Success is Not an Isolated Event

This past week, I experienced what I consider to be a successful moment in my music career.  I found out from my publicist that the first radio stations had decided to add 3 of my songs from my new EP Make Something Happen into their rotation of songs.

When I got that email, I was overjoyed.  I mean, what singer doesn't dream of writing songs and actually getting them played on the radio?

However, the more I started thinking about it, the more I realized that this success did not come all by itself.  The station manager did not magically decide to play some random Christian singer's music from Port Orange, Florida.  No, there were a lot of steps that got me to this place of experiencing this success.

1. I had to write the songs that are now going to be played.
2. I had to find the right people (producer, engineer, musicians, etc.) to help me produce the product.
3.  I had to find the funding to produce the product.
4.  I had to follow through and actually see the product come to completion.
5.  I had to choose a publicist to help me spread my message.
6.  I had to spend a lot of time honing my biography and writing the "stories behind the songs".

I've come to realize that every success we experience in life is usually not an isolated event.  Meaning, we've often had lots of little successes along the way that we don't think about actually contributing to the larger success.

Think of it this way: You don't just decide to run a marathon and then go do it.  You have to put in the time of actually training for the run beforehand and lots of little runs end up contributing to the overall goal.

Likewise, as a singer, you don't just go out and have a rockin' performance that everyone raves about without putting in the time and effort to hone your musical skills.

So, here's what I'd like to ask you to do.  If you're working towards a larger success, whatever that might be, start counting and celebrating all of the little successes that will get you to that goal.  Want to make an album?  Spend some time writing a new song that you can't wait to share with the world.  Want to sing a solo but feel scared?  Count the success of joining and singing in your church choir first.

Once you realize that success is not an isolated event, you will begin to celebrate all of life's little moments that will get you to any level of success that you desire.  Pretty soon, you will be unstoppable as you go from success to success and start to experience your wildest dreams coming true.

Happy Singing and Happy Living,

Kristin

Dreaming and Doing

2016 feels like a banner year already!

For those of you who don't know, I recently released my debut music project Make Something Happen into the world.  It became available digitally several weeks ago and on Wednesday of this week, I received my CDs in the mail.

(Here I am making a silly face, but I promise I was really excited about this!  If you would like to hear more about my project and the stories behind the songs, visit my website, www.kristinkingmusic.com)

Sometimes I can't even believe this project is out.  It was so much work, but truly work that I enjoyed doing every step of the way.  I especially enjoyed the 4 trips to Nashville I made in 2015, all related to my growing music business.

Make Something Happen is a project I'm so proud of because all of the songs are from the deepest places in my heart and soul.  If you want to know how I feel about God and life in general, listen to this project.  It feels like I'm wearing my "heart on my sleeve".  And I'm ok with that.

I will leave you with this because I think it's very appropriate to my life and my music in this season:

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do." -Steve Jobs

I am really loving what I'm doing!  Probably because I've been dreaming of doing it for a long, long time.

New Opportunities

What a year it's been!  And it's not quite over yet.

If you had told me back in January all of the opportunities I would get with my music this year, I wouldn't have believed you.  It all started when I decided upon my motto for the year: "Make Something Happen".  You see, each year, I come up with a theme or motto to base my entire year around.  This year, those three little words kept coming back to me, so I decided to let them frame everything that happened in my life for the next 12 months.

Then came the song, "Make Something Happen".  Initially, I was irritated when I woke up singing the chorus and the bridge that I either dreamed or composed in my sleep.  When I looked at the clock, it read 5:30am and I had 40 minutes left to sleep.  The last thing I wanted to do was leave the comfort of my warm bed to go work on a song.

Still, I grabbed my phone, trudged dreary-eyed to the bathroom, shut the door so I wouldn't wake up my one-year old son, and hit record on my phone.

A few days later, I put some verses and chords to the chorus and bridge, and I had a song.

The song inspired the project, and fast-forward 11 months, and I am getting ready to release a 5-song album to the world entitled Make Something Happen.  I am really pleased with how this project turned out and am so excited to release it soon.

This week, I'll be traveling to Nashville for the 4th time this year to discuss some exciting music business opportunities.  What a whirlwind, landmark year it's been!  I wouldn't have it any other way!

(Doing some tracking for my project, Make Something Happen, right on Music Row in beautiful Nashville, TN)

The Traveling Saleswoman

Today is a day that ranks up there with my graduation from college, my wedding day, and the birth of my son. No kidding!

Today I received the most wonderful package in the world in the mail: fifteen pristine copies of my first ever self-published book, Ten Weeks to a Better Voice!  Now I know I wrote about the eBook a few blog posts ago, and while I'm definitely glad that the eBook is available for people who want it, there is just something about holding my dream in my hand.  Thumbing through the pages I spent so many hours researching, testing, and writing.  This book has been a labor of love for the past three years, and I'm glad to say that it can finally take on a life of its own.

Now, the name of the game is getting this book into the right hands.  It is available on Amazon, so it reaches a wide audience, but I want people to know that it's out there.  A short singing resource that will help the average Joe become a better singer.  Or the seasoned performer who needs some tips on caring for her vocal cords in the best ways.  This book includes those things.

So in honor of the new book, for the next ten blog posts, I will be writing brief summaries of the chapters, covering all ten weeks.  Then if you want more information, you'll be able to pick up a copy of the book or download the eBook on Amazon.

I once read about a woman who always kept a few copies of her own book in the trunk of her car.  That way, whenever she had the opportunity to sell one, she was prepared.  You can bet that I will be doing the same!  I called myself the "traveling saleswoman" on Facebook today, and I'm ok with that title because I truly believe in the product I'm peddling.

