We are the Music Makers.

We live in a world where everything is "professional" or nothing at all. We rarely pick up a hobby and take it lightly. We're either amazing, or we're terrible. *Cue quitting* Our homes try to be Pinterest-worthy. And even youth sports are highly competitive. To top it off, social media offers a pristine view of our (actually messy and mostly ordinary) lives

Our culture's perfected mindset bleeds into the world of music too. Radio features the best of the best, right? (Yes and no) We hear pitch-edited voices, and guitar solos that may actually be several takes spliced and compiled into one. Even when we hear great voices like Carrie Underwood's, what we're actually hearing in those overdub recordings is 3-5 Carrie Underwood's at once. (This is industry-standard now and true for almost every mainstream artist we hear today.)

My point is this: our reality of musicianship has become distorted.

We sing in a room by ourselves and it sounds empty. It sounds raw. It's not what we're used to hearing anymore, so we think "I'm definitely not good enough." We look at the "real" music makers and place them on podiums in our minds. These people have audiences large enough to fill stadiums. We start to feel they have a license to create music, and we don't.

It's what happens next that bothers me: Next, we take what we hear as "great" and contrast it with our "ordinary" and decide that we should just be the listeners. We forget to be the makers.

We forget that less only 100 years ago, the bulk of musical sounds were created by amateurs in living rooms, on front porches, and by camp fires.

There was a time when the only way for music to be heard was for it to be made. In this way, music history was built upon the shoulders of people just like you and me. The ones without stadium-sized audiences. The amateurs.

With back porch guitars and dining room pianos, music isn't just heard...it is felt. Music is not just a product, but an experience. Let's remember the soothing power of a cello speaking to our souls. Let's hear the wonder of an unedited and unamplified, perfectly imperfect voice. Let's feel the energy of a bass drum pounding just 15 feet away. The only way to have these experiences and give them to others is to create this magic for ourselves.

So to you, yes you. Right now. Pause for a minute from consuming 30 second bits of highly produced music in instagram reels and hear this: YOU ARE THE MUSIC MAKER. The sizes of stages, social media followings, and album budgets may have changed since way back then, but the power of music has not. Its depth has always been carried by the hands of the music makers.

The world doesn't need you to be perfect, and it may not ever ask you to fill a stadium. But make no mistake, it does need you to be a music maker.

So let's make music. Let's make it every day.

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Hey, I'm Jenny. I songwrite, perform, and teach. I help singers break through vocal barriers, rock auditions, and become one-take vocalists. I love making great singing easier and more attainable than you thought it could be. This blog is my place to dig into vocal technique and unpack what it takes to connect and communicate honestly with an audience.

Everything about my musicianship and teaching is outside-the-box, instinctive, and fun. That's what makes this such a great place to hang out. I invite you to stay a while, check out my music, and see how this blog can impact your vocal skills and refresh your love for performing.