Dare: Sing a song (karaoke), by yourself, and publish it to the world

A good friend of mine recently published a book called One White Face. As part of her promotion for the book, she publishes a weekly dare to her subscribers, challenging them to step outside of their comfort zone.

A few weeks ago, I accepted her dare to stand on a street corner for 1 hour holding a cardboard sign. My sign said, “Just saying hi. Create a great day! :-)”

This time, another dare surfaced at a local coffee shop with friends. It was open mic night at the Carytown Bistro, and we were talking about how we love to sing (even though we aren’t that good).

It started as a friendly, “Yeah, you should try it…”, and then of course, I ended up doing it 3 days later.

Me singing Zac Brown Band’s “Colder Weather”

Warning: It’s awful, and the sound doesn’t line up with the video (not sure what happened). But neither of those things really matter. It was about the experience.

Read on below the video for what I learned, and what I would do differently. And then go create your own, and please share in the comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTKz203GXIU

What I Learned

  • I picked a song with VERY LITTLE music to it. This, in my opinion, makes it MUCH HARDER to sing.
  • The karaoke version I chose (the only one I could find), didn’t sing the song the way Zac sings it. And thus, some of the harmonies were difficult because of differences in style. Try to find a good karaoke version.
  • I tried to play around with my voice too much. I also tried to keep my voice low because my roommate was home, and I didn’t want him to hear me. He also happens to be a great singer… and musician… and music teacher… and a cappella singer. It’s amazing how intimidated we get when others are around.

Next Time…

  • I will choose a more upbeat song. I think this will play to my strength (whatever little strength I have in the area of music).
  • I will choose a song with more music to it.
  • I will belt it out at the tops of my lungs, and not hold anything back.
  • If I could figure out how to play it in my car (perhaps, just not driving, but sitting in a parking lot), I might try that. I’m soooo much more comfortable in my car than upstairs in my room.

So, what are you waiting for? I know you have a jam that you rock out to ALL the time. Get to it, and please share in the comments.