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3.23.2015

Chop Chop

I gave up performing my "folkish" music (accompanying myself on 12-string guitar) in 1984 when I began studying classical composition. Except for at parties, after having had too much to drink, I haven't done any real singing, or playing guitar for that matter. I just sort of quit after a career that spanned nearly 20 years. I couldn't perform anymore. I'd burned myself out and my confidence took a real nose dive due to some personal issues.

Now that I've decided to get back into it and maybe hit the house concert circuit, I've started rehearsing. I was afraid my voice would be unfamiliar to me due to the natural deepening that sometimes occurs as we age. My speaking voice has gotten a bit lower, so it was a natural assumption. In the past I was able to perform some pretty impressive vocal acrobatics, leaping octaves with ease and sliding around the blues. And I've always had a large range. I was fully prepared to transpose some of my more challenging songs to accommodate any changes to my voice, and I figured my vocal dexterity was a condition of my youth. There was no reason to think otherwise, because, when I did attempt to sing my old stuff, I was always in the house where I never felt confident enough to belt it out. Well, I recently cleared out a rehearsal space in the garage and when I first went out to there to practice, I found I was still able to really open up and SING with no holding back. Happily, I don't have to transpose anything, and guess what? My range is still there. It takes a little more support to hit the really high notes with ease, but it's coming along. By October when I'll give my "come-back" concert (ahem), I'll be able to sail over those notes like I used to.

Now if my guitar chops will just come back with as much ease. That's a whole 'nother issue!