Adult Beginners Part Deux

Previously I wrote some FAQ questions concerning adult beginners. Today's blog is to provide points to clarify some things that adults beginner singers (of classical music particularly)may not understand and hopefully this information will prevent unnecessary pain and frustration.

1) In classical music there is an objective standard when it comes to those with expert ears such as teachers, coaches, directors, conductors critics and discerning audiences. You can not chalk up criticism to a matter of taste. There are absolutes when it comes to singing in tune, correct diction, and musical accuracy.  There is somewhat less than absolute agreement in matters of style and technique, but all in all there is agreement in what falls way outside. Matters of personal taste are more the purview of the audience. If experts are telling you you have more to learn and your friends, family, general audience members are telling you that you are the greatest singer in the world, believe the experts. They are not against you,  they don't dislike you, they are not snobs, they are not trying to profit off you by selling you unneeded lessons they  know what they are doing and they are there to help. But keep performing for who love you and encourage your singing you will enjoy it and gain from it and so will they.

2) There is age discrimination but there are some major career opportunities for late starters, if you are of a voice type that is rare or extremely rare. It is a business, and supply and demand comes into play. If you are a voice type that is plentiful, you will probably have to make your own opportunities in this competitive field, and you have to actually be good at what you do.The existence of age discrimination does not eliminate the need for the requisite skills for performing music at a high standard.

3) The music biz does not work like other businesses at all. It takes much more than it gives back, expect that. There will be much more investment in time, money, resources, and energy than the rewards you will see, It will be rewarding and worth it, if you love doing it. Instruction in singing technique, repertoire coaching, acting, languages, stage movement and basic musical skills is expensive. In order to become proficient you will have to spend thousands of dollars a year. To become excellent you will have to spend thousands of dollars over many years. On average it takes more than ten years of serious training and thousands of hours of practice to sing opera at a professional level. Think your investment has been big so far? Find out what is costs to go to a top conservatory. Most singers studying with a good teacher will sound wonderful to most people's ears in about three years of training. You can be a good semi-pro, singing in churches and choirs at that point, but not a pro opera singer.

4) It is not about your voice, it is about your artistry.  World class voices are actually quite common and inconsequential. If you have one and you don't know how to sing or have no musical training it is of no consequence. It is exactly like having a Steinway or a Martin guitar and not knowing how to play.

The points I make above may seem discouraging but there is good news. Adult beginners have less wear and tear on their voices than those who have already been singing in the profession for years so you have more years ahead of good singing than you think. Certain aspects of voice training go faster for adults than kids because a mature voice is in many ways an easier and less vulnerable instrument. So you can sing and sing well and get a lot of joy from doing so.

As a professional voice teacher, I have seen that the biggest barrier to adults learning how to sing well is the need to hold on to the belief that they ALREADY sing well.  If you put your ego aside and are willing to make changes, you can become skilled no matter what your age as long as you are healthy. Singing also has many health benefits, it increases aerobic conditioning, improves sleep apnea and relieves tension. Unfortunately, many times I see older beginners hang onto their flaws with dear life because, if the new ways of singing are better it means to them, that they were not very good before. Don't throw away your potential to protect your view of their past. If you come to voice training for the joy of it and with the humility that one should approach a great art, you can do amazing things! It is up to you, see you in the studio!

