...And then she took a final Leap off the ledge, hoping to FLY

Whew.

It's all done. I'm laying down in bed.. Going over the performance over and over..

I didn't tank I don't think.. But no where as wow-worthy as I would have liked to be. I definitely learned a lot out of this first public performance.. 

Here's the run down:

As the group gets together and starts prepping for the first performance, my palms are already cold and sweaty, my stomach is in knots and my hands start to tingle and lock up. Soon after that my lips start to tingle and lock as well - EUGH, not good for singing in a few minutes!!!! The whole hour goes by and I'm finally called up! Bahhhhhhh!!!

I stand up and do my intro, and let my voice coach know he's good to start (while my body is 1000% trembling).

When my voice teacher starts playing the intro to my song, I didn't recognize it. I'm listening really closely, watching the audience look back at me while I blankly look at my coach confused. What melody is this?! When am I supposed to come in!? I wait for him to realize he's not playing the arrangement and intro that we had worked on together but instead he continues-the audience still staring at me, blinking ad wondering why on earth I haven't started singing. 

I finally just start the song and am obviously all over the place in the first verse because I'm trying to navigate the first verse with the RIGHT melody to an entirely DIFFERENT song that's being played. Once i got to the chorus the teacher found where he was supposed to me and just followed my lead, but by that time I had totally effed up the verse and knew that I could sing that so much better.. What I've learned tonight is that if the pianist is making up the song, still own and sing the verse with conviction instead of singing so tentatively..

I'm disappointed in tonight as a whole and am that much more nervous for the FOUR song set that I'm doing on Monday at a BAR IN SAN FRANCISCO! Eughhhh.. 

Anyway, after all that I still got up there and certainly deserved a glass of champagne to calm my nerves that were spinning out of control..

I'll be practicing like a psycho until Monday.

Gnite loves,

Missy

Shaking in my Boots!

Blah!!!!

I'm so nervous!

In an hour I'll be singing to the production  group for the first time. 

Anddddd, my voice feels slightly off because

I. Am. So. TIRED!!!

I went to bed close to 230AM thanks to this guy:

I swear I have the most accident prone dog on the planet. Running around, Alfie snagged his toenails (which were recently trimmed) and they ripped off, leaving him bleeding a good amount. So we were off to the vet's office at midnight! 

He's drugged and wobbling around today. Watching me fidget like crazy out of anxiety for tonight. Man I hate my stage fright.. But here goes nothing!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

Bahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

- Missy

Memorial Day Shopping..

Hey goofballs!

So I did a little damage yesterday.. 

I walked into Guitar Center and bought.. Everything..I think lol. Hahahahah no just kidding, although it did feel like it when I got to my mountain of goodies at the register.  I got the start of what I needed for practicing music at home. What does that mean, you ask?

- a performance microphone

- microphone cables

- microphone boom stand

- piano / keyboard (score!)

- keyboard stand

- chair for playing keyboard

- audio interface (comes with audio software for editing recorded music)

- keyboard/piano pedal

- keyboard cables

- 2 mega awesome speakers (aka monitors)

- 2 books of fun sheet music 

What's left?

I need : 

- a DESK

- a computer that allows all of the above to be RUN

Whew! 2 major questions:

1) HOW on earth do I put this all together and make it work?

2!) WHERE on earth will this fit in my San Francisco apartment??!

A really good first step but I still have a ways to go.. What I was finding is I would make great progress in my lesson but I'd be a sitting duck once I got home. I'd still practice but just to my lessons recorded and just practice my upcoming performance songs acapella. 

I realized I was handicapped. I can't perform live anywhere without being able to play an instrument (seeing as how I obviously have no band) and if I want to take my music to the next level.. Like write my own music or manipulate and change an existing released song - or perform ANY song live without help.. I need to play an instrument! 

Soooooo with that being said, I played the piano a bajillion years ago and have since stopped (and focused on dance instead).. So my job now is to rack my brain and RE-learn how to play the piano. Something that can ONLY help me..

