Thursday, November 30, 2017

Long time listener, first time caller...

Ok, so that title was just a little bit of click bait. But in all honesty I try to be a good listener and I have been trying to be a good listener for a long time. Sometimes the hardest thing for a singer, or really just a person, to do is listen. I was reminded of this just last night as one of my choir members asked if she was the "issue" with a problem she was hearing in the section. In all honesty, I had only noticed the facial expressions on the singers and the lack of clarity in some of the music. I hadn't heard this particular concern. In the mix of the ensemble, amidst a busy rehearsal, maybe I wasn't listening. But she was. We spent a little time playing around with some ideas to resolve the concern and have an action plan to move forward, hopefully successfully.

What is it about listening that makes it so hard? I think we all want to be heard, singing, speaking, when we are happy or upset. But I also think we truly want to hear from and about others. So many things can get in our way. Some of which we can control, other things we cannot.

We have now entered that time of the year where it seems like there is no time for anything. This is when i find myself needing to listen even more closely. I need to focus on what is been said and sung. I need to stop the internal monologue and focus my energy on reaching out to others.