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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/2tljLWw:
Ha, and @bachfan reblogged with the tags too– Music has always been such an important part of human society, but since the era of recorded music, its role has changed a lot. And now we listen to it, rather than performing it, and our expectations of what it should sound like and what role it serves are so markedly different. I think about this a lot.
I first began to practice singing as a purely functional thing– our horses were aggressive when they heard the metal feed bin, so I started singing loudly the whole time I was out with them, so that they couldn’t hear the feed bin over me, and I sang the whole time so they wouldn’t associate singing with food either. Now I sing for the various little kids in my life, and the little ones don’t know the difference between technically proficient and sort of not, but once they’re older, they start to notice, and start to critique, and start to be embarrassed. I know I got embarrassed about my mother’s singing around then, and wouldn’t let her.
I studied singing in high school, and then tried to study vocal performance in college but they were really rude to me in my audition and basically told me it would be a waste of time for me to do that, so I never have auditioned for anything again and haven’t performed except for the odd national anthem or little traditional seisun or whatever since then. (Notice a theme? People love to tell me I shouldn’t do creative or artistic things; I went from being a prolific artist and vocal performer to doing neither by the time I was a freshman in college, because so many authority figures were so invested in telling me I shouldn’t. I’m sure I’ve been told not to waste my time writing, and Lord knows I internalized it, but it wasn’t enough to stop the compulsion.)
But I’ve always wanted to sing, and it’s a thing humans do, and I don’t understand why I must have perfect pitch and good sight-reading and crystal-clear tone and a microphone-ready vocal persona in order to just sing songs. I have phenomenal by-ear learning skills and am really good at transpositions and have a great memory and a huge repertoire of songs I know cold and can perform without any backup or prompting, but none of those are things that Real Singers have or need, so I may as well never open my mouth. ??? It’s very weird, where we are as a society. (And there are almost no contexts where I feel not-awkward singing with other people present; people get weird about it. I only sing when I’m alone, now, or with very small children.)
If you’re not pro-quality, you shouldn’t bother doing it. Alternately, if you’re not writing your own material, there’s nowhere you’re going to go. I don’t want to make a living at this, i just like to sing sometimes, and there’s so little space left in our society for someone who’s tolerably skilled at something doing it for fun.
I remember sitting around a fire with a guitar, as an adolescent, and we were trying to have a singalong, and everyone present just wanted to wait for their turn to perform, or wanted to make requests, or whatever– nobody just wanted to participate. Even at SCA things, people just want to perform. And at sessions! People wouldn’t sing along with me, and others got upset if I sang along with them.
I’d join a church choir, but I haven’t found a church I don’t hate, so.
Ha, and @bachfan reblogged with the tags too– Music has always been such an important part of human society, but since the era of recorded music, its role has changed a lot. And now we listen to it, rather than performing it, and our expectations of what it should sound like and what role it serves are so markedly different. I think about this a lot.
I first began to practice singing as a purely functional thing– our horses were aggressive when they heard the metal feed bin, so I started singing loudly the whole time I was out with them, so that they couldn’t hear the feed bin over me, and I sang the whole time so they wouldn’t associate singing with food either. Now I sing for the various little kids in my life, and the little ones don’t know the difference between technically proficient and sort of not, but once they’re older, they start to notice, and start to critique, and start to be embarrassed. I know I got embarrassed about my mother’s singing around then, and wouldn’t let her.
I studied singing in high school, and then tried to study vocal performance in college but they were really rude to me in my audition and basically told me it would be a waste of time for me to do that, so I never have auditioned for anything again and haven’t performed except for the odd national anthem or little traditional seisun or whatever since then. (Notice a theme? People love to tell me I shouldn’t do creative or artistic things; I went from being a prolific artist and vocal performer to doing neither by the time I was a freshman in college, because so many authority figures were so invested in telling me I shouldn’t. I’m sure I’ve been told not to waste my time writing, and Lord knows I internalized it, but it wasn’t enough to stop the compulsion.)
But I’ve always wanted to sing, and it’s a thing humans do, and I don’t understand why I must have perfect pitch and good sight-reading and crystal-clear tone and a microphone-ready vocal persona in order to just sing songs. I have phenomenal by-ear learning skills and am really good at transpositions and have a great memory and a huge repertoire of songs I know cold and can perform without any backup or prompting, but none of those are things that Real Singers have or need, so I may as well never open my mouth. ??? It’s very weird, where we are as a society. (And there are almost no contexts where I feel not-awkward singing with other people present; people get weird about it. I only sing when I’m alone, now, or with very small children.)
If you’re not pro-quality, you shouldn’t bother doing it. Alternately, if you’re not writing your own material, there’s nowhere you’re going to go. I don’t want to make a living at this, i just like to sing sometimes, and there’s so little space left in our society for someone who’s tolerably skilled at something doing it for fun.
I remember sitting around a fire with a guitar, as an adolescent, and we were trying to have a singalong, and everyone present just wanted to wait for their turn to perform, or wanted to make requests, or whatever– nobody just wanted to participate. Even at SCA things, people just want to perform. And at sessions! People wouldn’t sing along with me, and others got upset if I sang along with them.
I’d join a church choir, but I haven’t found a church I don’t hate, so.
