A couple of weeks ago, the Victorville cast of Godspell began rehearsals. Currently, we are focusing on the musical numbers. The rehearsals for the spoken dialogue will begin in February. I am a part of seven songs, four of which are solos, and there are many spoken lines that I must learn.
I was given a copy of the songs in October, and I began listening to them immediately. I wanted to be ready to sing them on the very first day of rehearsal from memory. I felt like if I knew the songs, then I would be in a better position to receive assistance from our musical director.
Unnatural Styles
I learned the songs by singing to the soundtrack in my car and at home. I immediately fell in love with them. Each day, my desire to sing them with the cast, and in front of an audience grew. By the time our first rehearsal came around, I was eager to begin.
In the car, I did my best to sound like the voice on the recording, and after a while, I felt like I could perfectly mimic the performers sound. To do that, I had to change my natural style. I had to learn to sing in a different voice.
Last weeks rehearsals marked the first opportunity to sing one of my solos. Before we met as a cast, I was given the opportunity to rehearse with the musical director. He made some great suggestions and challenged me to sing with a bigger voice. I explained that this was the first time that I was singing the song in my own voice and that all of the rehearsing I did on my own was in the voice and style of the performer on the practice CD. I told him that even though it sounded different, I was excited to be hearing my voice emerge as we rehearsed. He encouraged me to reach for more, and assured me that it sounded best, when I sang in my natural style. This gave me great confidence.
Raising Your Voice
When I went home, I realized how often this happens in the work place. I frequently encounter people who are trying to be like the examples they have before them. This of course is not always a bad thing, but it often happens at the expense of the person's individuality. When that happens, the most valuable attributes of our employees and co-workers are covered up and even lost.
I am thankful for people like my musical director who encourage others to be themselves and to find their own voice. When we allow others this freedom, we raise the levels of authenticity. Becoming our best is a daily process, and it takes work. It may seem at times that nothing is happening and our inner voice may say something like, “this isn't working”, but we must stick with it. Finding our natural voice does not take any more time than finding someone else's, it just takes more courage.
S.I.N.G.
I want you to learn to SING too, and I want you to learn to do it in your own unique voice. I am not just talking about singing songs. I am talking about taking the time to find your authentic voice in all that you do. I want you to reach for the real you and to avoid the temptation to mimic someone else.
You can begin by considering four key steps to development that just happen to form an acronym for SING.
See the future - clarify who it is you really want to become.
Identify possibility - What is your potential? How can you reach it?
Navigate for Success - Utilize your key behaviors, characteristics and traits to accelerate your success.
Generate the power to become the best you - do something each day that will help you move just a little farther down the road.
Don’t make this harder than it is. It really is quite simple to SING. As you tune your life to meet your greatest desires you will discover new levels of productivity and joy. To insure success you must incorporate the best parts of you. I can't wait to hear your voice.
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