Storybookers

Don’t Judge A Library By Its Cover

I’d like to join the friends of Birmingham Central Library in mourning the passing of this highly emotive city landmark.  The building has sat empty since 2013, having been replaced by the Library of Birmingham, which is situated in nearby Centenary Square. Despite all protestations, campaigning and calls for alternative uses for the building the bulldozers have finally come to put the old place out of its misery.

The Birmingham Central Library building has always courted controversy and divided opinion.  The old Library, which dominated Chamberlain Square was opened, by then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, on a sunny Saturday morning in 1974.  Little did anyone know that the strength of feeling against the building would mean it would struggle to reach its 40th birthday.  

Prince Charles famously described it as looking like a place where books go to be incinerated and a former Birmingham director of planning labelled it a ‘concrete monstrosity’.  But there were many, including Turner prize winning artist, Jeremy Deller, who understood its appeal.  And so the battle raged between those who saw it as a blot on the landscape and those who believed its stark British Brutalist architectural style should to be honoured.

It’s worth noting that Birmingham born architect, John Madin, had no intention of building a 'concrete monstrosity’.  His original plans were for the building to be clad in Portland stone or Travertine marble.  But Birmingham City Council were reluctant to foot the bill and the concrete exterior was used instead.

Admittedly the library’s sub-Bauhaus design isn’t even my kind of thing, but I’d grown to like it.  Besides I wasn’t into it for its looks.  It was what lay within that sparked my interest.  Within those grey walls lay books that helped me get the life I truly wanted, rather than the one others thought would suit me best.  It contained a wealth of knowledge I couldn’t get anywhere else.  Without it I would have struggled to find the inspiration I needed to pursue my career in the arts.  

My dreams were kept alive by a Library that became my second home.  Inside I discovered the writings of great philosophers, historians, dramatists and political thinkers.  But it was when I came across the books on art that my life changed.  There were beautiful images of the great master’s finest works.  And I found information about influential past and contemporary art movements.

This was all before the internet, so without these books I would never have been able to find any of this.  I was inspired and soaked up all the knowledge I could. Those days, pouring through volume after marvellous volume, shaped how I viewed the world and how I saw my future.  

As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be an artist.   

Pursuing that particular path is tricky enough nowadays, but back in Birmingham in the 1970s I might as well have said I wanted to be an astronaut. I was two years out of school before I even found out there were art schools in Birmingham.  I’ll share that story with you another time.

Once I did find out about art schools I ditched my job in engineering, enrolled in Bournville School of Art and signed up for the artist’s life. There’s more to that story too and I’ll also share that with you another time.  

Occasionally I’ll walk into a gallery and find myself standing in front of one of the paintings I gazed at with wonder in my youth.  Once I get over the initial rush I smile and thank the Birmingham Central Library for what it gave me all those years ago.


 Out With The Old, In With The New

I paid a visit to the new Library of Birmingham last year.   I like it.  It was more like coming home than visiting a new building.  For a start, it’s attached to another of my old stomping ground, the Birmingham Rep.  When I reached the art department and found some of the books that I was inspired by are now on the new library’s shelves I felt a sense of continuity.  I was filled with hope that some young kid wanting to follow their chosen path would also be inspired.

Attitude to the creative industries is slowly changing.  The last few years as seen it become one of UK’s major growth sectors.  But there’s probably a young person somewhere having a hard time convincing people that they want to follow their dreams.  

 So before I go.  Is there something you need to know?  Are you looking for a nugget of wisdom that will transform your life?  If so, there might be a book on the subject available, for free, at your local library.   So why not pop down and see.

 

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Posted 452 weeks ago

About Me


How To Sing With Greater Confidence

Posted by Norman Bailey on Friday, April 18, 2014 Under: Voice Works


So you've set your mind on doing more singing.    But how's it going?
 
Have you set to it with full force and are you now singing the songs you want to sing where and when you want to sing them.  Or are you finding that your first few steps have been a little hesitant and faltering.  Well you'll be comforted by the fact that this is normal.

There are many reasons why you are not, as yet, totally in tune with your voice.  Some reasons are universal and others are more personal to you.   Let's take a look at what might be standing in your way.