The Artist's Place in Politics

 A few nights ago, at The Golden Globe awards, Meryl Streep became the latest in the long history of artists speaking out courageously against oppressive power. Her actions come in the recent context of a singer resigning from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and dancers from The Radio City Rocketts fighting for the right to not perform at the inauguration of a president who’s character flaws trouble them. It comes in the context of a performer addressing the Vice President elect after the conclusion of a Broadway performance of "Hamilton" to let him know that they were alarmed and concerned about whether the new administration would protect their rights, along with hopes that what they had presented in the show would have a positive effect by inspiring some good in Mr. Pence.
 Each time an artist speaks to power these days, we hear a chorus of supporters of the establishment saying that the time and the place was not appropriate, or that an artist using their position to speak out for what they believe in, is, in itself not appropriate. There is immense pressure to silence the artists. Why?
 Artists are communicators. The most artistically successful individuals didn’t come to the arts because they like to put on costumes or because they like the sound of their own voice, they come into the arts because they have something to say and their desired method of communication is through something beautiful that transmits their ideas, not just to the mind, but to the heart. Wouldn’t it be natural for professional communicators to speak out?
 Make no mistake, ideas communicated through the arts and by artists are very powerful. Why else would those who oppose these ideas become so terribly concerned and rush to silence people?
 Are the arts a mirror or do artists have the power to nudge society in one direction or another?  Is there such a thing as non-political art or is all artistic expression inherently political? What is the artist’s responsibility when the social environment takes a dark turn?  These questions have been on the minds of  many artists these days in America who clearly see what is going on.
 Let’s take a little walk back in history. From the inception of art in western society it has been used to promote a social agenda, namely that of the church and of the monarchy/aristocracy. Leaders recognized the power of artistic expression to reach both the mind and the heart to inspire awe and to aggrandize. In this context it is clear to see that that arts have been used to glorify the establishment, but what is the artist’s place when he or she feels that they want to facilitate social change or to stand against what they consider to be a negative or dangerous force in society? Artists have always used their power to subvert and deliver messages in a manner sometimes so pleasing and so disarming that a recipient who otherwise might not be accessible remains open to these ideas.
Clearly these are two sides of one coin. Art is, and always has been political.
 I believe that artists have a responsibility to lead. We are the thinkers. We are the creators. The public has a trust in us and we must not betray them. We must not use our power to glorify something harmful. We must not normalize the abnormal and we must recognize that our mere presence has to power to do so. We should not use our skills to create beauty to anesthetize the population of a culture that should be awake and standing up for itself.
 We must always think about our legacy not just short-term goals. We should take inspiration from the legendary actress Marlene Dietrich,who was a favorite of both Hitler and many of those who were powerful in the Third Reich.  According to the Holocaust Research Project “While in England in 1937 filming ‘Knight Without Armour,’ she was approached by the German Ambassador to Great Britain, Joachim von Ribbentrop, with a personal and generous offer from Hitler to return to Nazi Germany. She refused this offer, and subsequently as a result of this her films were banned in Germany” She could have taken the easy path and become part of her country’s propaganda machine. If she had done so her career would  now be a little ugly footnote in history. She would have been an actress who gave comfort to those acting with the force of evil. Instead, according the the NY times,  “In the late 1930s, Dietrich created a fund with Billy Wilder and several other Germans to help Jews and dissidents escape from Germany. In 1937, her entire salary for Knight Without Armor (450,000) was put into escrow to help the refugees.” She indeed became a shining beacon of courage and  decency and thoughtfulness.
 As artists we have to make wise, moral and socially informed choices. Making decisions that seem to be in our own short-term self interest but not in the spirit of the good of humanity is not in the spirit of art.
 A few years ago I was invited by a suburban woman’s art group to participate in an art show that was sponsored by Bayer Corporation.  The women were to submit their work to be displayed at the corporate headquarters with the stipulation that none of it be political art. I instantly objected, given the history of the company which can be traced directly back to Nazi Germany, as well as on the grounds of the awful things they continued to do in the present day.  My objections were greeted mostly with annoyance by the other artists, some of them also Jewish, who were eager to adorn the walls of the corporation that used Jewish slave labor and created Zyklon B gas used to murder people in gas chambers and was presently producing Imidacloprid which is threatening life on the planet by killing off the world’s bee population.  It was very disappointing, but somewhat typical of people engaged in art in a less than mindful way.
 Now why would a huge international corporation be concerned about an artist presenting a political idea on its walls? What would have happened if all the artists decided to all just create paintings of bees for that exhibition? Would that have caused the employees of Bayer walking past in the their corporate headquarters to start to THINK? Bayer feared political statements through art because they felt that people, impervious to the copious raw data on their wrong doing could be stimulated and moved by artistic expression in a way that was dangerous to them.
 When Meryl Streep gave her speech the other night at The Golden Globes when she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the great actress, when addressing her colleagues went straight to the heart of the nature of the art of acting and an artist’s place in politics.  She said “we have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy".
 The training that our great American actors receive in order to portray the rich characters we see on stage and screen, by its very nature turns them into empathetic human beings. One of the most influential American method acting teachers, Sandford  Meisner defined acting as behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances. So an actor lives “There but for the grace of god go I” every time they bring a character to life.   Streep said “An actor’s only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us, and let you feel what that feels like.” right before she detailed the atrocious act of mocking and bullying a disabled reporter  done by a rich and powerful man seeking a powerful office. This act  done by a man devoid of empathy affected Streep in a very deep way because she truly understands what empathy is and how it can be developed and how the opposite can also be learned. “ And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kinda gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose.”
 We might not have careers is notable as Marlene Dietrich or Meryl Streep, but we must nevertheless highly value what we what we do and be who we are. Make no mistake. we are living either through a turning point in American history or a brief dark period which will be examined carefully in the future. When the next generation and the following ones look back upon us, we want to be on the right side of history. For me that did not include adorning the walls of Bayer corporation and it did not include accepting an invitation to perform for Barbara Bush, as mild as she seems now in the current context, when I had the opportunity to do so. In the 1940s my mother toured the country with the Rodgers and Hammerstein Company's production of Annie Get your Gun" When the tour went through Alabama some locals spotted my mother and her friend chatting with African American cast members at the stage door and word got out to the local community that this was an integrated show. Rodgers and Hammerstein were told that they could not proceed with an integrated cast. They decided to leave town and the citizens of Alabama learned that others would not abide their racist ways.

