I’m a big fan of singing every opportunity you get.  After all, singers sing!  Almost every major singer that ever was started by taking every opportunity that existed in their neighborhood before they moved on to bigger stages.   But whether you have aspirations of a major music career or not, there’s another, and I think better, reason to take the ‘small jobs’.

Last week I sang at a funeral.  It reminded me of just how long I’ve been singing at weddings and funerals.  It also reminded me of just how valuable those opportunites are when compared to the huge stage events I’ve done with tens of thousands in attendance.

I think large events are easier.  There’s more adrenaline.  They are admittedly usually more fun, but by their very nature, they’re pretty impersonal like a thrill ride that’s over quickly leaving you to move on to the corn dog stand.

On the other end of the spectrums are those opportunities where the crowd is small enough that you can actually see all of the faces and you become very aware that the center of attention is the event, not you.  I think that’s an invaluable place for every singer to visit often.

Funerals are my favorite.  Ok, that sounded just wrong, but here’s what I mean; when you sing at a wedding you are a background to the joy and excitement of the day.  But when you sing at a funeral, you have a unique opportunity to really touch people with your music, to comfort them in a very personal way at a very vulnerable time.  And being able to serve others in that way means so much more than hearing crowds of applause.

Music is only communication set to notes.  And communication is always deepest in the smallest groups.  So start seeing the ‘small jobs’ for what they are; the big opportunities for you to grow as a person, to give something back and to continually be amazed at how music can change lives.