Keep your fingers crossed for me, hopefully it comes back to me SOMEWHAT easily :)

Skip to TODAYYYY, my boo (Alex) and I met my mom in the oh so lovely Vacaville (~1 hour away from San Francisco) so we could 1) hang out and 2) so she could give me my dog back (my fluffy muffin Alfie!!!)

She watches him whenever Alex and I travel.. Which works cuz she begs for him normally :)

Hanging with my mom is my favorite, a little dose of home every time.. We shopped a bit, helped her pick a dress for an upcoming cousin's wedding and then had a little dinner and drinks (or maybe it was just me who drank.. Oh well :-p)

Pics below!

Now to focus on my performance songs this week (Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!):

- Clarity

- I Knew You Were Trouble

- Impossible

- I Told You So

My cousin Kelley (who's in an amazing band called 'Breaking Midway') called me today to tell me there's a song that could fit me really well, and that she thinks I could really rock.. Jessie J's 'Who You Are'... Do y'all know it?! I looked it up today and it's an AMAAAAAZING song! A big song, but amazing. Will be trying to check that one out as well.

Okay Luvs.. This Wednesday is the group class performance day!!! I'll be singing Clarity. A week from tonight is my debut at Martuni's! 

Holy s**t!!!

For me this week : Practice practice practice!

Until later, gnite! :)

- Missy

Back to Ballet. Effing toes..

Happy Sunday Funday people!

I woke up wanting to satisfy my dance itch on my day off with singing.. So I threw on my tights and leotard, packed my shorts and ballet shoes and flew out the door for the 10am class.. 

Class went great, while I struggled at the barre since it wast first class back in a couple months- I was good to go once we did floor work. The instructor brought me up to the front of the class for a guide for the students who were lost..

Although, true to ballet training.. My toe got a little effed.  :-/ see below

Anyway.. Spent the rest of the day in Golden Gate park relaxing.. I think I'm going to tryyy and make it to Guitar Center today.

Stay tuned :)

Missy

The 4 have been chosen..

Just had my 1:1 with my amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing voice coach, yes, he's that amazing to warrant that many a's.

We've sorted out the cut and arrangement of the song I'm doing on Wednesday 5/29. Oh good god I'm TERRIFIED! But I'm feeling more confident now.  I'll be doing an acoustic version of Zedd's "Clarity" for the production group.  Eeeeek!  And! We've picked the final 4 for the 6/3 performance at Martuni's. The final set list is:

- Zedd - "Clarity" (Acoustic)

- Taylor Swift - "I Knew You Were Trouble"

- Shontelle - "Impossible" (a full step up from original key)

- Carrie Underwood - "I Told You So"

I learned "Clarity" and "I Knew You Were Trouble", this week I'll be learning "Impossible" and "I Told You So".. 

Now if I could only get over my horrid stage fright and my fear of friends, family, and co-workers hearing me - and poking fun or thinking I suck :-/

However! I've noticed my voice ha really started to change, to the point that I don't even recognize myself - it doesn't sound like me.. I asked my coach about this today and it's actually the natural progression of vocal training and study. But! The difference is students who have been studying with them normally have their voice change the way mine did at the 7-8 month point! I'm at month 2! My coach is obviously very happy with seeing how dedicated I am -- and it's obviously paying off :)

After these performances I'll start uploading to YouTube :)

Have a good weekend!

- Missy

Rehearsal break.. For Fast and the Furious

Yup!

Had a 4 day weekend instead of the standard 3 (lucky me) so I spent the day rehearsing and practicing over and over again.  Taking a break for a date night with my love :) yup! First in line for The Fast and the Furious Premiere.. Woohoo!!!

Getting really anxious though... Tomorrow morning is my last rehearsal with my voice coach before my first performance to the group on Wednesday, 5/29..   EEEEEEEEEK!!!!!

I need to feel like he knows the songs through and through and that I know my cue for when to come in. Lately it'd been rocky so in hoping we nail that tomorrow morning as well as confirm my final 4 songs.

