Working Hard

Having a talent is one thing, but maintaining a talent and continuously improving takes hard work - even if no one can see it.

When I was studying for my Bachelor's Degree in Music and Psychology, it became well-known that I did not use the practice rooms that were located at the University and frequented by music majors. Basically, if you wanted to find a musician, you went to that floor. They were all there.
I was living in the basement suite of my parents' place, and we had a piano in our home. In my mind, because those practice rooms were in such high demand at ALL times of the day, I did most of my practicing at home and in my car.
My car became my most valuable practice space.

Unfortunately for me, not being seen using the practice rooms somehow translated into the idea that I didn't practice at all.

Hard work doesn't always mean taking advantage of provided spaces or being seen or witnessed working hard. Working hard is in those silent moments when you're not saying anything while socializing because you are distractedly running through lyrics in your head. Hard work happens while driving from A to B, not listening to the radio, but memorizing lyrics in a different language. Hard work happens when you play the beginning chord, then turn away from the pages to sing without looking at the music, forcing yourself to keep working at memorizing.
Hard work is fine tuning each trill, each suspended note, and each vowel. Fine tuning is learning the difference between an é and an è in French, or an n and an ñ in Spanish. It's listening to a cd in Latin, a story in Russian, or a movie in German, with subtitles, to learn the nuances of language.

Just remember - just because you don't know if someone is working as hard as you, just because you don't witness someone working hard, doesn't mean it isn't happening.

Even one little gig may require 16-20 HOURS worth of work and preparation that no one will ever see.

The payoff though is almost always worth it.
Even if you get on that stage and screw it all up - embarrass yourself or even completelt fail - it's always worth it.
Failing allows you to figure out - very easily - what you need to improve. You can take every crappy moment on stage and turn it into a masterpiece for the next performance.

A talent may come easily to someone, but maintaining it and turning it into something fine tuned takes dedication, practice, and constant hard work - much of which you cannot see.

So keep working!
It pays off!

I love My Musical Life