Audience Connection is Barometer of ‘Success’

Connect with the audience if you want to be successful. Photo by Peter Hendrie.

I’m sometimes asked by guitarist/singers if they should be studying voice as well as guitar. As far as strength is concerned, many performers are much stronger singers that they are guitarists. Others are better players than they are singers.

Popularity is never based on being good but on being appealing. Since the audience in general can’t tell the difference between good and mediocre, connecting with the audience is the only barometer of  “success.” Of course, massive advertising and marketing helps as well. 

We all know great guitarists and great singers who have had far less commercial success than they “should.” But this subject is anything but black and white.

As far as the study issues are concerned, it’s a matter of personal choice. My view is that if you want to improve your singing, study singing. If you want to improve your playing, study playing. It’s not necessarily a direct route to success, but it is a direct route to improvement.

In the long run, the drive to be better is internal and personal. Public acceptance usually stems from that.