New lessons learnt during commentating

1. The accompanist is important. Certain ways of playing lift my voice so that I can sing better.

2. Allow the music to flow into me so that I can better bring out the melody of the song while singing it.

3. Fellow singers make a difference to me. Some can push my vocal prowess to greater heights and instill in me the desire for choral perfection.

4. Even the best singers have to overcome stage fright. One way to do so is to have a prayer intention in mind while singing, and address God through the lyrics. Another way is to focus on the lyrics instead of the congregation.

Some age-old lessons never go away too.
1. I need positive affirmation for my vocal performance. When I don't get any, I start doubting my ability.

2. I need to be confident in my own style of singing a song which has been sung by someone else. If it differs, it does not mean I sang it badly.

Quotes on music

(These are taken from Musical Wit by Vicky Edwards.)

I wish you music to help with the burdens of life, and to help you release your happiness to others. - Ludwig van Beethoven

Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life. - Art Blakey

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. - Charlie Parker

Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that crap and just play. - Charlie Parker

I would teach children music, physics and philosophy; but most importantly music, for in the patterns of music and all the arts are the keys of learning. - Plato

I am a servant of the music... and if I get caught up in ego, I'll lose everything... it'll burn and that's a guarantee. - Eric Clapton

The piano is the easiest instrument to play in the beginning, and the hardest to master in the end. - Vladimir Horowitz

The piano is able to communicatate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air. - Kenneth Miller

I'm an interpreter of stories. When I perform it's like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories. - Nat King Cole

If I look a buffoon while I'm transported by a piece of music, then so be it; I don't care. - Sue Perkins on training as a conductor on the BBC's Maestro programme.

Anyone who thinks conducting is just waving their arms around is going to get a rude awakening if they try it out. - Bradley Walsh on training as a conductor on the BBC's Maestro programme.

Being a conductor is kind of a hybrid profession because most fundamentally, it is being someone who is a coach, a trainer, an editor, a director. - Michael Tilson Thomas

Where words fail, music speaks. - Hans Christian Andersen

Music is love in search of a word. - Sidney Lanier

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. - Martin Luther

Music is the key to the female heart. - Johann G. Seume

A love song is just a caress set to music. - Sigmund Romberg

Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them. - Louis Armstrong

To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time, incredible and inconceivable. - Aaron Copland

Angels given to me at various positions

Each time I sing at a different position for Mass, I am given angels to motivate me to sing to the best of my potential. Sometimes too, in the process of thanking them, I am used by God to affirm them. :) I know however, that it is the decision of my conductor that aids in this privilege.

Last evening's position was one of the best because it was really convenient for me to go to my seat and then to my position. I did not need to exert myself so much in comparison. :) It also provided an alcove for me to be alone with my thoughts and apart. :D I am aware that it is a temporary position for me but I am thankful for the chance to have stood at it.

A true sacrifice of praise

I have always been told to carry out the "sacrifice of praise" at mass as a choir member. I was given the opportunity to fully do it for these past two weekends. :)

I had a throat infection last week but still had to sing my best for mass since I am usually right in front of the microphone. I was asked to sing more when I tried to hold back while singing, as a reaction to my infection. It truly was a sacrifice.

It was the same yesterday. I had a really bad headache but still gave my best in singing for mass. I had to make up for my absence at choir practice, I felt. It was a little easier yesterday though. My section leader was deployed to sing with me and I had a greater motivation to sing because of her presence. :) It brought out my usual singing techniques :)