the good and bad side of being in a clique, why assholes love company and why you do not want to be caught standing next to them if you can avoid it.
25 Things: 2. A Blizzard of Special Snowflakes
Here's the good news: everyone who loves to sing has something unique to offer and there is a place for all of us out there. Here's the bad news: there are a bazillion would-be singers and every last one of them is just as special as you are, so just being special isn't enough to get you anywhere.
The trouble with professional singing is that the numbers are both with you and against you. You have no choice but to play the numbers, but it's not as easy as it looks. You are at the same time the only you out there who can never be replaced and just another singer who can easily be replaced with just about any other singer with a similar skill set. Every time you audition, you are up against an potentially infinite number of people who can do this job as well or better than you, and yet none of them will do it exactly the same way you would have.
More often than not, hiring, casting, and those precious contracts will happen because of personal taste and other details that you cannot control. Here's the good news: not getting the part or the gig or the contract or the win does not necessarily mean you weren't good enough. Here's the bad news: getting the brass ring does not necessarily mean that you were the best or even that you're any good at all.
If you're going to sing, do it because you love to sing. Don't do it to prove that you're special because you'll only end up finding out that you're not nearly as special as you thought. If everyone is special then no one is really special, right? If you talk with any group of professional singers, you'll find plenty of people who had the lead in the school show and the solo in choir or won a scholarship or were told over and over that they should be on Broadway or at Carnegie Hall or on television. Everyone can sing and singing is a lot of fun. if you're at singing, it also gets you a lot of positive attention. It's no wonder that we all want to do it. Just don't go in telling yourself that no one else has a 27-octave-range like yours, because I guarantee that if it's physically possible, then you're one of hundreds... maybe thousands... maybe more.
What I'm trying to say is... THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOU ARE.
25 Things: 2. A Blizzard of Special Snowflakes
Here's the good news: everyone who loves to sing has something unique to offer and there is a place for all of us out there. Here's the bad news: there are a bazillion would-be singers and every last one of them is just as special as you are, so just being special isn't enough to get you anywhere.
The trouble with professional singing is that the numbers are both with you and against you. You have no choice but to play the numbers, but it's not as easy as it looks. You are at the same time the only you out there who can never be replaced and just another singer who can easily be replaced with just about any other singer with a similar skill set. Every time you audition, you are up against an potentially infinite number of people who can do this job as well or better than you, and yet none of them will do it exactly the same way you would have.
More often than not, hiring, casting, and those precious contracts will happen because of personal taste and other details that you cannot control. Here's the good news: not getting the part or the gig or the contract or the win does not necessarily mean you weren't good enough. Here's the bad news: getting the brass ring does not necessarily mean that you were the best or even that you're any good at all.
If you're going to sing, do it because you love to sing. Don't do it to prove that you're special because you'll only end up finding out that you're not nearly as special as you thought. If everyone is special then no one is really special, right? If you talk with any group of professional singers, you'll find plenty of people who had the lead in the school show and the solo in choir or won a scholarship or were told over and over that they should be on Broadway or at Carnegie Hall or on television. Everyone can sing and singing is a lot of fun. if you're at singing, it also gets you a lot of positive attention. It's no wonder that we all want to do it. Just don't go in telling yourself that no one else has a 27-octave-range like yours, because I guarantee that if it's physically possible, then you're one of hundreds... maybe thousands... maybe more.
What I'm trying to say is... THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOU ARE.