Since living in Los Angeles, I’ve done a few workshops with Cathy Segal-Garcia and one common theme that has presented itself throughout is the importance of connecting and being present.  This isn’t just about music, but a life principal.  It’s not a new concept at all, but has been on my mind of late.

Regardless of what you play, the biggest thing is keeping the feel going - wes montgomeryThere has been so much written on the subject.  Eckhart Tolle wrote a best selling book on the subject called The Power of Now.  In it he says “To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind.”

Music is so much about the ‘feel’, but in order to feel, one has to connect.  In order to connect, one has to be present and in the moment.  Take this a step further to playing with other musicians and including an audience and there’s a lot of connecting going on.

The wonderful thing about music is that you are all in it together.  That might seem scary at first, but it’s such a freeing experience to connect with others and create something together in the true spirit of co-creating.

When taking the view of co-creating, especially for a singer, you are doing so much more than just singing a song and it’s so much more rewarding to co-create.  Perhaps not everyone will share the same view, but when they do, that’s when the real magic can happen.

A lot of people get hung up on technique and as a singer I know from experience when you focus on technique, all of a sudden you’re in your head and not connecting and being in the moment.  People like to connect and they like to feel.  A performance will have so much more impact if we come from this place of connection and co-creating.

That’s why they call it the present, because it’s a gift right?

See you in the moment.

Kathryn