Sounding like yourself

Photo by William P. Gottlieb

“Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.”
–Miles Davis

“Wow,” I said aloud in the theater. “Her voice is amazing.” 

After a lifetime of avoiding it, I finally saw Wicked (well, I saw the new movie, which is just part one, apparently). Cynthia Erivo, who plays the green witch Elphaba, has a voice so real and pure, it blew my mind. It sounds so effortless, as if she was barely trying to sing at all. The natural tone of her voice is so unhindered, so unadulterated, that she doesn’t need to be too fancy. She’s just singing.

Comparing Erivo’s voice to so many others made me realize how effortful so many other singers sound in comparison. Sure, other singers sound fantastic. But Erivo sounds like herself. 

It reminded me of the quote many attribute to Miles Davis: “sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.” Isn’t this the journey of every artist? We borrow from our favorites. We steal things that look and sound good. We imitate the techniques and styles of other people in order to learn. 

This isn’t bad. This is what it takes to get better. Eventually, we’ll create work that’s fantastic. But beyond this lies another mountain—a climb toward ourselves, and our own style. You must learn to sound like yourself again. 

I’ll leave you with one more quote to mull over with me. This one’s from 19th century composer Chopin. If you don’t know Chopin, he played a lot of notes.

“Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.”