As a young girl, I took piano lessons. My Piano Teacher also taught voice, and she encouraged me to both play piano, and sing, in various festivals – usually Royal Conservatory ones. I’ll admit, I did not relish practicing the piano – the scales and technical stuff really didn’t interest me that much. I found it boring compared with playing songs I liked. I always enjoyed hearing a record, then trying to play the song on the piano.
My Teacher helped me get quite far in both piano, and voice – to the point that performing in public was tolerable. I have never been one that liked having the spotlight on me – a fact that many find funny. They fail to understand that just because you enjoying singing/dancing/acting/playing an instrument etc., it does not mean that you have a ton of self-confidence, and feel comfortable in front of lots of people. One of the most difficult things for many artists I know to deal with is their love of singing or playing vs. their natural shyness. When I was younger, I always assumed famous performers were either extremely self-assured, or maybe even terribly conceited. As an adult, I now know that although that may be true of some, many more struggle just to do the thing that brings them joy. Not everyone wants to be the center of attention, just because they feel the need to perform.
I have quite a few friends that have incredible voices, but absolutely hate it whenever they have to get up and sing in front of others. They know they can sing, they know people will respond well, but they just don’t enjoy the feeling of “all eyes on them”. I guess it’s not much different than people who fear speaking in public. Some of us don’t get that, some may relate, but it doesn’t matter – we all have things that make us uncomfortable – it’s not a matter of right or wrong.
Even though I used to dislike it when my Dad made me practice my scales and things on the piano, I am obviously glad now that he did. It’s nice to be able to sit down and play every once in a while, when I have some free time. ( You may feel a bit rusty, but the fingers always seem to remember which keys to go to next. )
I don’t tell many people that I used to play piano, because then they want you to sing and play, which I don’t enjoy. I prefer to do them one at a time. ( o.k., at Christmas time, I don’t mind playing and singing along with friends to some old favourites ) Generally, I like to focus on one thing only – either playing, or singing.
One thing I had almost forgotten – until digging up an old folder after I moved recently – was that my Teacher had also encouraged me to write songs – both music and lyrics. I wrote a ton of things when I was young – mostly poetry about heartbreak, and romantic lyrics for “love songs” … but I rarely showed anyone, for fear that they might think I was silly. Although ( back then ) I had the technical ability to write songs, I always loved writing lyrics the most.
The past couple of weeks, I have been thinking again about writing lyrics. I suddenly have a bunch of ideas , and words, running through my head, and am hoping to put them down on paper soon. I would love to work with my Producer, Jarome Matthew, on some songs – I would write lyrics, and he could put them to music. He and I have talked about this casually in the past, but now it feels really important to me. I will let you know if anything comes of my ideas …
