One Fine Day (A Bette Midler Cover)

I have been obsessively listening to Bette Midler’s One Fine Day for the past month. Since I enjoy the song so much, I decided to do a cover of it (surprise!). When I was listening to my recording, however, I noticed a weird metallic sound in my vocals. I’m not sure why it’s making this sound, so I haven’t fixed it yet. I hope you enjoy this recording despite its sound issues.

Recording buddies, do you have any ideas for fixing the weird vocal sound? Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions.

My First Year of Voice Lessons

I recently celebrated my one year anniversary of taking voice lessons- I call it my Voiceiversary. Before I started voice lessons, I was afraid of singing in front of other people because I thought I sounded bad. Even though I wanted my voice to get better, I resisted taking voice lessons for a while because I was worried about my potential voice teacher being mean or scary. This was ridiculous—Ms. Amanda (my voice teacher) is one of the nicest, friendliest people I know.

As my form improved, so did my confidence. Ms. Amanda had me sing in “ridiculous ways” to make me less afraid of sounding bad, so I could sing more confidently. I realized that my voice didn’t sound nearly as terrible as I thought, and I became more comfortable singing in front of and with other people (this is how I started hanging out with several of my close friends).

Because I started playing music with and singing with other people, I got invited to perform in a concert with two of my buddies. (Here’s a link to our band page, if you’re interested). For the concert, I had to work on stage presence. I am an introvert and reserved, so being engaging on stage was hard for me. Through voice lessons (and some coaching from my mom), I learned I could use the fun that I already had as part of my personality, and “turn it on” to engage the people that I was entertaining. I didn’t have to fake my personality, I just chose which part of my personality to bring out more.  After the concert, I became friendlier in real life, without feeling pressured to be “an extrovert” or fake.

Voice lessons have helped my singing form a lot, but more importantly, they have helped me be engage other people better. I have loved the first year of voice lessons, and I’m looking forward to my second year.

Here is Amanda Clark’s Facebook page, if you are interested in great voice lessons: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaClarkVocalStudioKY/

 

 

Relearning

Imagine little six-year-old Anne Mary starting piano lessons. One of the first things she learned was shaping her hands like “a waterfall” or “a rainbow.” She learned how to “sit tall,” but also to relax.

Now imagine ten-year-old Anne Mary’s lesson. She learned about relaxing her arms, and moving her fingers.

Now imagine Anne Mary, now sixteen, practicing Bach. What is she working on this week? Relaxing her shoulders, moving her fingers, relaxing her wrist. The same lesson that she has learned again and again for almost ten years. Does this mean that she hasn’t gotten any better at piano? No, she is just learning how to relax more and more, how to move her fingers more smoothly.

It is the same in my walk with God. When I first had a relationship with Jesus, I learned simple lessons. I knew that I had sinned against God, but that Jesus had paid the cost for my sins. Because I was thankful to God, I wanted to be good like He wanted me to be.

A little later, I had my heart broken by a friend. I knew that I should forgive my friend, but I couldn’t until I remembered what God had done for me.

Now, I am trying to be self-disciplined, but I keep failing until I remember that obedience comes from God’s power, and from gratefulness for what he had done. I’m not learning a new gospel, I’m not “past the baby truths,” I am just learning how to apply them to new areas of my life.

What lessons are you relearning?

An Open Letter to the Blimey Cow Team

Jordan, Josh, and Kelli,

First of all, I love watching your videos! They are funny, creative, and helpful. Your videos have helped me in several areas, but the biggest area is talking to people. Three years ago, I didn’t talk to anyone outside of my family. As I started talking to other people more, “Messy Mondays” helped me have confidence to “just do it,” and eventually enjoy talking to others.

The Messy Monday videos have helped me, and your other channels have as well. I have watched Jordan’s channel since it started. I’ve enjoyed getting to see him experiment with new things and various content that he posted. Largely because of Jordan’s channel, I started posting on this blog regularly because it gave me confidence to have fun, even when I didn’t know if other people would enjoy it. (I also recently found Movie Trailer Trash, and I enjoy seeing Josh talk about something he is clearly passionate about.)

One of the things that you taught me is caring less about “the numbers.”  Since I’m just starting to post content consistently, I don’t have many views yet.  However, after watching your video “An Apology to Our Audience,” I felt less discouraged about the “small amount” of viewers. You taught me that each view is a person that took the time to look at my content, and to appreciate them more.

Thanks, Blimey Cow. You guys are awesome!

With exceeding joy,
Anne Mary Russell

 

(Sources: Blimey Cow Youtube Channel and Jordan Taylor Youtube Channel)