1 Getting Started
The Root of the problem
 
We humans are creatures of habit, so change, even for the good, may cause some degree of anxiety or self-doubt. If not halted in your tracks your anxieties may in some way slow your progress. 
 
There are a host of reasons for your overcautious behaviour: 

• Preoccupation with negative past experiences 
 
• Fear of failure or success
 
• The inability to find time in your busy schedule 
 
• Misplaced feelings of self-preservation
 
• Negative feelings about your ability 
 
You may relate to one or more of these inhibiting patterns or perhaps there are other reasons for your lack of motivation. If all your reasons are not listed then stop for a moment, get a pen and paper and write them down. Now ask yourself; should these or any other reason get in the way of you enjoying the joys of singing for the rest of your life?

 First Refusal - Understanding why you hesitate 

There’s a story plotting technique that you may or maybe not be familiar with. It’s called The Hero’s Journey. It outliness the arc a character follows from the story’s opening through to its resolution. It’s been used all mannner of tale, from the legends of antiquity right up to the latest Bond movie.

 
This technique has also been used in the field of personal development.  The part I’d like to draw your attention to is in the early section. It’s called ‘Refusal to answer the call’. This is where, like you, the hero has received a call to adventure – in your case it’s the chance to improve  your life/career through using your voice with greater confidence. But instead of moving forward on to new horizons you find yourself in a kind of holding pattern unable to take the next step. 
 
You may not even realise that this is the case. You have answered the call, haven’t you?  You’ve made the decision but you’re too busy right now so can’t find the time to fully engage with it. Or, maybe you feel you’re fooling yourself and perhaps the best decision is not to do it after all. Who are you to think you’re a singer anyway?  And so the indecision drags on and before you know it days become weeks and weeks become months. 
 
The problem is that the longer you wait the greater the chances are that you will refuse to answer the call altogether. Thereby missing out on developing a highly beneficial skill that could change your life.

So what's the answer?

How do you make a positive start?

Maybe this will help

Try a change of perception

Take a look at how do you think about singing and ask yourself if it's helping you move forward?

The problem is that Western society's view of where singing belongs has become very narrow.  Singing has been put in the box marked 'Entertainment'.  Which then puts you one of two boxes.  
  1. Passive - Other sing - You listen
  2. Active: You sing - Others listen

However before the time when non-musical record excecs were able to exploit the other peoples talents we would gather together and sing for pleasure.But gone are the days when people gathered together for a spot of communal singing.   Now singer are special chosen people.  They perform on stages, sell millions of singles and get through to the live finals on TV talent shows.

A singing pupil of mine told me of a recent incident that shook his confidence.   It was about an encounter he had with a young lady he was obviously bring to impress.  On telling her that he was a singer she told him he couldn't be because she'd never heard of him.  And so it is, for her and many others like her, that singers are people in the charts.  They are not normal people who sing for pleasure and the sake of their are.  

I was having coffee with a songwriting friend of mine last week and he started talking, quite apologetically, about his singing.  He opened with, "I'm not a singer, Ella Fitzgerald is a singer".  Yes she is.  Can't argue with that.  But she is a legend and if that's the yardstick that you use to measure who is a singer and who isn't then you'd have to rule out most of the known singers in the world.

If this is your frame of reference and and you're always comparing yourself to others you will always comes up short.  Pretty much everyone can find someone they think is a better singer than they are.  Apparently even the great Ella Fitzgerald didn't have any confidence in her own singing.  Her last words were "it was the songs that they loved.

This isn't that surprising.  You'll often hear well respected actors saying that they can't stand watching themselves on screen.  And I'm sure that the first time you heard your speaking voice played back to you you were a bit taken aback by the sound of it.  It's natural.  But as people can often be their worst critics I'd warn against being too harsh, especially at the beginning.

I advise that when starting out on improving your voice and building a great love and understanding of your voice that you listen with an open heart.  This way you will hear what you are doing right as well as things that you can improve.

So A simple change in attitude, in which you see yourself as someone who has the full rights to sing out loud and proud will do wonders for you.


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