A book with a misleading cover

When I'm not entertaining princes or attending diplomatic parties, I spend a little time teaching singing to the youth of London. Recently, the mother of one of my young students approached me, asking if I taught adults as well. 'Of course I do!' I replied, thinking she wanted lessons for herself. Turns out, it was actually her 24 yr old son that was looking to improve his car-singing technique. Great I thought, taking his mobile number from her, and planning to call him later that day.

Over the phone he sounded lovely. A deep voice with a bit of a cockney accent, and he was very enthusiastic. We arranged to meet up the following Saturday, for a "taster" lesson; to talk about his goals and what I could do to help him.

Fast forward to Saturday morning; my new student was set to arrive at 10:30am. I was waiting patiently in the front entrance of the school, when a thug walked in. There he was, standing 6'4", jeans so baggy I'm sure you could fit three of me in them(!) and hanging so low I was concerned I'd see something un-toward. His hat sat jauntily sideways, wide brimmed and bright coloured. He looked at me with a sort of side-ways glance and said : " y'alright?"

Now for those of you who don't know this, "y'alright?" is a standard greeting here in London. Kind of like "Hi, how are you?" Wherein no one actually cares how you are or if you are alright. But that doesn't stop me from replying: " I'm fine thank you, can I help you sir?" (I use sir for fear that this thug might hurt me if I don't show him proper respect)


He replies with a sweet " I'm here to see Janel?"...



This is when I realize that this thug is my newest student! WHAT!?! It can't be! How could someone like this want to sing? But okay, lets see what happens.



I awkwardly invite him into my music studio and ask him some pressing questions about his musical intentions. It turns out that he really loves hip hop and R&B and wants to be able to sing them better. His goal is to be able to rock a tune at a Karaoke bar. He has dabbled in acting and realises that being able to sing would help his professional cause. He is also very interested in developing proper breath support. Hmmmm.


After I explain to him that I come from a classical background and so know very little about R&B, but would do my best to connect my technique with his musical style, we start the lesson. I don't think I have ever been so surprised. The thug was possibly the keenest student I have ever encountered. He approached every exercise with enthusiasm and focus. He didn't shy away from the silly sounds I made him make and he paid careful attention to his breath and posture through out the lesson. It was really amazing. Here I was, afraid of the young man when he walked in, assuming the worst based on his appearance, only to discover that under all that gangster-fashion was a hard-working and committed student who was truly excited about learning to sing. Wow.