Never having sung before in my life, I was a bit nervous and uncomfortable booking a voice lesson…read moreahahaha but in my 27th year on this floating rock I have learned that life is WAY too short to not do things you want to do just because you may be a bit embarrassed. I have found leaning into discomfort is where the comfort is.
I walked into NYC guitar school on the 7th floor of 251 W 30th St ready to test my vocal prowess. The entrance is beautifully curated, with guitars coating the walls every direction you look. Immediately I was struck with a creative energy that I was excited to be around.
I checked in and sat on the couch as I was about 15 minutes early. My middle school basketball coach would always say "if you're on time you're late." I normally am late but on the off chance I'm not I love to throw that quote around.
Gaby, the girl giving my lesson, came in and got me off the couch. Her vibe was RAD. As we walk down the hall into a separate sound proof room thoughts began running through my head. "She better not give me any kind of compliment about my voice or she will create a monster..." I thought to myself while picturing my band selling out the Garden 8 nights in a row.
We sit down, and she asks me what kind of music I like. I begin to give my spiel that I give everyone about how I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers and J. Cole, but I'm not a corny J. Cole fan as I saw him at the house of blues in 2010. I am always hopeful this will build some credibility... She immediately names DEEP cuts from both artists that I didn't think there was any chance she would know. "I'm in the right place..." I say to myself.
I begin to tell her how I have never sang, but think I have good energy for it and how I kinda think I have a nice voice hehe haha. "You don't need to be a great singer to be a great frontman," she says. BIG mistake, Gaby. That is the first step to creating a monster.
She begins to ask about me and what I like to do and I coyly tell her I have a major passion for writing. I'm really shy (shy monkey emoji). "What kind of stuff do you write?" She asks. I told her I write in my journal a lot, as I don't want to tell her the bulk of my writing is yelp reviews she'll think I'm a nerd hahaha. I eventually do tell her my unrelenting passion for writing yelp reviews, and we share a laugh.
She then asks "have you written any songs?" I mean of course I have, but haven't we all? I initially resisted giving her a hard yes, but eventually did tell her "I have written a few..."
"Will you sing one for me?" she asks. I was taken aback. My internal dialogue "She wants me to sing? In front of her? wtf?" I then immediately snap back into reality that I did indeed pay for a voice lesson, so she probably needs to hear me sing ahahaha. I said the same to her and we had another good laugh. She was so great at calming my nerves, saying things like "I PROMISE you I've heard worse," "Just have fun with it!"
I have a bit of a moment here, sitting across from the stranger with anxiety rushing to my head preparing to sing when I hardly even sing to myself seriously. I take a deep breath and begin:
"I knew right when I seen ya,
I knew that, that I need ya
Where you from, Valentina?
What's your drink, tequila soda?
That's your friend......"
Alright I can't give y'all all of it, come to one of our shows at the Garden to hear the rest.
My voice cracked a couple times in the beginning, but once the nerves died down a bit I felt I did it justice. "WOW! That was actually really good!" Gaby says. "You have a nice voice and a unique sound which is rare!" Maybe she was gassing me up a bit, but I'm taking that compliment and RUNNING with it.
She immediately tells me to keep going and runs to her piano and starts playing notes to try and get the key I am singing in. Once she finds it she runs over and picks up her acoustic guitar, and starts playing chords along with my voice. Next thing I know I am singing this song that I wrote playing over chords, that was so F'in cool.
Overall, the experience just made me realize how I need to be around these kinds of creative people more often, it's just so inspiring. Gaby gave me some things to work on until our next lesson! THANK YOU NEW YORK CITY GUITAR SCHOOL! GABY IS THE GOAT!
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