A Shout of Joy!
/A Shout of Joy!
Sing for all the right reasons.
Why do you sing? This is an important question to ask ourselves. If we can’t answer it quickly and confidently we have some work to do.
As with everything else in life, our motivations for singing have a profound effect on our ability to sing. Take a moment to make a list of reasons you sing.
I sing because I am (and have always been) completely fascinated by the process of singing…the ‘how to’ part of it. I have always listened to singing and imagined how the singer can make such beautiful, ugly, interesting, expressive sounds.
I sing because I love, love, love music. Classical music has been distinctively interesting and attracting to me from earliest recollection. I sing because I want to serve music that touches me in the hope that others might share that experience. I sing because I want to serve the inspiration of incredibly talented composers both living and dead.
I sing because it makes me feel good. Good singing feels good in the same way that a great massage feels good. If feels exhilarating, energizing, fun. It gives me the same thrill that others experience from playing sports.
But, mostly I sing because my Creator has called me to glorify HIM with my voice. I wish I could say that this motivation is always pure and free from pride. I can’t. But, I am deeply grateful for the talent God has entrusted in me, and I want to develop my skills as an offering to HIM. I look forward to the day when I join that heavenly throng before HIM in heaven where we will be able to sing perfectly and without distraction for eternity!
Many of my students sing because they enjoy the fellowship of a choir or chorale. Some sing as therapy for various issues that trouble their minds and bodies. Some sing because they love to perform for audiences. Some are life-long learners who are simply curious about singing and performing and want to find out what it is like.
When your study serves clearly defined reasons to sing, you will most certainly experience the joy that comes from meeting goals and conquering challenges. Don’t let yourself simply drift along with vague desires and wishful thinking while you watch others experiencing true satisfaction. To sing well you need to know yourself very well. To sing well you need to be brutally honest with yourself about what stands between you and what you want to accomplish.
Now, let’s go to the ‘dark side’ for a bit. There are motivations that have no place in the study of music.
If you sing because you want to be famous, you are in for a rough future. It isn’t about YOU/ME. Yes, a healthy ego is necessary to sustain any worthy pursuit. But if your colleagues and supporters only find YOU at the center of your work; there is a shallow, hollow quality to your efforts. They really want to find there a burning passion for something larger than YOU that inspires their respect and admiration. Something that fires their curiosity. If YOU are the primary reason you sing, you will undoubtably suffer from an insatiable need for approval which makes for difficult relationships–both personal and professional.
If you sing out of a sense of duty, your work will lack joy. Why slavishly labor at a pursuit that either fulfills someone else’s unrealized dream or repays someone else’s sacrifices made on your behalf? You need to sing because you really want to!
I hope this will help you to find greater delight in your singing. There are so many reasons to sing. Discover and honor your motivations and I am sure both you and your listeners will be richly rewarded. – LJO