Epic vocals are the thought of the day.
How do you figure, Brett?
Every vocal reality contests or TV shows (American Idol, The Voice, America’s got Talent, The X-Factor, etc.) have one major goal in common….
ASTONISH THE LISTENER
This means you have to do some amazing stylistic lick, trill or run; singing 30 notes in place of one sustained note. Perhaps change the ending melody to climb up to an intense hight note, instead of resolving down.
Also, and far more typical, is to sing heavier and louder than all the other singers on stage. Everything about TV is about BIG STUFF; visually interesting and sonically shocking.
But, small voices, subtle singers, and creative geniuses do small stuff. It’s the little differences that you feel more than you hear.
Ever hear someone say, “I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I hear it?” This is something I’ve heard for years in the music industry. Successful artists, often times, don’t know how describe their successful career.
Producers, coaches and music industry professionals—attorneys, record label executives and artist managers—can tell you that they know what radio stations with play because of an indescribable quality.
Music fans may spend their time looking for their newest independent artist. This is because we often want to not ‘follow the crowd’ and find our own, fresh music.
What’s Wrong with “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff?”
This quote typically applies to drama kings and queens, who regularly freak out over the smallest things. These are also called, “crisis addicts.” Someone with little stress going on in their life, so they need to lay into their horn for 15 seconds if someone happens to get into their lane…and they were already 20 minutes early.
Or, the fast food place gave them only 37 french fries, when you usually count 40. Don’t sweat this! There are FAR bigger problems in the world!!
HOWEVER….
Some small stuff matters more than you could ever imagine. Could be life changing or career building! Allow me to explain here…
What Does it Mean to “Sweat the Small Stuff?”
I’m currently enrolled in an online Cinematic Composing school. One of the first things talked about when scoring a scene (writing music for a certain mood in a movie or tv show), is the need to get your timing perfect and set all your cues to the action scene, scary part or romantic scene. Timing…….. is everything. Tempo has to be exactly what the director asks for. We were told this….
“If you don’t follow the time code perfectly, the music director of the film will KILL YOU. Then he will KILL HIMSELF, meet you in hell, and kill you again.”
While my beloved mentor/instructor (5 time Emmy award winner) was joking to make a point, the point stuck hard.
This is true in every industry. A perfect example is legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s shoe lace policy!
What???!! Who cares about shoelaces?
John Wooden cares. Winner of 10 NCAA basketball championships in 12 years at UCLA. First person ever to go in the hall of fame as a coach AND player.
As a coach, the first lesson was tying your shoelaces correctly. Before dribbling, passing or shooting drills, you were expected to know how to keep your feet from sliding around in the inside of your shoe, causing blisters.
Also, tied too tight would cut off circulation to your feet, causing more issues. And finally, you had to tie your laces in a particular way that they wouldn’t come undone. Blisters and tripping over your feet, could both be things that could keep you out of the game and even cause season ending injuries.
How Can Sweating the Small Stuff Increase Your Success in the Music Industry?
If you have set goals (short or long term), are seeking to build an audience on streaming platforms or social media, (perhaps in live music venues with a rock band or any other place of success in music), you HAVE to sweat the small stuff. Musicians have honorable professions. But it’s tough too!
1. It Makes You Pay Attention to Detail
Comb through your own music with a fine tooth comb. Don’t hesitate to re-write or re-record questionable sections of your song.
You MUST be willing to perfect your final product and become picky about agents, managers and producers. Find those with the talents to make you carefully choose band members, co-writers (unless you write better alone…..which is rare), possible back up singers, sound engineers for live shows (unless the venue you’ll be playing has a great live sound guy or gal).
2. You Will Examine Your Own Habits
The key to any type of success, especially in music and business industries, is building healthy habits and staying consistent. For a sustainable career, you have to check as many boxes, while simultaneously examining your work ethic and time management.
Goal setting can be for losing weight, growing out your hair, saving up enough money to rebuild or develop a cool wardrobe, playing an instrument, building muscle or finding the places in your voice needed to compel fans to listen to the fruits of your hard work.
