MY WORST MUSIC EXPERIENCE

Before I started to sing, I've always loved people with good voices. You know how someone can stand at a podium, face a crowd and get all their attention? I envied that. I loved to watch singing worships, acapellas, auditions, song-times were like the most interesting of any event for me.

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And my dad, that man wanted for me to be a public speaker and/or generally someone in the public space. So he started out as my first trainer. He made me join the choir, made me attend leadership meetings, coerced me into taking up positions, whatever he he thought would bring me out to the open, he made me do it.

With all of that, I joined the teenage choir. I knew I had a nice voice but it wasn't an easy one for me. We were quite a number so it was easy for me to hide behind the numbers. I had bad anxiety issues then.

One time, the church we attended wa to have a programme. The kind that had the other branches of the church gather in one location. My church was to be the host. Actually, it was the headquarters.

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As was expected, every segment of the church was to be functional and bring their A-game, and we know too how important the music department is. We began rehearsals. During one of the sessions, the music director opened the floor for music suggestions. I brought mine which was Grateful by Sinach featuring Travis Greene.
Everyone liked it and shockingly, I was asked to score the song, that I would be the one to take it up. I froze where I was.

Like I mentioned earlier, at the time, I had anxiety issues. I never spoke in public. I barely ever spoke. How was I to handle such crowd? I had never done that before. I should have declined but I didn't. I just stood speechless. That was enough affirmation to the rest members. How ridiculous of me!

I began to prepare myself with warmups, I sang everywhere, I avoided foods and drinks that were said to not help the voice, I practiced and practiced. We also held rehearsals in church, far tto many. Ha! The renditions were smooth, just perfect. Our notes, the melody, the synchrony, it was all a fine blend. Surely, we were certain of an amazing delivery. My dad was very happy about my taking up that role and he gave me all the motivation he assumed would be helpful. "...don't look at anybody's face. Look at their heads," he would tell me.

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On the D-Day, we were all fired up. I was jittery, not as bad as it always is. When it was time for the renditions, we mounted the podium, a really high stage overlooking thousands of people. I took center spot.

Instruments rolled in and I began to sing. My backup joined in. It was all going really smooth until, skrrrr.....this is where it comes crashing. I guess I had gone into another realm and, out of the blue, I left the key I was singing in. Actually, I threw away the key(not literally, you get what I mean. Lol).

The result was my backup singers, everyone of them, stopping. Like, they stopped midsong. It was just me. I sang and no one responded. Worse even, the instrumentalists who(I assume now) could no longer keep trying to match my key stopped too.

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Phew! I turned to look at my backup and the stares I got from them were hard, angry, almost deadly. I turned back to look at the crowd. I wished the ground could open up and let me in. Tears started rolling down my cheeks.
Funnily, I did not stop singing the nonsense. I was crying and singing till I was done. Gosh! That day was terrible. Thinking of it alone makes me panic. And that day marked the very last time for over a year that I joined the choir. I went into my shell.

You don't even want to imagine the experience. I made a mess of myself in front of thousands. Nah!
Now I want to cry all over....

This is actually the first time I am talking about that experience.
It's all good now and coincidentally, my first post in this community.

Thanks for gracing this post
Greetings!