Those of you who have read my previous blog posts or know me can hopefully tell that I am passionate about singing and singing well.  The mission of Ten Weeks to a Better Voice is to help anyone learn to sing better, with or without a voice teacher.  So if you know of a singer who could benefit from the book, please share this post!  Or better yet, buy them copy of the book (shameless plug)!  The easiest way to find it is to go to Amazon's website and type in "Ten Week Voice" in the search engine.

On a sincere note, thank you to everyone who has already purchased the book, read it, or reviewed it on Amazon!  I could not live my dream without your help!

As always, Happy Singing!

(Here I am, cheesing it up with four copies of my book!  One of these could be yours! Thank you for your support.)

The Power of Purposeful Practice

How's that title for alliteration? The Power of Purposeful Practice.  What a magnificent sounding phrase!  Sorry, I couldn't help myself!

I really do mean to write about something important today.  Something that many people, myself included, don't often enjoy.  That's practice.

Yesterday, I taught a piano lesson to a young girl.  It was only our second lesson together, but she did something that absolutely astonished me.  She played all of her songs from the previous week with confidence and told me she had already prepared for this week's songs ahead of time.  Translation: she practiced!

All of you piano and voice teachers out there can now join me in a dance because you know how wonderful it makes you feel when a student does what you ask them to and more!

After the lesson, I bragged on the girl to her parents, telling them she is going to be great at the piano.  And I truly believe that because she has the drive to do the hard work.  She's going to practice and that is only going to make her better over time.

Now, confession time: I often struggle with practice myself.  As organized as I consider myself to be, I am still the Queen of Procrastination.  Often before a Thursday night choir rehearsal, I wait until Thursday afternoon to review my set list and prepare what I'm going to teach.  But on those rare occasions that I prepare a few days ahead of time, I find myself feeling much more confident and prepared when it's time for choir rehearsal.  This leads me to believe that practice brings confidence.

Ah, but not just any practice will do.  The title of this post is "The Power of Purposeful Practice".  Meaning, the practice has to achieve some sort of goal to be the most effective.

For instance, if I am working on learning a new Mozart song on the piano, I could sit down and try to run through the entire song at first practice.  Honestly, I would probably get frustrated and not look at the piece for a few months (true story!).  OR, I could sit down and commit to practicing fifteen minutes on the first eight measures of the song.  My outcome will probably sound a lot better, and I'm more likely to show up for practice the next day if I've achieved my mini goal.  One example demonstrates practice without any clear purpose; the other demonstrates a purposeful practice.

This technique of purposeful practice doesn't just work for playing the piano or singing.  It can translate into any area of your life where you'd like to see improvement.  Even little five minute purposeful practice sessions each day can add up very quickly.

To implement purposeful practice into your life, try these easy steps:

1. Set a purposeful practice goal. Example: "I want to learn to sing the first verse and chorus of my favorite song".

2. Set a time limit. Example: "I'm going to work on this for the next twenty minutes".

3. Set a timer and practice.  When the timer goes off, stop the practice and evaluate whether or not you've met your goal.

4. Repeat Steps 1-3 every day, setting new practice goals as you need to.

We've all heard the saying "practice makes perfect".  Although in some cases that might be true, I propose a new saying: "purposeful practice makes confidence".

What are you waiting for?  Go practice purposefully today!

Ten Weeks to a Better Voice

Once again, I sit down to write a blog post and realize it's been more than several months since I updated this blog.  Hopefully my procrastination with this blog is a thing of the past because I now have an exciting new product available and I want to highlight it and expand upon it using this platform.

Last week, I released my first eBook, Ten Weeks to a Better Voice to the Amazon marketplace.  If you have a Kindle reader or even the Kindle app on your smart device or computer, you can purchase this eBook from Amazon for $5.99.

Here is the description of the book straight from Amazon:

Ten Weeks to a Better Voice is the handbook for singers of all levels who desire to improve their singing. In just two and a half months, you can expect to learn more about your own unique sound, improve the weakest areas in your range, and gain more confidence to perform for audiences of all sizes. Ten Week Voice is designed to work even if you can’t afford to take voice lessons! This book covers the following topics: 

• Getting started with singing 
• Voice warm-ups and stretches before singing 
• Creating a space to practice music 
• Improving the head voice 
• Strengthening the chest voice 
• Developing the mixed voice 
• Emotions in singing 
• Dealing with performance anxiety 
• Solving common vocal problems 
• Finding your performing niche 

The author believes that anyone who desires to improve in singing can do so by employing the tips and techniques contained in this book. Each chapter includes Singer’s Next Steps which will help you incorporate your newly-acquired knowledge into your singing to see and hear results immediately! 

I can't tell you how excited I've been to release this vision into the world!  It was born as a result of so many people sharing their vocal concerns with me or asking me how they could increase their ranges.  I wanted to share this valuable information in one place that could serve as a resource singers can return to again and again.  I also wanted to make the tips and techniques accessible for a small price so even singers who can't afford voice lessons can benefit.  

I hope you'll consider purchasing this eBook if you are a singer and want to learn more about the craft.  In celebration of the release of this book, in the upcoming posts I will be highlighting and expanding upon different chapters of the Ten Week Voice and also providing incentives to purchase the eBook.

By the way, if you've purchased the eBook and read it, I want to hear from you!  Post a comment on this blog, on my facebook page, and/or write a review on Amazon.  I would love to know how it helped your singing. 

Thank you for your support!  I couldn't do what I do each day without you, my fellow singers and musicians!  You are truly my muse!

Ten Weeks to a Better Voice (Click here to view and purchase my new eBook)