I absolutely love making music. To find a harmony line makes me smile to the deepest part of me. I am an alto. I’ve always sung in the lower range, right down there with the tenors. At least I’ve always thought that I was an alto…
This week I got to go and do some recording with my friend Tom. He wrote this great song and asked me to do background vocals for the CD. I was honored and brought the song home to work on and rehearse ahead of time. I practiced singing a low harmony part. The rehearsing alone was fun as I got to try and come up with my own part.
Wednesday night I got to his house. I was nervous! This was his special song and I didn’t want to mess it up or have it be any less than it could be. His voice and the instrumentals were already recorded so it was my turn to take the microphone. Now understand, normally I sing my heart out when singing with my band at church. The stronger, the better. But here I was staring at the mike and all that came out was this little bitty voice. Tom looked at me sideways. He knew this didn’t make sense. I have an out loud personality. I love meeting people and connecting with them. I love speaking to large groups. I have been up front singing with groups for years. But suddenly, I felt naked and timid. What was the deal?
We ran through the song bit by bit. Tom was incredibly patient and encouraging. He knew what I had in me. He let me have as many takes as I felt I needed. And he came along side me and taught me some things. He was able to explain things in ways I had never understood before. Confidence began to build and the initially shaking voice became strong and full. Now I was having fun!
At last I was comfortable and could have gone all night at this point. But now he wanted to take it to another level. We had just completed the song with my voice carrying the lower harmonic line. He looked at me and smiled. And then informed me that he wanted me to sing a higher harmony in addition. What? That was waaaaaaay out of my comfort zone. But he looked at me and with all sincerity said that there was a whole part of my range that hadn’t been tapped yet and he could tell that it was probably going to be the strongest part of my voice. Now I was really scared! I’ve been singing in the basement range all my life and was always very comfortable with that, thank you very much. But he encouraged and slightly pushed me to try it.
The first couple of times, I sounded similar to Disney’s version of Snow White. Remember that crazy vibrato? Basically, it was just my fear coming out in the form of a shaky voice. Not pretty. But Tom knew what was in those trembling vocal cords and kept up the encouragement. Much to my surprise, it got easier and easier and started sounding better and better. I couldn’t help smiling. A part of me I had never used or even known was there! But my friend saw it and nurtured it into a reality.
That experience reminded me of what God does with us sometimes. He asks us to do something. He knows what we are capable of ; what our strengths and weaknesses are. He knows us way better than we know ourselves. He invites us to do something and we are excited, but a little scared. So we come to him somewhat timid. But as we allow him to work with us, we begin to see our own growth and what he can do in and through us. And just when we get comfortable with that, he asks for more. Sometimes it seems like more than we have in us. But he sees our potential and stands right there with us cheering us on. We might wobble a bit at first, but with practice and trusting his guidance, we begin to grow again. And it changes our perspective, not only of ourselves, but of him and all that he is and is able to build in and bring out of us.
So we finished the song. And now my voice is heard on both the lower and upper harmonies. More than I ever anticipated. And a wonderful experience. By the end I was virtually unaware of the technicality of the song and really, truly able to thoroughly just enjoy the music. Hitting notes I never thought possible. And singing at the top of my lungs!
