Wednesday, September 12, 2018 by Patti Barrow | General

What is YOUR story? Why do you sing?

I remember being about 16 years old, sitting by an old furnace in the middle of our home. We had a small 4' bookcase that held books my parents had collected through the years. Struggling to keep warm on an early school day, I found myself reading a book of poems by H. W. Longfellow.
Yeah. I know. Longfellow.
As a typical teen, I did love reading and writing poetry. It was an outlet for me, much like singing only through ink on paper.
This particular book was one of the volumes in a hardbound collection that my parents had purchased years and years earlier. (There was also an old set of Encyclopedia Brittanica...remember those? LOL). 

So, there I was, reading this book...and a poem popped up about three singers.  Oh... NOW we are talking my language!
I loved to sing. Ever since I was little I sang songs about anything in my head. You know... I was "that kid" LOL.  
But, I was also very insecure...there was always someone who teased me, made fun of me, and there was always someone who I knew was a better singer, a better actress, just better. Still, I couldn't just...stop. Singing was part of who I was. And I knew it.

In this poem, there were three singers.
Each with a different audience, a different voice.
No one was better than other, because they each filled a different need in their community.
They each had a different purpose in their song.

Wow, what a thought ... 

I read, read, and re-read that story ... 

Through my college and early performing career, there was always someone who everyone aspired to, someone "better" than I... around every turn, my natural tendency was to compare myself to singers, other performers, other people in general. Judging myself against someone "better", I lost sight of the "why" in my singing. My studies became more about doing what others felt was right for me and less about what I wanted to express, needed to express ...and to whom. I figuratively lost "my voice"... and lost who I was in the process.

But, eventually, this poem came back to me. I don't remember how, really, other than it was such a moving experience I remember being moved to tears... like seeing a best friend you haven't seen in years, stop off a train. It was an "aha" for my soul. Our songs, our voices, are a gift to us. A gift of expression. Where words may fail us, our music will not.

I found myself freed that day. From comparison. From obligation. Free from guilt. I was now free to explore, learn, and improve a talent that was mine, to be used for the purposes God intended...not anyone else. 

That is when I learned to let my heart soar on vocal wings. 

As a voice teacher, it is my goal to help my students find their own song, their own voice. To help them find their own audience and to use their talent, wether it be for a sold out house or a backyard barbecue. Every voice is unique. Every song deserves to be sung.

Make YOUR heart sing with vocal wings. I can be your guide.

"The Singers" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

God sent his Singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth,
That they might touch the hearts of men,
And bring them back to heaven again.

The first, a youth, with soul of fire,
Held in his hand a golden lyre;
Through groves he wandered, and by streams,
Playing the music of our dreams.

The second, with a bearded face,
Stood singing in the market-place,
And stirred with accents deep and loud
The hearts of all the listening crowd.

A gray old man, the third and last,
Sang in cathedrals dim and vast,
While the majestic organ rolled
Contrition from its mouths of gold.

And those who heard the Singers three
Disputed which the best might be;
For still their music seemed to start
Discordant echoes in each heart,

But the great Master said, "I see
No best in kind, but in degree;
I gave a various gift to each,
To charm, to strengthen, and to teach.

"These are the three great chords of might,
And he whose ear is tuned aright
Will hear no discord in the three,
But the most perfect harmony."