Hello
people, welcome once again to my blog, today I want to talk about the “sink or
swim” situation an artist faces when he/she performs on stage. This time, I am
writing from my own personal experience as a music director in my local church
here in Nigeria. I have two main reasons for writing this piece. The first is
to help others to overcome the bane of every artist called “stage fright”. The
second reason is more of a selfish one. I am writing it to remind myself why I
do what I do and encourage myself to do it.
Alright,
imagine you are in a vast ocean, and your boat has a slight crack at the
bottom. In that situation, you can only sink and drown or hang on to the
nearest driftwood you can find and swim till you find land. This is what
happens every time an artist gets on stage to perform. Those who have made the
decision to swim are those who are confident in their skills (driftwood) and
swim across the ocean of onlookers who are looking up to you for something. On
the other hand, those who sink are those who are overwhelmed by their situation
and give in to stage fright.
It
is undeniable, that those who suffer from stage fright are talented but they
are yet to come to terms of their abilities as performers. You always hear
complaints like “I am not like you”, “I can’t take this part” and so on which
infuriates me. But I was once like that and I want to tell you how I got over
it.
First
of all, I had to come to terms with the fact that I am given the talent to sing
which was really hard to accept. I wanted to sing but looking at those who were
before me and seeing how they were able to manipulate that vocal chords with
such dexterity really intimidated me. But that didn’t stop me from training the
talent and harnessing it into a gift. If you look at the previous articles I
wrote, you will find an article about talent. I said talent is a raw material
but it needs to be refined to the point where it can be a gift not just to you
but for others.
Secondly,
I had to get rid of my inferiority complex. I never wanted to admit it but I
sometimes disdain myself. I had a low opinion of myself so I could not really
do something and I just thought that I should exist for the sake of existing. I
had to give myself a boost of confidence by hanging out with the right friends
and hanging out with people who saw the talent that I had and respected me. If
you hang around scoffers, you will end up miserable because a word of
encouragement can bring a depressed human being from the grave. Leave fake
friends who try to discourage you from developing yourself. Refuse to hear
comments like “na only you get talent?” or “you will never go anywhere in
life”. Such people only live to make others miserable for their entertainment.
LEAVE THEM.
Thirdly,
I had to be humble. Humility is not the same as timidity. Humility says that “I
know that I know this but I want to know more than I know now” while timidity
says that “I know that I know this but I am afraid of knowing more”. Bring
proud puts a huge barrier to your growth as an artist. If you stick to where
you are and you feel that no one can touch you, you will be in for the shock of
your life when you find some lowly individual that can move the heavens with
his/her vocal chords more than you. There is physical growth and spiritual
growth. The physical growth requires constant exercise and rehearsals to add to
your treasure chest of skills that you have acquired. The spiritual aspects
require what you feed your soul with. This includes books, magazines and other
materials, just like the bible says “Out of the abundance of the heart, the
mouth speaketh”.
Finally,
when I had undergone some training and I decided to make my first move as a
lead singer, I panicked; I missed the key that I was supposed to be singing on.
But my music director encouraged me to continue while they looked for the key
that I was singing on. That encouragement helped me to sing like never before.
I was stable and I let the lyrics flow through me to the congregation and that
day, I got a standing ovation. I am not saying this to praise myself, but I had
two people to thank for helping me that day they are God and my music director.
I put my trust in him knowing he would give me the strength to swim through the
piercing eyes of the audience and my music director who encouraged me even
though I was a novice.
Before
I give my keyboard a rest, I want to say this, if you are an artist that is
suffering from stage fright, hang on to that driftwood (skill) as you swim
across the stage. Have confidence in yourself and your training. Try your best
and swim to the shore. If you have made errors, correct them and grow.
I
look forward to reading your comments.
If
you want to reach me on facebook, follow this link www.facebook.com/iexcel360
So
everyone, LIVE LONG AND EXCEL.
Comments
Post a Comment