The Singing Advice I'd Give to My Younger Self

Simone Niles and Jermaine Jones impart wisdom on their younger singing selves.

Vocalist | Transformational Coach

Singer-songwriter | Producer

We asked Singdaptive instructors what advice they might give to their younger singing selves. Today, we hear from leading vocal and performance coach, Simone Niles, and singer-producer, Jermaine Jones.

Simone Niles on Being Flexible

Tips from The Team Transcript: What would I tell my younger self starting out in the industry? I think the main thing that comes to mind is to “remain flexible”. We may all have a plan of what we might want to happen in our music careers, but I know that the flexibility I adopted as I went through my own adventures brought me more opportunities. It gave me a sense of being able to improvise more in life, just as in music. And what’s really good about that is that even though having plans are really important, when you allow yourself to be open and receptive to new things, it challenges you to go outside of your comfort zone. And that is where all the growth happens.

So I’m really grateful to be in a place now where I can reflect. Now, I wish I had been more flexible earlier with my plans because I see now that saying “yes” to things that I didn’t fit in with my plans has allowed me to grow immensely as a performer and a vocalist. So I would definitely say to be flexible while still having a plan!

What Would You Tell Your Younger Self?

Jermaine Jones on Self-Love

Tips from The Team Transcript: There are a ton of things that I would love to say to my younger singing self: “Besides the fact that you are a very handsome young, little boy and will grow up to be an even more strikingly handsome young man, I want to say to you:”

“Listen, I know you’re making mistakes and I know you want to be perfect, but the people, singers and celebrities that you admire the most make mistakes too. Some of them still do. You just don’t get to see it. So you think that their level of perfection is attainable, but you forget that you are not seeing the imperfection that is in their lives. So forgive yourself. You’re going to get better. You’re going to get stronger. You are good enough.”

That is what I would say to my younger singing self.