A Rule For All Musicians
If a member of a group or band feels stifled and unable to be creative on stage they are not going to last very long. It’s not a nice way to live as a musician, is it? So here is a rule that has been tried and tested. The rule is simple: Nobody can be negative for 20 minutes after a performance, no matter how badly the show may have gone.
At times, the 20-minute rule can be awkward. Sometimes you will hate it, but you may see its power and never stray from it. “It is the power of the positive. Some people are sceptical of positive reinforcement, since it often leads to meaningless praise for mediocre work. For their group, however, it can be essential to your success.
The 20-minute rule releases you from the need to prove you noticed every tiny thing that went wrong, and helps you to focus on only those things that matter most. There may be many shows, where the 20 minutes of positive-only talk may be an act, but 20 minutes of being false is still much better than the damage negative thoughts can do.
Singing in a vocal group requires you to be physically and mentally fit. You have to hit a certain note at the right time in the right way, every time. you are your own worst critics after a performance and tend to focus on the mistakes, and forget everything that went well.
Its important to let go of control in a performance. When you know your heart is protected, you can open yourself up more on stage. A great performer can embrace whatever is happening in the moment and let the music simply exist. It is difficult to do this when you fear judgement. It may only be 20 minutes of protection, but it strengthens your fragile singer’s soul for much longer.
You go out on stage with the mental task of collecting all the good things that occur, which is a whole different mindset. it can take years for you to see just how big the impact can be on you as a performer. If you are a singer who sometimes struggles to let go and embrace the moment in a performance, you might want to try this rule out. Next time you walk off a stage after a performance, say only positive things about it. Keep doing that for 20 whole minutes. You might find it’s a habit you want to keep.