Impulsive Me Does It Again

I am a really impulsive person. I don't know why I am like this, but I'm the type of person that is indecisive, but when I am decisive I make sudden, life changing, (maybe even stupid) choices.

We've all had moments in our lives when we do this. Sometimes it's of no real consequence. You buy a pair a shoes without really thinking about it completely. You get them home and realize that you'll never wear yellow pumps ever! HAHA Sometimes though it is of real consequence. You dump your girlfriend you've been with for 6 months for no real reason! There's other better examples, but I'll just tell you what I did..

Well yesterday, I wrote a short letter to the owner of the music studio and quit. Yeah...I quit both my voice and violin lessons. Remember that nice big post about wanting to get more serious with singing---Doesn't matter with impulsive me! Her policy is a written notice, 30 days in advance, so I have 1 more month and that's it. I absolutely love singing and I was enjoying my time with the violin. What I wasn't enjoying was the hassle of getting my ass down there and the damn chest pains I was experiencing after practicing for 10 minutes. Driving down there was just too stressful for me and it was irritating my husband. I just had enough of it. Now I won't have to worry about it. She won't be too upset because I could never pay her on time.

I've been having a hard time keeping all of my bills straight. It's just getting really bad now. There aren't too many bills that I am on time for now, which is UNLIKE me. Years ago (back when I was 18/19) I was always early with my payments. Being late for a bill would have like a national disaster. The only bills I keep on time are credit cards with special APR's on them. It would be pretty stupid to miss a payment on those.

I'm pretty upset with my decision to quit, but it's done now. I left it open to take lessons in the future and if I feel my health is in better order, then I can try again.

Getting More Serious About Singing

I think my chest (or whatever muscle it was) has finally healed. Thank goodness! Now I am questioning my vocal lessons. Is this teacher really helping me or not? I certainly don't want to ruin my voice because of a bad teacher. Unfortunately the only teacher that looks incredible is like an 1 1/2 hours from me. It would be really hard to justify driving all that way for a 30 min-60 minute lesson. She is on western side of Pittsburgh. Not exactly a very nice place from what I can remember. My mom used to go to a craft store in that area. We would run to and from the car and never went there at night> LOL

I talked her last year sometime, but just wasn't quite ready to do lessons. I was too scared to sing for someone. Getting there wouldn't be too tough though from what I can see. (Just a very long drive) It's a straight shot down 79. Maybe her studio is located somewhere else though. (Not sure)

Right now she is offering a free first lesson and if you sign up for 12 weekly 1 hour lessons (I currently take 30 minute lessons), you save $110. I think that makes her CHEAPER than my current lessons.

(Doing the math)

It looks like she would be only a few more dollars per hour. After 3 months of lessons, I'd have to decide what I wanted to do.

Ms. Hissam has the credentials, education and incredible singing talent. Now she was trained classically (opera), but I know she does all sorts of stuff. Really all I want is to have someone help me breathe properly, use vibrato right and get better at trills and runs. I'm not that good with those yet. I have a tendency to do the jaw shake when I do runs, trills and vibrato. I've been watching myself in a mirror recently. Yikes!

Not knocking on my teacher now, she isn't as good as this other women. Not that she claimed to be though. I think I want to be more serious with singing. She is an alto and cannot sing along with me whatsoever and I don't think I sing that high. Comfortably I can go well into the 5th octave. I can hit the 6th, but I'm not comfortable with it yet. I say yet because I think there is potential. I'm not breathing right though.

All I hear is diaphragm, diaphragm! But...what does that even mean? I can puff my stomach up and fake it all day, but I'm not doing it right. I've started checking out videos on YouTube. There is one person in particular that has been very helpful.. I hate the type of music he sings, but he is a good teacher nonetheless. I've been using this video to get better.

Yeah I know I'm rambling on. Maybe this week I can record the first song I learned for lesson and put it up here for all of you to comment. It is called Treasure by Amethystium. You can listen to the original on YouTube here. This is the type of music I want to sing. Probably won't be famous or a household name, but I would be very happy. The singer in Treasure (Stine Mari Langstrand) also sings Trolltind by Lumsk. This is the song I am currently learning in lesson. As you can see, I have a little thing for this singer. I think she is absolutely incredible and being able to even tackle her songs is very uplifting. A few months ago, I had a terrible time with Treasure. Now I can sing it pretty easily. I know the lessons are working, but I just want to be the best possible.