The cost of seeking excellence

I have spent many years, and have run appropriate courses, trying to convince people that we can all sing. We are singing animals. Place your hand on your windpipe and feel your voice box. We all have one. Now speak and notice how the sound of your voice goes up and down, and gets louder or softer depending on what message you are putting across. Try asking a question, then making a statement. Notice how the sound changes depending on the message. You are controlling the pitch of your voice. Controlling pitch and loudness is singing. If you are still convinced you cannot sing, I will guess it is because, when you were young, some adult, maybe a parent or teacher, said you could not sing (‘tone deaf’ is a commonly used criticism) and to keep quiet. Because you were not encouraged to sing, you never had the chance to improve and, ever since, you have been afraid to try in case you made a fool of yourself.

The same blocks occur with writing, acting, art, public speaking and other personal activities. You don’t continue these activities at all if you have been told you are no good at them. Unfortunately, it is excellence that is acknowledged and rewarded, not persistence. A good example of the danger of this attitude is learning to swim. All children should learn to swim well for the sake of their safety, not because there is the occasional child who learns more quickly and can make better strokes, and rarely, perhaps, may become a champion.

Obviously there are skills that reach excellence through persistence and practice. Brain surgeons and barristers are not born with the right abilities that will enable them to reach the top of their professions. Athletes and professional sports players only succeed by regular practice and devotion to their career choices. My gripe is that by seeking out and encouraging only those who appear to have the potential to be excellent musicians, artists, writers and actors, and ignoring the rest, we fail to encourage the majority of the population to enjoy music, art, writing and acting for their own sake and personal satisfaction.