Excuses. I have heard them all, many, many times. I have even made a few excuses in my time. They are a self-protective shield that
sits between you and what you can achieve as a performer. Read the list of
excuses and see if you recognize your own excuses on the list. Perhaps you
actually believe your excuses and maybe they are somewhat true. True or not, if
you want to be a successful professional, it is time to free yourself from your excuses and leave them behind.
2) I didn't do my best because I was sick.
"I had a cold when I made that recording did that audition or had that performance". "If I was well, I would have been great".
Really? You are a professional who has devoted your life to music and you have no recording of yourself created when you were well? Is it because you are sick so often that illness occurred at every recording session? If so, then how you sing when ill is your usual level of performance, and therefore it represents YOU. So don’t use illness as an excuse. Have you not recorded enough? Make some new recordings. The music business requires demonstration recordings.
You were sick during that performance? You were well enough to go on! You are responsible to develop a technique that allows you to perform even when you are not in perfect shape. You are responsible to take care of your health so that you can be a reliable performer. Moreover, you are responsible to have all aspects of your performance at such a level of excellence that even when you are not at your best you are still excellent. You are also responsible to know when you are too ill and you need to cancel.
3) Other people/ other circumstances ruined my performance.
"My Partner was mean to me", "the director/ conductor was unkind, "I was having personal stress therefore I did not perform my best".
Performances happen in real world circumstances. Pros perform all the time. Life isn’t perfect, if you need things to be perfect in order to deliver a good performance, you will not be able to perform for a living. In fact, a first-rate professional should be able to perform at a high level even under very extreme duress.
4) The audience ruined my performance.
"I had a poor audience", "I had the wrong audience". "In front of the right audience I am great". "The audience didn’t know me I was the opening act/ the audience knew me and I can’t perform in front of people I know", "the audience was not supportive", "the audience was disruptive".
Fine performers should be able to perform in front of any audience. Your job as a performer is to be excellent no matter whom the audience is comprised of, or what they do. If you are thinking about what they think, you are not doing your job, which is to have 100% of your mind on what YOU are doing. If the audience is not behaving well, respond like a pro. If they are being extremely disruptive break the third wall and reprimand them. If they are heckling, deliver your rehearsed response, or improvise appropriately. If they are not responsive, perform as if they were responsive.
5) It was the wrong song/role for me. "The song did not showcase me". "I am better at other songs".
If you are better at other songs then choose the other songs for an audition or any other circumstance where you have control. Role not good enough? Professional performers shine appropriately in any role large or small,in fact the ability to shine in a supporting role is the very skill that often helps performers break through.
6) It was the wrong style of music- I am better at a different style of music.,
If your goal is to be the next pop sensation why do you only choose to perform classical music. Are you avoiding something by avoiding the repertoire in which you claim to excel?
Perform the style of music that suits you or become proficient at the styles you must perform.
7) Other performers ruined my performance.
"The pianist at the audition was bad" "My co-star threw me off" or in other words, "If other people were competent, I would have been great".
You didn’t get the role because the audition pianist was bad? Well, everybody had to use that pianist, which evens things out doesn’t it? If your audition song was too hard for the pianist to sight read, poor choice by YOU, huh? Take responsibility for choosing a song with a more sight-readable accompaniment next time. Tempo wrong? Learn how to communicate tempi to other musicians. Another singer made an error on stage, which therefore caused you to make a mistake? Learn to get your cues from the orchestra!
8) I wasn’t prepared.
"If I had more time I would have been able to practice more and I would have been great".
Why weren’t you prepared? If you were not prepared then spending enough time to learn your music it isn’t a priority. Did you avoid practicing because you needed the excuse of not being prepared in order to avoid facing what your actual performance level is at the moment? Do you need to increase your musicianship skills in order to be able to learn music quickly and accurately, a skill that professional singers require?
These are just some of the most common excuses singers use. Take a look at your own excuses and you will learn EXACTLY what you need to change in order to succeed.