Naturally, I strongly recommend one of our certified vocal coaches—or possibly me—to help you maximize your vocal prowess.
Or, to get started with our easy access online courses, become a VIP member and get the support of an amazing, encouraging community, all our coaches, and all of my courses streaming to your computer, phone or digital device.
Stay consistent with your style (most cases, signed artists will hire a stylist to help with this). Don’t be afraid to adapt.
Remember when I used to wear skinny jeans? Me neither. Tell no one! That was 14 years ago. I adapted to the constantly changing fashion AND music industry. Remember…. production and song styles change rapidly. This is why it can be advantageous to choose a style that rarely changes.
Trendiness can give you instant money and millions of instagram followers, but a tree that grows too fast, dies quickly.
Build a habit of following up with new fans (while not forgetting real fans that have stuck with you), other musicians, your band mates or former band mates.
Anyone who has helped you with a record or album in the past, friends in other bands, or literally anyone you know in the music industry. A short text can tell them how much you care and how they matter. Many musicians don’t get this easy method of staying connected.
You are not just a musician. You are now in the music industry….if you are trying to have any level of music success. The music business can be savage, so stay grounded in your morals and ethics.
Boost your creativity so you can make more music. Sharpening your musical skills will NOT diminish your creativity. It will give your more colors to paint with.
Artists who play piano or guitar can never exhaust the possibilities. Music is too diverse for that. Taylor Swift played effective acoustic guitar from a very young age. Writing a hit song as a teenager certainly helps too! 😉
3. You’ll Take CALCULATED Risks
Creativity is desperately needed for writing your own music and building your brand. This means taking risks, redefining success in music can be achieved by steadily building a loyal fan base. Creativity will keep them guessing what’s next. A new album? Opening up for Justin Bieber or adding a magic element to your live show?
Don’t limit yourself to the multiple opportunities. You could literally blow up in the music industry like many musicians have done before you, by just opening up for another artist or several artists in a local music fest.
Be sure to capture every gig on social media. Remember this, sometimes…..this can happen overnight. An unsigned artist needs to build connections to be successful. So, don’t burn bridges, just because someone may not be a musician who can relate to your strange way of thinking. Face it! We are different!
4. Prevents Any Potential Problems
Fans- Be prepared for multiple disappointments. But your failures don’t have to cause your falling away. Fail forward. Talk to, and observe other musicians, and see how they engage their fans. Artists can be snobby and cut themselves off from listeners. But fans are crucial if you’re going to have someone to hear your music. What good is your music, if no one is listening?
Collaborations- Social media collabs will help you expand your audience rapidly. And…. the artists you collaborate with get your audience. Win-win!! Be sure to post fairly regularly on Youtube, Instagram, and occasionally on Facebook.
TiK ToK typically helps younger artists, but to succeed, you have to try it all and don’t limit your social media presence. Careers succeed when real people come to know that you are just like them. You just have a talent for creating great music, moving folks in ways that only a musician with great music can do.
Purpose- Focusing on your problems prevents you from creating great music. You can bring hope and life to others who will see what you can achieve when ability and hard work is implemented into your work week, like a job. Money will come eventually. But you have to be the example of what you hope to develop into. Create! Sing! Let go of criticism, but always seek to be better!
Does Sweating the Small Things Create More Stress?
Building a checklist of action items is a way let the small stuff stay small. A musician who plays in bands as a hired hand has one responsibility. Bands change members often. Although the music industry doesn’t like that too much, because it can disrupt the brand. Especially when you change out the lead singer. The music has to sound like the music on the recordings. So, the one musician you shouldn’t trade out is the singer. With rare exceptions.
How do You Ensure You’re Sweating the Small Stuff Correctly in Your Music Career?
First off, don’t get overwhelmed with this small stuff. You have more time than you think. The music industry won’t dismiss you for needing an ‘occasional’ break. But…. we all saw what happened with band One Direction. Their music was loved by everyone and they had great momentum. When they took a lengthy break, their music was soon forgotten. Don’t lose momentum. Unless you are ready to pivot to something else. Which is ok.
Look for the Potential Issue
You can’t fix anything without first figuring out what you are trying to prevent from happening. Assess the situation.