But enough of that! It's time for Fast and the  Furious date night ;)

Weekly Singing Bootcamp

You read it right. On Wednesdays my baller voice coach has a group voice class. What does that mean you say??

I bet you'd THINK it'd be like a group choir class. Everyone trying to learn how to harmony and yadda yadda yadda..

NOOOOOOOPE!

It's a small group class, so a lot of eyes are on you. It's:

Leg lifts

Squats

Planks

Crunches

Push Ups

Wall Sits

.. ALLLLLLLLLL ENTIRELY WHILE SINGING. Yeah, that's right. And if you're like me and don't gym everrrrrr (yes for me gym is a verb) - then doing these kind  of activities (or working out at all) is already incredibly difficult. Add belting it like Mariah into that ad you've got a trembling me trying to keep up.

#noteasy

Anyway, it's every Wednesday night. 

Hopefully I'll be some sort of amazing singer one day who makes singing INCREDIBLE look super easy. 

Until later..

Missy

And p.s. yes that is the dance studio that we do these crazy workouts in..

2 Hours of Singing Later

Whew. Exhausted. But the good kind of exhausted. The kind of exhausted you feel when you just did good.

I just spent 2 hours singing the same 8 songs over and over again out loud. I think I'm leaning towards adding in Shontelle - Impossible, but a more slowed down acoustic version. I'm also really liking Carrie Underwood's I Told You So. My boyfriend Alex hadn't heard it and he really liked it after i sang it (which hardly happens, believe me). 

I'm hacking and coughing up a storm but this was a night well spent. 

Night darlings,

Missy

What's this shiz about?

Yooo world!

(I promise this will hopefully be the only time I write this long of a post!)

So - adjusting the direction (and attention) to this blog a bit.

Originally this was going to document my efforts to get back into dance - we're shaking things up a bit.

While dance is something I've always adored since I was young, I've decided to put my funds and efforts into trying to make it in the music industry.

There have always been 3 hobbies I've split up my attention to since I was a small chik-a-dee:

• DANCE
• SINGING
• ART / PAINTING

While art / painting is something I've always wanted to improve in, it's always taken a back seat to my first 2 loves: Dancing and Singing.  I feel like I've somewhat satisfied my art itch by always working in the art world.

That leaves me with Dance and Singing - Dance I prioritized in age 3 - 22. NOW it is time to focus on music.

Not gonna lie to you - I've always kept it in the back of my mind because it's something I'm TERRIFIED of pursuing.  I'm terrified of someone telling me I suck.  My knee-jerk reaction would be "Crap, if I suck why did I even try this, what am I even doing - I'm THAT PERSON who thinks they can sing but really can't carry a tune".  

#EMBARRASSING.  #HUMILIATING.  #MYWORLDisOVER. #CRYINGaRIVERinMyPILLOW.

But I decided you know what? I need to stop living in so much fear.  If I suck, then I suck - at least I tried.  Singing is SO personal to me - and being great at it means EVERYTHING.  

So.. I enrolled in voice lessons with a rock star voice coach who is PUSHING ME to do performances.  This blog will document all of my ups and downs in that journey as well as asking for help on song choices / photos / looks etc etc - all that fun pizzazz.


SOOOOOOO...

My first performances are as follows:

• Wednesday, 5/29 @ GROUP VOICE CLASS
• (eeeek. I want to die. so scary.)
• Monday, 6/3 @ MARTUNI's PIANO BAR (San Francisco, CA)
• (above eeeek x 1 million)

Right now the song set is the following:

* I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor Swift)
* Clarity (Acoustic - Zedd ft. Foxes)

Possibly:
* Because of You (Kelly Clarkson)
* I Told You So (Carrie Underwood)
* Todo Cambio (Camila)
* Impossible (Shontelle)

Still working with my voice coach on which 4 will be the best choices.

Thoughts anyone? Updates coming to you on Wednesday from group class day ;)

Yours,

Missy