 Your decisions are your own and they reflect upon who you are as a person and as an artist and what you feel you were put on this earth to accomplish.  No matter what anybody says to you, you have the right as a citizen to speak out about what you feel is right and you don’t give that up when you become a performer.  Furthermore, if you consider yourself to be an artist not just an entertainer or a trained circus animal, you have the right to express your ideas or even perhaps the responsibility to do so.

Performers Self-Evaluation Questionnaire

Performing is a very competitive field. Most people who aspire to careers in the performing arts and train for these careers, end up making a living in another field.  Experts agree that a combination of factors determine which individuals become professional or semi-professional performers and which do not. These factors are: level of skill, having attributes that the industry currently is buying, luck, and perseverance.

Here are a set of questions to help you think about where you are, where you need to be, and how to get there. In each case, note whether your opinion is based on self-evaluation, the opinions of friends and family or an expert.  When considering the expert opinion, ask yourself how objective the expert actually is and how much regular interaction he or she has with purchasers in the particular industry you wish to enter. If your dreams are fragile and not based on reality read no further. If you have the determination and strength to turn your dreams into reality, read on, you might find this process to be helpful.

I suggest going over these points with a trusted coach or teacher after you consider them. It would be lesson time well spent.

1. What skills do professionals in your chosen field need?  At this point, do you have skills equivalent to professionals in the business in which you aspire to work?  If not, how exactly do you plan to develop these skills?

2.Do you know what the industry is currently buying? What qualities do you have that fit what the industry is currently buying? If you do not have the qualities and skills that the industry is currently buying, discuss how you plan to acquire them or how you plan to market the skills and qualities you have in order to create a need for what you are selling. Another option is to market what you particularly have to offer to niche purchasers. Have you identified these markets and do you know how to sell to them?

3. What is luck?  What is perseverance?  Give examples of ways you have persevered? Have you ever been lucky? What precipitated the luck? (Hint:Have you ever won a raffle without purchasing a ticket?)

4. Have you ever been paid to perform, won a prize in a competition or earned a scholarship?  Have you ever received confirmation from any objective external source that you have potential to earn a living through performance?

5. Have you ever attended a professional audition? A professional audition is an audition where the person hired will be paid. If so, what did you learn from the experience?

6. What is the difference between having high standards and having high ambition? If a high school student aims to get an A on every test and works to ensure that he or she gets an A, is that having high standards or high ambition? If a student would like to go to Harvard and thinks they belong there, is that having high standards or high ambition?   If a student would like to go to Harvard and thinks they belong there, yet does not aim to work as hard as possible to get an A on every test, is that having high standards?  Where does that kind of thinking come from? Can you translate the above scenario into one involving the performing arts?  Does that resonate for you?

7. Do you have an ambition to sing on Broadway, at the Met, or to have a commercial recording deal? If so, why? What qualities and or skills do you have that would objectively be suitable to be showcased in a prestigious venue or widely distributed to the public? For some perspective: If a person has the ambition to be a doctor at a top hospital, is it more important that he or she have the desire for the social status that being a doctor brings, the desire to help others, or the skills to accurately diagnose and cure illnesses in order to improve people’s health? My point is to focus on what you can offer to others not what you want, because that is how business works.

8. If you inherited $500,000, and you had the choice to either buy investment property or to spend it on promoting yourself as an artist (not developing, but promoting yourself, as is) what would you choose?  If you would not invest in yourself, why do you think a music/show business entity would, by casting you in a multi-million dollar production or producing and distributing a record?  If you need more development as a performing artist in order to be worthy of your own investment resources, isn’t it reasonable that you should do so before asking others to risk an investment in you?