Many times the excuse is rooted in, or based upon truth. So what? It is unprofessional to communicate the excuse, most of the time. Communicating the excuse before hand, or knowing that you will use the excuse afterward gives you the permission to do a less than excellent performance. And please don’t confuse this with communicating to a conductor that you are on voice rest and that you must mark. As a graduate student I remember a fellow student telling a well-known guest conductor that she was on voice rest and he accepted the answer. Then she proceeded to try to tell him about her throat infection and he abruptly stopped her saying loudly “PLEASE DON’T SHARE YOUR PERSONAL ISSUES WITH ME”. Yes, when someone steps in as a last minute replacement a theater will inform the audience, just as much to explain why an actor is not fully integrated into a production as to tell you their identity. And yes, at the Met, when the great opera artists agree to go on stage despite illness, an announcement in made. Risking one’s hard-earned reputation by agreeing to go on although ill is not the same as an unknown who makes excuses every single time they sing. It really isn’t.
If you see yourself reflected in this article you probably think I am a hard ass. But the truth is I am far from being one! If you are like most performers who are addicted to excuses, YOU are probably the one who is tough on others. Imagining that others have in their minds the same critical thoughts you have in your mind when you listen, is what is causing your excuses to flow. I don't judge performers unfairly for their negative. judgmental and overly critical attitudes towards others because these thoughts come from insecurity and longing for opportunities and acceptance. Singing teachers and coaches know why problems are occurring and are usually very sympathetic. Audition panels are on your side, they want to find someone to hire and hope that it is YOU, the person in front of them at the moment , so they can stop looking and go have a beer or play ball with their kids. Audiences simply want to be entertained. Try channeling the experiences with challenges that you have faced into empathy for other performers rather than excuses for yourself. It you are able to do so, YOU will be rewarded by becoming a more secure performer. When you are more secure you will be able to simply do your best and accept your own best efforts with graciouness and poise.
Remember, nobody expects you to be perfect, they just expect you to do your job well.
Take responsibility and be excellent.
1) If the environment I sang in was better I would have been great
"The acoustic was faulty", "the monitors were insufficient, and I couldn’t hear myself". "It was too hot" or "it was too cold".
"The acoustic was faulty", "the monitors were insufficient, and I couldn’t hear myself". "It was too hot" or "it was too cold".
You are responsible to learn how to adjust your hearing to various acoustic conditions. A good technique helps you to sing by sensation, not by listening to yourself. If you can’t perform in real world conditions, you can’t perform can you?
If you can’t sing in air con you can’t have a performing career in the US! If you can’t sing outside in freezing temps, don’t agree to do so. If you can’t perform under hot lights, get out of show biz! Ever notice the sweat pouring off of your favorite star? They sing ANYWAY.
Get experience, do your best in every circumstance. Don’t blame the environment. Learn to function in it.
If you can’t sing in air con you can’t have a performing career in the US! If you can’t sing outside in freezing temps, don’t agree to do so. If you can’t perform under hot lights, get out of show biz! Ever notice the sweat pouring off of your favorite star? They sing ANYWAY.
Get experience, do your best in every circumstance. Don’t blame the environment. Learn to function in it.
2) I didn't do my best because I was sick.
"I had a cold when I made that recording did that audition or had that performance". "If I was well, I would have been great".
Really? You are a professional who has devoted your life to music and you have no recording of yourself created when you were well? Is it because you are sick so often that illness occurred at every recording session? If so, then how you sing when ill is your usual level of performance, and therefore it represents YOU. So don’t use illness as an excuse. Have you not recorded enough? Make some new recordings. The music business requires demonstration recordings.
You were sick during that performance? You were well enough to go on! You are responsible to develop a technique that allows you to perform even when you are not in perfect shape. You are responsible to take care of your health so that you can be a reliable performer. Moreover, you are responsible to have all aspects of your performance at such a level of excellence that even when you are not at your best you are still excellent. You are also responsible to know when you are too ill and you need to cancel.
3) Other people/ other circumstances ruined my performance.
"My Partner was mean to me", "the director/ conductor was unkind, "I was having personal stress therefore I did not perform my best".
Performances happen in real world circumstances. Pros perform all the time. Life isn’t perfect, if you need things to be perfect in order to deliver a good performance, you will not be able to perform for a living. In fact, a first-rate professional should be able to perform at a high level even under very extreme duress.
4) The audience ruined my performance.
