I'm closing my account after being on this site for longer than I can remember right now.
I would like to say thank you to all the columnists that I've met through this site, may your hearts of gold continue to shine through this site.
My reason is simple: I no longer feel I have a use for it anymore. I once was a person who couldn't help other people because of certain difficult situations in my past, but all that has now changed. This site allowed me to be who I really was and for that I'm so grateful for that. It played a very important role in my life and I'll never forget it!
The questions which I answered allowed me to reflect on my life and where it was going, and gave me the opportunity to really appreciate the life that I have, which I'm now living with open arms.
I wish you well for the future,
Triquetra....signing off for the last time.
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Okay, so, I'm 21 f. I'm a voice teacher. I was born Jewish, but my beliefs have melded into Agnosticism with a touch of Hindu over the years. One of my best students keeps gravitating towards all these "god-songs" (Think David Archuletta, Angels) as I call them, things that talk about believing in "the father" or "my Jesus," and it's really, REALLY getting on my nerves. This student is 23, by the way, so he's not a little kid. His parents are major Catholics (and they hate me).
I suppose I might also include that this guy is my ex-boyfriend-turned-best-friend. So I can't just drop him as a student. Besides, he's fantastic. He has nearly a four octave range full voice, and I enjoy listening to him sing. (Which actually says quite a bit, because I'm one of the harshest critics out there. I'm hard pressed to find any singers I actually enjoy listening to. I can always find something completely off-putting about their singing or their song choice.)
Anyway, my issue is this:
He wants to work on religious songs, and I feel like I can't condone it because I don't believe in "god", I don't feel comfortable with the term, and I just...I don't know. Those songs bother me quite a bit.
On the other hand, I feel I'm being a bit hypocritical because - and I hate to admit this - I sing for a church choir. BUT, I'm getting paid big bucks to do it, and the director has some crazy connections in the music world.
I'm not the most religious girl (obviously) but the one firm issue I have with the three big ones (Christianity, Muslim, and Judaism) are that they believe in this "Almighty God," and I just HATE it for some reason.
I'm not even sure why, but the idea of one of my students/friends singing something like that upsets me.
Anyone have any insight or suggestions? (link)
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I would ask him first as to what kind of religious songs he wants to sing, I mean, you can get the big God songs, but you can also get the lower down Gospel songs which have got a meaning in it.
I don't believe in God, but to be quite frank, that doesn't really stop me from listening to some gospel songs which I can relate to to some level.
Let him have a go at singing some and see how you feel about it.
Here a little story from me which is kinda the same. I listen to Mariah Carey... a lot. Think 24/7 a lot. That should give you a rough idea. Now, my friends don't like her because they think that she' this super bi**** diva who gets her way and thinks she's so high up than everybody else and as to how I can listen to her songs and "scream" is beyond them and they always laugh when I say that her songs can reach to her fans and help them connect to the song. When they ask to listen to one of her songs, I ask them in turn to listen to the lyrics, connect with them and see how they feel... that usually never works. Now, I know that I can't make them love her to death like I do and probably never will, but what hurts me the most is that they judge her, before that know her.
So, what's the relevance of that story? You could kinda put this on your pupil's perspective, he may love these songs because of the connection he can make with them and flip them onto his own life or they express what he feels. And you not liking these God songs could in a way could be hurting him because they're what he loves to listen/sing to.
Now, even though you didn't ask for a song, I'm going to suggest one which is by Mariah (naturally) which is about God, but not in such a huge way and I always listen to it. And I'm not suggesting it just because it is about God, but he can also use his four octave range in it, just bring the high notes down slightly to fit him. Go and listen to this song and see what you think. I'm not asking you to like it, just to consider teaching it to him. It's a gospel song:
"Fly Like A Bird"
I hope this helped,
triquetra
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Rating: 5
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Thank you. You do have a point, I was being selfish. I let him know today that I realized this and would help him with whatever he wanted, as long as he sang it well. Lol.
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