SO YOU THINK YOU'RE AN ARTIST?

What makes an artist stand out? What makes an artist special? What makes an artist great to watch? Communication!

These are all valid questions. I think, what most people say, is that an artist has that "Je ne c'est quoi". Its something unknown but something that makes us like this person or that person. Some singers just make me fall asleep. Others keep me riveted and make me feel that they are singing and talking to only me.

I can tell immediately when a singer comes into my studio. We warm up by vocalizing, maybe singing a passage of some music to cement the way I want that passage sung, particularly if we are working through the break area. And technically, the artist does it well. Then I say, after working for a half an hour on technique, "lets sing this song." This is when the true singing artist comes out. I can see the wheels turning in the singers brain and an obvious change takes place. He/she SINGS! He usually leaves the vocalizations behind and sings from his heart, forgetting about technique. Oh, he does use what we were just talking about, but he incorporates that into what he/she is trying to sing. When one sings, we basically have to forget about technique and let the emotions and feelings come out. That to me is the essence of a great singer. No matter how poor or how good the voice is, he/she sings with feeling, with connection to the audience, and he emotes with what he has as a vocal instrument. When a singer does that, I know he/she is going to make it.

I have singers that have been studying with me for years, but they can never leave technique out of the mix. Yes, work the voice and build it., but when you sing, you sing. Forget about technique and use what you have as best as you can and COMMUNICATE!