Please comment below to let me know if the above set of questions have been helpful to you or your students. All comments and suggestions are welcome.

How to get the lead in your high school musical

Getting the part you want in your high school musical requires a set of strategies that might be a little different than you think. Over the past thirty years as a private singing teacher, I have taken note of what kind of student gets to be their high school production’s star and who is disappointed.


Here are some suggestions to increase your chances:

1. Be reliable and enthusiastic
Start auditioning for the yearly production in your freshman year. If you are given a small role or simply included in the ensemble, come to all of the rehearsals, take your contribution to the show seriously and show your enthusiasm at all times. Become known by the teachers in your school as a kid who shows up, gets things done, and does not complain. Remember, when you audition for a part you are asking to be entrusted with a responsibility. Start proving yourself worthy.

2. Be respectful to your teachers/directors
No matter how talented you are, having a stuck-up attitude gets you nowhere  anywhere in the world of theatre, but is especially damaging when dealing with high school musical directors. Your high school musical directors might not be looking for the best singer or actor. Their priority might be to work with a kid they can count on and one who makes things pleasant as well. I have had directors tell me they prefer to cast kids that they like and some have even mentioned they are especially pleased to work with kids who remind themselves of who they were at that age. Remember, your high school teachers and directors are not Broadway stars, they are educators who have an interest in theatre. A super-talented and confident teenager might even threaten them, if they exhibit a cocky attitude. If you are a very strong talent be extra careful to be pleasant and humble.

3.  Be supportive to the others students
A huge consideration in casting a high school show is how the directors think a kid will work with the rest of the cast.  Always be friendly and helpful!

4. Work on your singing and acting skills in classes and lessons in and out of school.
If your school has a choir, become a valued member. If your school has an acting class take that class and work your tail off in that class. Take private singing lessons outside of school. Improving your skills is not instant, you have to work consistently over a period of time to see improvement so don’t try to cram on this one.

5. Take your audition seriously.
As soon as you find out what show will be produced learn everything you can about the show. Listen to all the music, become familiar with the script, watch videos of the show and read articles as well. The purpose of this is not to copy the other performances but to enrich your understanding.  When you find out what songs you will have to sing at your audition, take that to your singing teacher. If you don’t regularly take lessons find a singing teacher or piano/vocal coach and have some sessions, to intensively prepare.
At the audition dress in a way that will help the people casting the show to be able to see you as the role you want.  Don’t go over the top in this and wear a costume, be subtle. Be brave, take risks and really show the audition panel what you will do with the role. Don't be afraid of having a wrong interpretation, and give them all of your focused energy. The biggest mistake is to come across as a kid who is shy. self-conscious and will not appear comfortable in front of an audience.  Have fun in the audition!

6.  Don’t be discouraged if you don't get the role you want.
Casting decisions are often not fair, and disappointment in this respect is part of being involved in theatre at any level.  If you are a young person with aspirations for a career on stage, know that learning how to do an excellent job with an ensemble role is a very important skill to have.
Whatever you do, make sure that your parents do not complain if they are not happy with the results, that will never work in your favor!

Benefits of Vocal Agility

Bergen Bel Canto Studio
Benefits of Vocal Agility

Why Gaining Flexibility is Important to Your Career and Your Voice



You should learn to move your voice flexibly because:

1. Lots of opera roles require the ability to execute rapid fioritura.  Can you afford to have fewer opportunities?
2. Oratorio and sacred music is often melsimatic, and requires a flexible voice. Many singers earn a large proportion of their performing money from church work, can you afford to be less marketable in this field?
3.Singers who can’t sing florid music often make a mess of simple ornaments. Do you want to be one of those singers?
4. It is easier to learn this now than it will be at any point in the future as your voice matures.
5. You know that wobble you sometimes have? By learning to slim your voice in order to move it around you learn how to control that wobble that sometimes occurs on your sustain.
6. Having a flexible voice will extend the length of your career.
7. When slightly larger voices that maybe didn’t move fast naturally and yet have learned to do it sing florid repertoire it is exciting and impressive.
8. When larger voices than you can sing coloratura faster and cleaner than you, you simply look unskilled
9. Your voice isn’t actually too big to sing runs and if you can’t do it you have technique issues to solve.
10. Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland!

Am I actually only competing with myself?

Singers often ask me if they are really only competing with themselves or whether they are actually competing with all the other singers out there.

My answer? You need to think of it as developing yourself as a marketable artist, not competing with anybody else.

