A singing career is a lot like solitaire on my Palm Pilot.
OK, that’s a stretch, but I think about singers and their careers often when I’m playing the game.
On my Palm Pilot, when cards appear in the right order, they automatically “fly to the aces.”
Sometimes I am dealt a hand of cards where it seems I have to do nothing to win: I just make a few taps on the screen and the cards “fly to the aces.” Before I know it, the message comes up: “You win.”
When we interview highly successful opera stars for our cover stories, sometimes they unknowingly say things that are painful to hear for other singers who have worked very hard at the opera success game and never heard those words, “You win.” I remember a few singers who have blithely told our readers, in effect, “Just follow in my footsteps, keep trying, and soon you’ll be at the top, too!”
The game of solitaire comes back to mind. Sometimes I start a new game, and it is just impossible to win it. The ace I need to win is underneath its corresponding two, and there’s no way; I was just dealt a bad hand. I try to look at the bright side: I can get a lot of points and try to feel happy about that. Who said I had to get the actual “win” message to be successful? Who said you had to get a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and sing leads at La Scala to be happy as a singer? Besides, who even said you had to play that game? You know, I have about 10 different games on my Palm Pilot-some of them are better suited for my skills. And fortunately, some of them aren’t based on luck! With practice I could become a master at those games-if I wanted to. (Which I don’t!)
Some singing careers aren’t based on luck and connections; they are based on hard work and skill. Becoming an opera star isn’t always one of those careers, unless you happen to be dealt one of those incredible winning hands where you have the look, the voice, the teachers, the right timing-the whole package-and everything “flies to the aces.” Miss any one of those variables and your successful career in the opera field is very definitely based in large part on luck.
CS brings you examples of careers which are not based on that perfect hand. They are based on skills you can learn, networking you can do. But we also bring you cover stories featuring profiles of singers who really were dealt the perfect hand. We want you to see it all-singers who are squeezing out every single ounce of success they get, putting shows together, recordings, tours, singing groups, innovative recitals. I hope you are paying attention and broadening your idea of success.
There’s another feature of my solitaire game that I love; it’s called “restart game.” For example, I may have lost the game, but it was a winnable game-I just made a few wrong choices along the way. If I look back at what happened analytically, it isn’t too hard to see where I went wrong. I can click restart and play that game again and again until I get it right. It’s a great feeling to figure it out and finally win those games-perhaps better than one of the games where I have to do practically nothing!
What about you? Maybe you really do have a winning hand, but it’s going to take analysis and work. You aren’t going to get off easy. Restart your game. You may not have a “fly to the aces” type of hand, but with some analysis, you can still get a “You win.” What is it that is holding you back from winning at your chosen game in singing? Is it languages? Is there something about your appearance that needs an overhaul? Are you not making the contacts you need? Perhaps you aren’t getting accurate feedback about your voice. Do you need a new voice teacher? Is it your age? Maybe you just plain aren’t working hard enough. What is it that is holding you back from “You win.”? If it is something that is fixable (or hideable), do it! Do you need to choose another game that you CAN win?
You are a singer. Singers must sing. Find your game and find out how to hear, “You win!” It’s a great sound. Have a great month!
-Ms. CJ Williamson, Editor
If you have a comment about this article (or anything else), please write to Ms. CJ Williamson, the editor of Classical Singer magazine at cjw@classicalsinger.com or P.O. Box 95490, South Jordan, UT 95490. Letters can be used as “Letters to the Editor” if you would like, “Name Withheld” if you’d like, or just meant for the staff only. Just let us know.
