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Hey singers!
It's Justin Stoney the founder of New York Vocal Coaching
joining you for another episode of Quick Singing Tips.
Today we're visiting the Tweed Courthouse.
This New York landmark was completed in 1881.
It's named after Boss Tweed, who was a bad seed,
whose greed caused a lot of misdeeds.
But he did succeed in building this beautiful courthouse.
Which leads us to our question for the day from
HT in Hanoi, Vietnam.
HT writes, "Dear Justin, everyone always
complements my singing voice but I don't believe them.
To me, it's crap.
What should I do?"
Well that's a very, very important question HT.
And you're not alone.
So many wonderful singers struggle with this.
And unfortunately all the technique in the world can't help us
if we feel guilty in the vocal court of law.
But the honorable Judge Stoney is here to declare you...
not guilty!
Not guilty of self judgment.
Every singer on the planet wants to be better.
And that's not a bad thing.
But the pursuit of excellence often gets
corrupted by our own thinking, and we're stuck.
Ask yourself a question, how often do I say
a negative thing about my singing voice?
Then ask yourself, how often do I say a positive thing?
Chances are you say more negative things than positive things.
But Justin, that's life man.
That's real life, that's reality.
I can't go around lying to myself!
I can't just fake it till I make it.
I suck, I stink, I'm bad, and I'm not about to hear
your positive mumbo-jumbo and pretend like all my problems
are gonna go away.
Whoa..Hey...
I agree with you!
Totally.
I'm not saying that we should stop pursuing excellence.
What I'm saying is you've got some bad technique, right?
You push breath on the high notes?
You could practice more, right?
Thirty minutes instead of binge watching another episode, eh?
Well the same thing applies to what we say to ourselves.
We can practice our thought life.
We can discipline what we say to ourselves.
Most of us think well it's okay for me
to talk bad about my voice all the time.
That's just the way it is, I can't control it.
But we can control it.
We must control it.
Always remember, if you want to master your voice
you've first got to master your mind.
Next, I declare you not guilty of others' judgment.
You might need a robe, a gavel, and a fancy law degree
to be a court judge.
But being a singing judge is the easiest thing in the world.
Anybody can do it.
It takes no time, no effort, no talent, and no courage.
Yet singing takes a lot of time effort and especially courage.
So make sure you're taking advice from the right people.
We do need constructive criticism and honest feedback.
But if you seek the opinions of everyone
you're definitely going to get some terrible advice.
So who are you going to select for your vocal jury?
Are you going to receive the verdict of
random people on social media?
Are you going to seek the counsel from
those who constantly knock you down?
Who are jealous of you?
Or who secretly don't want you to succeed?
The most important judgment that you can make
is to decide who gets to judge you and who gets...
overruled.
"Overruled."
Next, I declare you not guilty of judging others.
If we want others to stop judging us,
we've got to stop judging them.
That doesn't mean we're criticizing people all the time.
It actually can work the other way,
when we idolize.
Wow! She's perfect.
Her voice is flawless, if only I could be like her.
When we criticize singers we get a false sense of superiority,
when we idolize singers we get a false sense of inferiority.
What's the answer?
Balanced scales.
The singers that we criticize and that we idolize
share the same fears, doubts, and insecurities that we do.
They might be on different places of their vocal journey
but they're human.
Every terrible singer is doing something right.
And every god-like singer has something to work on.
When we start judging this way we become a lot more
reasonable with ourselves.
We discover freedom in our thinking,
in our voices, and in our lives.
Here are some other ways to declare freedom
over your vocal journey.
For voice lessons or Skype lessons with the NYVC staff
visit us at NewYorkVocalCoaching.com.
If you'd like a vocal course that you can do at home check out the
Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course.
This twelve part program takes you on a singing journey
from beginner to master level vocal exercises.
You can find it at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
Or, if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com.
And now, here's Justin with this week's vocal benediction.
Think about a good, fair, and wise judge.
We refer to her as, "Your Honor".
As of today your mind is no longer a prisoner.
Your mind is Your Honor.
Use it to honor your voice.
As you think in your heart, so it will be with your singing.
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