You are, or should be working every day to be the best you, you can be. You are learning how your voice works, what music presents you best, how to connect with your characters and your audience.

You are learning what clothes and hairstyles look best on you. You are living a healthy life style and making smart choices every day, which result in you being rested, energized, groomed, in shape, and looking your personal best.

You are learning what the business demands and you are making sure that you learn your music to a standard that industry professionals demand, not just what makes your Grandma happy.  You are presenting yourself as a put-together professional with a unique personality not as a kid who is conforming to his or her peers.

You don’t book a role by being more like the character than the rest of those who audition, you book a role by finding the character within yourself and being that character in such a convincing way that those who hear you, cast you.  You don’t win a competition by singing better than the other singers, you win by singing your music so well that the judges choose you!

No matter how much you focus on the “other” singers, you cannot be them and you cannot control what they do and who they are. Comparison just puts the focus on the wrong person!

If they are taller, louder, richer, über-prepared there is nothing you can do.

Comparing yourself with others also fosters resentment and that damages your ability to have good relationships with your colleagues which is certainly not helpful for your career.

The only thing you can do your best every day to become the artist that only you can be. If you have not put the work into you it is easy to focus your frustration outward but what you need to do is own up to the fact that you have not actually been doing your best. Whether you acheive your goals or not if you can say to yourself that you actually did everything you could to make things happen, you will be at peace with yourself. 

Michelangelo thought that every block of stone had a statue inside it and it was the task of the sculptor to discover it.

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.

FAQ for Adult Beginner Voice Students

Frequently asked questions about voice study for adult beginners

1) I am past the traditional age that people start careers, and I have yet to begin singing lessons.  Is it too late to become a singer and have some performing opportunities?

 We live in an exciting time when all the rules are changing. Musical artists all over the world are creating music and promoting themselves to the public in record numbers. That means you don’t necessarily have to be chosen by a label or cast by a casting director anymore.  You can be the boss of your own independent projects and if you do, you can do whatever you want!  Studies have shown that the older demographic do purchase music and perhaps have a higher proclivity to do so than younger audiences. I predict in the not so distant future, several major artists who are middle aged or older will emerge and become successful.
  Of course young or old, most people who train to become singers do not actually end up singing for a living much less becoming stars.  But that does not mean that you can’t sing and perform if you work hard to create opportunities for yourself.  The system is not set up to work in your favor, but if you are motivated, and creative, you can perform.


2) But can I learn to sing well or is it too late?

 In a healthy person, there is no physical barrier to becoming an excellent singer, even for individuals commencing voice training well into their adult years. In fact, there are actually many advantages to having a voice that is mature and yet has not endured the wear and tear of the demands of a professional career. I personally know of many and have even trained a few older singers who began seriously singing well into middle age who have developed excellent techniques and who possess voices that sound surprisingly fresh.
  But it is not just about voice, singers are musicians and for those who do not have experience playing an instrument, you have to learn to be a musician from scratch and it is a tall order.
 Engrained bad habits as well as certain psychological barriers, which are often found in late starters who have singing career goals, can make progress difficult.

3) Am I a beginner? I have sung for pleasure my whole life and have even taken a few lessons.

 If you do not have a functioning basic technique and the requisite musical, interpretive, stylistic and language skills to sing your repertoire, you are considered a beginner when you enter the door of a qualified singing teacher.


4) I have already invested some money in lessons, in producing my debut CD and some creating some performance opportunities, but I am severely in the red. How much more investment will have to make before I see a profit?

 As a civilian you do not understand the requisite investment needed to reach professional artist level, where you can hopefully expect remuneration for your singing. Years of investment in time, effort and instruction are needed on any instrument to be a competent amateur. Many people ask this question without even having made the substantial personal investment to be a competent amateur. No one should expect any compensation for the initial investment they make to achieve basic fluency on an instrument or voice and that generally takes a few years.
  Most amateurs musicians who work to achieve a level of competency do so because they enjoy the process of learning their instrument or how to sing and out of a love of music, just because you may have a desire to be a professional does not mean anyone will pay you before and until you have marketable skills.
  I invite you to compare your investment to what others who are engaged in full time study are investing to gain some perspective.
  Many people who have asked me this question have not, over their entire lives, put in an investment of time and money that a singer in a full time music program pays in a single month.



5) You spoke of psychological barriers for adult beginners. What are they?

