I’m a guitar teacher turned performing musician who wants to encourage you to step toward performance and use asynchronous learning to improve your singing.
Have you ever thought, ‘I should get out there and share my music with the world’?
If so, your very next thought might be, ‘How can I do that?! I’m so far from being good enough that people just will laugh at me. I better keep my music to myself until then!’
If you’ve ever felt nervous about taking the step of sharing your music, I’m hoping you can find some courage in my story.
Because I was just like you, until a day in my life, when I decided to head out onto the streets of Singapore and just start singing.
Since that day, I haven’t looked back.
Remember Your Love for Music
I don’t remember being interested in music much when I was young, but I somehow became keen to learn drums as a teen. I was definitely influenced by bands with great drummers like X Japan (Yoshiki), Slipknot (Joey Jordison). I loved immersing myself in a beat.
I didn’t actually pick up drumming in the end, but when I turned 21, I somehow started playing the guitar. If you think of it, playing guitar is a lot like drumming. The guitar is basically a wooden box – with strings!
As I started to improve, I wanted to impress my friends (if I’m being absolutely honest) – so I started posting some of my stuff online. After all, I felt I had better put all that hard work to some use! Now that I look back on it, I wasn’t much good when I started, but it is so encouraging to see how much I have improved over the years.
Fascinated by Buskers
We often pass by buskers on the street, mostly not paying much attention to them – but I have been moved by the magic of some performances I’ve seen.
I was lucky enough to see this man sing a beautiful heart wrenching tune in my neighbourhood, where he absolutely brought me into another world with his performance:
I’ve also been really moved and tickled by Daniel, a busker I haven’t yet met in person. He sings about pressing issues and daily living in Singapore. I hope I get to meet him one day!
Can I Really Do This?
As I gradually enjoyed playing music more and more, I started thinking that I should really get out there and share my music with more people, but a few things held me back.
Firstly, busking is not really seen as a “legitimate” thing to do. It sounds harsh, but the impression that busking is analogous to begging is one that is hard to shake. I have to admit that this perception is something that exists deep inside my mental wiring as well – even after 3 years of busking.
Singapore is also very much a capitalist society, so not many people would willingly brave the elements carrying heavy equipment without having a guaranteed financial return.
Ironically, this is where the magic lies. I feel that the best buskers are never in it for the money – they are doing it because they have a story to tell. They have a strong purpose.
Another thing holding me back was my worries about my musical abilities. Read that again: It was my worries about my musical abilities, not my abilities themselves.
I’ve always loved to sing but never felt that I could identify myself as a true “singer”. I would sing for myself and for friends, and it was just for fun. But deep down, I knew I loved performing. Hence, I kept egging myself on: ”if you have this dream of being a musician and performer, you have to do something about it. Now.”
So, I applied to audition for a busking license in Singapore, because I knew that it was what I needed to push me outside of my comfort zone. I got it, but I ended up sitting on my license for a good 4 months, doing nothing.
Why was that?
I was just too nervous and scared, and kept thinking, ‘how could I ever go into a crowd of people walking on the streets, set up my gear, and start performing?’ Then came one fine day, when I got out of bed and just decided. I packed my gear, and off I went. I couldn’t let my brain get ahead of me, I needed to just go.
My First Busking Performance
I think my first song was “The Scientist” by Coldplay and I probably messed up the last falsetto “ooooohh” parts – those are tough! I remember being really nervous during my first few songs, but after a while, it began to feel natural, and I started to relax. It’s amazing how adaptable the human spirit is.
Since that first day, I’ve received many compliments. People are really kind when they see that you are doing something that you genuinely love.
So many people have told me that they were having a bad day when they met me, and after listening to my music, it made them feel much better. When I get a comment like that, it’s more than I could ever ask for. I also remember a moment when a young lady shouted “I love your voice!” when I was singing “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars. That will stay with me forever. It was just so unbelievably encouraging.
Of course, there were challenges too – especially seeing people just walking by and not taking any notice of me. But over time, I learnt that it’s not always because of me. People have to be in the right state of mind in order to pause and listen to your music. So if you ever want to be a successful busker, you have to work hard to make that happen.
