What a fun song and unusual departure from normal this one is by Billy Joel....

When I first heard this song as part of the 1986 album "The Bridge", I was pretty shocked...I didn't have "Big Band" on my bingo card for a Billy Joel record....but, here it was all the same.  Then I bought his live album chronicling his groundbreaking tour in the then Soviet Union, "Концерт".  He performed this song on that tour and it was just as fun in different ways from the original (my favorite part is that his touring saxophonist, Mark Rivera, played a baritone sax live....and I have a weird musician's fetish with the bari sax that has been with me since I first saw and heard one in middle school 🤷‍♂️).

Here's the problem with that song for me...it's insanely high to sing...even if I drop the key.  There's just basically no way for me to it in a satisfying way without using my "falsetto" voice.  But here's the rub....my falsetto sucks.  It's always sucked.  I don't want it to suck, but it does.  It's the weakest thing in my entire vocal skill set, and not by a little bit.  And I'm gonna be a little vulnerable with you here...that really hurts me because I have always dreamed of being able to use it effectively.  There are so many songs that I adore that really need someone who can not just sing in falsetto, but also seamlessly blend it with their natural voice.  That's just never been me....at least not with any volume.  

And because of this I'm always torn....do I just completely avoid using it, modify every song that calls for it to use only my natural voice, and cut any songs that can't be modified well enough?  Or....do I keep trying to develop it because I want to improve it?  I've chosen to mostly do option #1, but reserve 10% of my time to trying things with it....yes even in front of audiences.  I know the logical thing would be to only use it when practicing and not try it in front of a crowd unless I really master it at the same level as everything else I'm doing.  I see the wisdom in that strategy....my problem is, what if I never get it there?  What if I never feel like it's good enough to try in front of a crowd?  So, I just let any chance of that dream becoming a reality go because I haven't been able to be perfect enough to feel safe trying it?

I guess that just doesn't really sit well with me.  I'm 47 as I write this, and so far it's the things I wanted to try that I didn't out of fear that I regret most...not the things I wanted that I tried for but it didn't go as planned.  So, I try things like this knowing that parts of the song may not match the standard of everything else I'm doing....but what if just once....it does?  

Sometimes I even get critical comments from strangers on YouTube telling me how bad my falsetto is and that I really need to sing other songs.  Pardon my french, but fuck those people.  I was inspired so much by songs like "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John, "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" by Billy Joel, "In My Room" by the Beach Boys, "Will You Still Love Me" by Chicago and so many others by those artists and hundreds of others, that I just can't walk away from trying.  It's not like I don't know it's my weakest link....but I'm not going to just remove any and all possibility of the dream coming to life.  One day the machinery of my voice might be working "just right" and I'll sing the right song during a livestream, and BOOM....I'll have it captured forever on video.  And maybe if I can get it once, it will happen again....and maybe, just maybe, I'll notice what it feels like inside my throat, temples, jaw, etc. so that I can recreate it and practice it more properly, and then maybe even learn to recreate it on demand.

I can live with a little disappointment, and even a little criticism and harassment from internet strangers if it means I have a chance to facilitate that.  AND....I may try my whole life and never get there....but you know what?  I'll be okay with that...because I tried.  Sometimes you don't have to get everything you think you want....sometimes what you want most is a worthwhile quest, and the quest is the reward in and of itself.  I'll never stop trying....and I'll also keep it to 10% or less of my shows unless and until I learn to do it really well consistently.  

Do you have things in your life that you want to learn but feel like you run into a brick wall whenever you try?  Are you giving up on it, or are you giving yourself permission to fail on the long road to success....or even better yet, are you giving yourself permission to fail at it all the days of your life so that you can enjoy the pursuit no matter what?  You might get it, and you might not....but the quest might just be worth it either way.

Enjoy my cover of this song from a livestream show I did on July 5, 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic, and then check out one of my favorite performances of it by Billy Joel himself in what was then Leningrad from his historic tour of the Soviet Union in 1987. 

If you'd like to explore my piano method more deeply, my best students use my video courses and join me for conversation and twice monthly Q&A Livestreams in my private community...you can find it all HERE. Thanks.

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