Don’t be such a dude. Meaning, we all know the joke about men refusing to ask for directions. I often say this to students when they start having vocal issues: “Human beings can be stupid, because they are the only animals who run faster when they get lost.”
Find the Tools that Work For You
Lists, as we’ve mentioned—can help keep you on track! Map it out, if you’re a visual person, stay organized, prevent interruptions and stay on track. Take it slow– don’t rush.
I personally have all my ideas, plans and action steps, saved on my devices and sync’d together. But I’ve also massively simplified it with one magic word that the industry appreciates. In the next section, I’ll reveal that word!
Prevent Interruptions
Here’s that magic word that will keep your music from suffering into mediocrity……
NO!
Practice this with me. It’s seriously powerful and life changing….
Friend: Brett, can you come out and play darts tonight?
Me: No.
Me: Raincheck? (Thinking how much I need to practice.)
When you turn off your phone or your ringer and put your, “do not disturb” status on, placing your phone in the next room; you’ve gone old school. You are refusing distractions.
But…….wait for it…..distractions are addicting! And we ALL have them.
If you want to wallow in the well of mediocrity, continue to divide your practice time, creative time and rehearsal time with endless scrolling (like I did as I was going down a rabbit hole of funny YouTube shorts last night….ugh), and your music will suffer. Your life will waste away.
Take It Slow
It’s not a race, it’s a marathon. You have to build up, and building takes time. Ensuring your foundation is what it means to “sweat small things.”
This could be as simple as 15 minutes a day on 8 different things. Or, 30 minutes a day on 4 things, and alternating days on the other 4 items.
Consistency means MUCH more than huge blocks of time. Although, my Saturdays often consist of 2 to 5 hours of piano practice and/or composing cinematic music for my demo reel.
John Wooden Stories
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, John Wooden is one of the greatest coaching legends of all time. The difference? I’ll explain.
Why was John Wooden so Successful?
The T3 methodology of John Wooden:
Teamwork- You cannot have great success alone.
Tone- Become a great leader by exercising temperament, encouragement and character. Lead by example.
Tenacity- This was formulated through the 4 laws of learning: Explanation, Demonstration, Imitation, Repetition
What were John Wooden’s Three Rules for Success and How do You Apply that to Successful Musicians?
John had 3 rules for gaining loyalty that can work for you too.
Be on time- I’ve written an entire book on this, titled “Why I am Late.” A summary of the book is that people aren’t late to catch a plane for their vacation. Punctuality shows respect for other’s time.
Never criticize- A simple explanation is better!
No profanity- (This may seem silly, but I would hate to argue with John.) This was thought of as the ability to be intelligent and not merely exploding or cursing out others out of frustration.
John Wooden Quotes that Apply to Successful Musicians
- “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
- “Make each day your masterpiece.”
- “Never lie, never cheat, never steal.”
- “Nothing will work unless you do.”
How to Know When Stress is Unhealthy
It’s important to worry about the small things, but it’s also important not to stress yourself out. Find balance.
Difficulty Sleeping
If you can’t sleep, you will never recover. Great counseling, lots of exercise and (for me) prayer and classical music (especially Bach) rapidly lowers stress.
Constant Increased Levels of Anxiety
Patience is the opposite of anxiety. Learn to involve friends and family, or those affiliated with school, religious groups or clubs, in order to lower anxiety. Seek professional help if you see this compounding.
Frequent Headaches or Stomachaches
Consult your doctor to get to the bottom of this. I really highly recommend Dr. Josh Axe and Dr. Chris Motley, for the natural route. But, this is my own personal choice. You do what you know to be best.
Tense Muscles
Massage therapy, chiropractic help, stretching and other fun exercises, are just a few recommendations for releasing tense muscles.
Restlessness
This is the deepening of unhealthy stress. Always seek out a gifted physician who may know counselors who can help you cope. A great doctor usually works alongside colleagues who are mental health specialists.
Worry about What You Can Control
Music is medicine. To yourself and others. Listening, creating, performing. All 3 bring about tremendous peace and joy that we all seek.
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