Whether you’re a singer, speaker, broadcast journalist, talent show contestant, pageant participant, stand up comic, or spoken word artist, you need a sense of purpose or focus that compels you to pursue your voice-driven career. Otherwise, you’ll become vulnerable to getting off track, making poor decisions, and your career potential will suffer as you quickly spiral out of control. Read more »

If you want to be a successful singer, speaker, actor, or performer, you must give yourself permission to falter, fumble, fail, and fall. These should not be your ultimate goals, but there needs to be a clear understanding that, before you can fly, you need to get over the fear of falling. Read more »

Several times we’ve talked about the importance of assessing your progress periodically in advancing your career and then making adjustments. Your self-assessment should then be reviewed by a mentor, vocal coach, or another accountability partner who can provide further insight, affirm your progress, and help you determine any action you need to take or adjustments you need to make moving forward. Read more »

Question:

“Jermaine, I’m enjoying your material immensely. I have a fun question for you that I’m just curious about. If you had to start all over, what one thing would you learn first to make you excel the fastest?”

Answer:

This is a unique question… and a very good one. Read more »

There are a couple of keys that are very popular with guitarists: the keys of G, E, A and D. These keys feature lots of open string chords and sound great whether they are played in a group with two guitars or just a solo acoustic guitar. Because these keys are so popular it’s important to know how to play creative solos in these keys; not just the tired old major or minor pentatonic scale patterns. Read more »

Imagine this scenario …

There’s a great vibe in the room the band is pumping out a hot version of “Sweet Home  Alabama” and the crowd is lovin’ it and everything is sounding sweet. It’s your chance for an outrageous guitar solo you step into the spotlight. Your favorite Fender Telecaster’s humming. What could possibly go wrong? Read more »

Warning: This article is not for you if you are totally satisfied with your current skill level as a singer. I might add that, if you are satisfied with your voice, we are sincerely overjoyed that you have found success. Read more »

Creativity is an ongoing, living, changing process. It demands attention, nurturing, guidance, rest, and refreshment. The process regularly interfaces with your confidence and comfort levels. It is also hypersensitive and will sometimes seem fickle or unresponsive, especially if there’s a lot that has happened such as an emotional or physical trauma.

Whenever you experience major changes in your life creativity tends to either slow down to rest and sort things out, or it gets busy trying to process things. It is a vital part of who you are as a singer, singer-songwriter, or singing musician. And it must be respected and encouraged by being acknowledged or engaged each day in some way. Read more »