 In the case of the adult beginners I have taught who have music career goals and/or already been promoting themselves as artists I have found that in some cases normal instruction is met with resistance each and every step of the way because making improvements means that they were not good already. By definition “beginners” have a lot to learn, sometimes everything to learn and this state is incongruous with the state of selling yourself as an artist to the public.
  In some cases constructive suggestions are met with suspicion: For example a suggestion for a new technique to free up the upper range might be met with “but everyone on my Facebook  Fan page says my high notes are the best part of my voice.  Instruction to improve intonation elicits “but nobody ever told me I sing out of tune.  Attempts to correct mispronounced foreign words are met with “natives who speak the language have never pointed out any problems”.
 It can also go far beyond not taking initial constructive criticism well, it can be rejection of actual improvements. When a new technique is mastered and a positive change that makes singing is mastered, it can elicit fear, sadness and worry, instead of a focus on their future as a better singer.


6) I do not want to be an opera singer. I want to have a career as a popera/pop/rock etc. or concert singer.  Lots of singers who perform in these styles are not perfect, or sometimes not even good; do I have to wait until I am perfect to sing in public? I am already XX years old.

No artist is perfect and every performer needs to gain performing experience along the way. There are, however, certain minimums that you should meet before performing anywhere in public that is exposed if you have career aspirations. As someone who has been in the music industry for decades, I can advise on the appropriate venues for performance for you are and as a teacher I think it is part of my job to do so. You are free to take that advice or not.

 As far as contemporary singers not being good, you would be surprised at how skilled and how much training most professional performers in the entertainment industry actually have. Their job is to make it look natural and easy, but much of the time a lot of work has gone into developing their craft.  Of course there are plenty of people without any ability who are famous for just being famous. I offer lessons in how to be an excellent singer not “Being Famous” lessons.

7. I have been passed over for roles in my local community theater and the director cast a young actor who just graduated from Tisch School in the part/ the local conductor didn’t give me the Messiah solos but instead brought in a young hot shot singer from AVA , the leader of the big band passed me over and brought in a jazz voice major from Berklee  College of Music  to sing with the band, what can I do about this age discrimination?

It is important to be able to distinguish possible age discrimination from what is not age discrimination. Discrimination occurs when someone decides ahead of time to hire a younger person who is less qualified than an older person on the basis of his or her age. Theatrical casting based on an actor’s age is also not considered to be age discrimination.
The example in your question indicates the selection of someone with more training and therefore probably  a higher skill level than what you presently offer.  This is not age discrimination.  . 
  I bring this to your attention because believing that you have been passed over just on account of your age when it is not the case will not help motivate you to become a better performer. Understanding exactly how competitive your own skills actually are should motivate you to develop the skills you need to have the best chance of getting the performing opportunities you desire.


8. I am going to be honest.  I want to sing on Broadway/at the Met/ be a famous Rock star and win a Grammy, can you get me there?

 I help people to become more skillful singers, they work on getting themselves wherever they want to go. In my studio we talk only about preparing the skills needed to achieve the next logical step along the journey. I have often said that in the case of show biz, there is an inverse relationship between the size of dreams and amount of experience.  The least experienced performers often have the loftiest goals and pursuing those goals teaches them over time what is realistic and achievable. It is not my place to discourage anyone nor is it ethical to take money from someone by feeding unrealistic expectations. 

9. Music professionals such as teachers and coaches I have hired as well as my church’s choir director and organist have found flaws in my singing such as out of tune notes and mispronounced wordsare they just being jealous,negative and mean? My friends and family, as well as people who hear me in church and facebook fans tell me I am just wonderful. Who’s opinion counts?

The opinions of professional musicians reflect whether you have the skills needed to perform music to a high standard  and the opinions of your  friends, family and the public count career-wise to the extent that they support your music by attending and paying to hear you.
Remember professionals who hear you, who are not your teacher and members of the public who are musically educated are very unlikely to give you unsolicited criticism because it is not proper etiquette to do so.  Always hire a teacher/coach/conductor to vet the demonstration recordings or recordings you release or videos you post before you bring them before the public.  The average recording engineer these days is not a trained musician and may miss glaring mistakes or not bring them to your attention because they want to keep your custom.



10.  So is the bottom line that I should not quit my day job and start  a music career in mid-life?

You should absolutely not quit your day job; you will need it to fund interesting musical projects you may wish to do.
 If your goal is to make money, the arts and entertainment field  offer you the worst odds of any profession, If your goal is to receive unconditional love, you have come to the wrong place too because the love from an audience is conditional upon your delivery of a quality performance of the kind that interests them.  If your goal is to make music then by all means do not count yourself out because of a late start!