"I had a poor audience", "I had the wrong audience". "In front of the right audience I am great". "The audience didn’t know me I was the opening act/ the audience knew me and I can’t perform in front of people I know", "the audience was not supportive", "the audience was disruptive".
Fine performers should be able to perform in front of any audience. Your job as a performer is to be excellent no matter whom the audience is comprised of, or what they do. If you are thinking about what they think, you are not doing your job, which is to have 100% of your mind on what YOU are doing. If the audience is not behaving well, respond like a pro. If they are being extremely disruptive break the third wall and reprimand them. If they are heckling, deliver your rehearsed response, or improvise appropriately. If they are not responsive, perform as if they were responsive.
5) It was the wrong song/role for me. "The song did not showcase me". "I am better at other songs".
If you are better at other songs then choose the other songs for an audition or any other circumstance where you have control. Role not good enough? Professional performers shine appropriately in any role large or small,in fact the ability to shine in a supporting role is the very skill that often helps performers break through.
6) It was the wrong style of music- I am better at a different style of music.,
If your goal is to be the next pop sensation why do you only choose to perform classical music. Are you avoiding something by avoiding the repertoire in which you claim to excel?
Perform the style of music that suits you or become proficient at the styles you must perform.
7) Other performers ruined my performance.
"The pianist at the audition was bad" "My co-star threw me off" or in other words, "If other people were competent, I would have been great".
You didn’t get the role because the audition pianist was bad? Well, everybody had to use that pianist, which evens things out doesn’t it? If your audition song was too hard for the pianist to sight read, poor choice by YOU, huh? Take responsibility for choosing a song with a more sight-readable accompaniment next time. Tempo wrong? Learn how to communicate tempi to other musicians. Another singer made an error on stage, which therefore caused you to make a mistake? Learn to get your cues from the orchestra!
8) I wasn’t prepared.
"If I had more time I would have been able to practice more and I would have been great".
Why weren’t you prepared? If you were not prepared then spending enough time to learn your music it isn’t a priority. Did you avoid practicing because you needed the excuse of not being prepared in order to avoid facing what your actual performance level is at the moment? Do you need to increase your musicianship skills in order to be able to learn music quickly and accurately, a skill that professional singers require?
These are just some of the most common excuses singers use. Take a look at your own excuses and you will learn EXACTLY what you need to change in order to succeed.
Many times the excuse is rooted in, or based upon truth. So what? It is unprofessional to communicate the excuse, most of the time. Communicating the excuse before hand, or knowing that you will use the excuse afterward gives you the permission to do a less than excellent performance. And please don’t confuse this with communicating to a conductor that you are on voice rest and that you must mark. As a graduate student I remember a fellow student telling a well-known guest conductor that she was on voice rest and he accepted the answer. Then she proceeded to try to tell him about her throat infection and he abruptly stopped her saying loudly “PLEASE DON’T SHARE YOUR PERSONAL ISSUES WITH ME”. Yes, when someone steps in as a last minute replacement a theater will inform the audience, just as much to explain why an actor is not fully integrated into a production as to tell you their identity. And yes, at the Met, when the great opera artists agree to go on stage despite illness, an announcement in made. Risking one’s hard-earned reputation by agreeing to go on although ill is not the same as an unknown who makes excuses every single time they sing. It really isn’t.
If you see yourself reflected in this article you probably think I am a hard ass. But the truth is I am far from being one! If you are like most performers who are addicted to excuses, YOU are probably the one who is tough on others. Imagining that others have in their minds the same critical thoughts you have in your mind when you listen, is what is causing your excuses to flow. I don't judge performers unfairly for their negative. judgmental and overly critical attitudes towards others because these thoughts come from insecurity and longing for opportunities and acceptance. Singing teachers and coaches know why problems are occurring and are usually very sympathetic. Audition panels are on your side, they want to find someone to hire and hope that it is YOU, the person in front of them at the moment , so they can stop looking and go have a beer or play ball with their kids. Audiences simply want to be entertained. Try channeling the experiences with challenges that you have faced into empathy for other performers rather than excuses for yourself. It you are able to do so, YOU will be rewarded by becoming a more secure performer. When you are more secure you will be able to simply do your best and accept your own best efforts with graciouness and poise.
Remember, nobody expects you to be perfect, they just expect you to do your job well.
Take responsibility and be excellent.
