the smartsinger - blog
SINGER’S NOTES
MUSIC, SINGING TEACHING, PERFORMING VOCAL TIPS
Please do not reprint any of BARBARA’S writings without written permission
THERE ARE
THREE MORE JOURNALS
TO EXPLORE!
Journey to Salsa!
The World of Salsa Dancing
Natural Worlds
Once in A Blue mOOn
Saturday, October 28, 2006
IT ISN’T EASY RUNNING YOUR OWN MUSIC BUSINESS
How to Write, Sing, Sell Your Songs And Stay True To Yourself
I began writing a "diary" of ideas and thoughts about singing and song writing in early 2001, after I discovered, to my surprise, that one of the most visited pages on my artist Web site, barabaralewis.com, was a series of personal stories I had written about various aspects of a musician's life.
So I decided that I would write about my musical life with more regularity and call it:"Songwriter's Diary," although the subjects
Saturday, October 28, 2006
IMAGE
Image is a tricky issue. For singers of classical music, image is often defined by the songs the singers' voices can handle. It's a wait-and-see-who-you-are-when- your-voice-is-fully-developed proposition.
For today's young singers of pop, rock and alternative music, who you appear to be is usually more important than who you actually are.
My voice students would often rebel when I asked them to come up with words, pictures, photos or sounds that would help define their image.
"But I'm not
Saturday, October 28, 2006
A SONG OF MY OWN
As a kid I imagined myself one day singing with an amazing voice that had endless power, wide range and breathtaking technical know-how that would allow me to express the most subtle emotions.
It is probably the dream of many would-be opera singers, but with one important difference. I saw myself on-stage not with a symphony but with a rock band. And the songs I was singing were of my own creation.
Looking back, I believe this lopsided kiddy dream has fueled some of my most
Saturday, October 28, 2006
PASSION
"When I was young, the people I idolized didn't have a shtick. It was all about quality. Everything's much more of an advertisement now so a shtick is good. But I've never really broken a sweat trying to come up with one." - From an interview with singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin by Kim France, Mirabella magazine
People often ask me, incredulously, where on earth do I get ideas for songs. After all, they note, the lyrics and tunes usually are not about relationships, like many of the hits
Saturday, October 28, 2006
SONG-MUSINGS FROM THE PAST
I’ve been writing about song writing for a long time. Here are a few notes from the past - MOLLY’S SONG & PASSION...
Molly's Song
By Barbara Lewis, Oct. 2001
My music and I have often communed with nature.
I was thinking about this as I raked leaves on the "lawn" of our semi-wilderness lake house. We were fortunate to be there for a few days recently, removed from city troubles in miles, if not in heart.
I was raking a deep bed of leaves onto a flat pine-needle-strewn opening in the woods
About This Diary