Gradually, I started making more eye contact with people and opening myself up to more spontaneous interactions with strangers. Just being more free-spirited and casual in general. It worked wonderfully – I had so many lovely encounters and conversations with people from all walks of life.
I was also more intentional with my songs, mixing crowd favourites with some of my own choices. Because busking is such a raw expression of one’s self, I learned that you have to take care of yourself too. For example, when it comes to song choice, it’s important that you pick songs that both you and your audience will enjoy. And it’s OK if the songs you like are different – the main thing is that you enjoy the freedom of determining your set list!
Improving my Singing Confidence
Through busking, I learned that I can carry a tune and I enjoy singing, but I’m currently still much less confident about my voice, compared to the guitar.
I had recently come across a learning site for singers, something much like Masterclass, called Singdaptive. They reached out to me about testing a new feature called Exchangely, which are essentially one-on-one asynchronous vocal lessons.
What’s really cool about the way it’s set up is that you can do personal video exchanges any time of day – no appointment is needed. That means I can send questions and singing samples any time I need to and then receive personal messages and tasks back from the team.
Although I was initially skeptical, I am so thankful to have crossed paths with Singdaptive. My lead instructor, Kathy, and all members of the team are honestly some of the most nurturing and supportive people I have ever met. They created an environment where I immediately felt comfortable and safe, and was able to try things outside of my comfort zone (think crazy sounds), and focus on improving my singing.
Since then, they’ve helped me to develop a personalized daily training routine for me, which was super helpful. That was why after the initial testing period, I decided to sign up to Exchangely and am currently using it almost on a daily basis.
I’m excited about my recent progress, and can’t wait for my next live performance!
Do You Want To Share Your Voice?
Here are a few things that have really helped me to take my first steps to share my music with the world – I think they might help you too:
- Review yourself. Although I can’t stand watching myself most of the time, reviewing your own performances is really important, and can help you pinpoint the exact areas you need to work on.
- Pick songs that both you and your audience would love. Don’t just pick songs that people would like. I try to pick songs that I resonate with strongly. I would often get excited about going busking because there is this one song that I really wanted to get out of me!
- Try online lessons. With the pandemic the past year, I am so grateful to have crossed paths with the lovely folks at Singdaptive. Through Singdaptive’s Exchangely, I am getting personalized coaching from Kathy, along with many useful lessons on the Singdaptive platform. Plus, you can create a free account to see if it’s right for you.
- Work with somebody who has your back. This should be someone you trust, and ideally also an encouraging person. Take their feedback and improve on your music accordingly. And when they say you are ready, then you are ready to share – don’t doubt yourself!
- Trust that you are always growing. We are always changing and improving. It does not mean that if we are not good currently, that we cannot be amazing in the future. All we need to do is to continue working on our craft, rooted deeply in our love for music, and we will make better music with each passing day.
Sharing Your Music is a Journey – Get Support!
I am very much at the start of my musical journey, especially with singing. This is why I love music – there’s always something to learn and something to discover. It’s like a game that never ends. Learning music is the best decision I’ve made in my life.
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this article, it’s that all of us should start sharing our music before we feel fully ready to do so, because this gets us doing much more, and improving much more quickly.
This does, however, require us to be vulnerable and expose our fragile hearts to cruel keyboard warriors on the internet. But for every mean comment, I have faith that you’ll find ten other positive words of encouragement. And when you do – hang on tightly to those!!
Check out my music:
My Online Guitar Course – 3 songs to S.P.A.R.K. JOY with guitar
I’m really happy to give a shout-out to Singdaptive and highly recommend them for learning singing – you can start a free account with Singdaptive here.
Sheng Li is a musician from Singapore and founder of guitarstreet. He’s passionate about telling stories with music, and specializes in playing acoustic live sessions. Sheng Li discovered his love for performing while busking in Singapore, and now performs regularly for weddings and special events, as well as helping others discover the joy of learning music through his YouTube channel and online guitar course.
