Arts & Entertainment, Music
Getting Started
Lesson time 08:32 min
It's time to take the first step. Usher shows you how to find opportunities to perform, use social media to grow your audience, and leaves you with your first class assignment.
Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars
Topics include: Taking the first step • Always be performing • Gaining real world experience • Sharing your work
Preview
Doing something is the first step. You have to be willing to take the step. A physical action, the hardest part is getting over those opinions that are there that are not necessarily complimenting and that don't feel good. People are going to have opinions, they're like assholes, everybody's got one. However, the truth is if you are truly connected to what you are doing, nothing can break you, nothing will turn you away from what you're doing. The most important part of being fearless is being vulnerable. You have to allow yourself to remain open, and it's hard to be vulnerable in that way, to learn to be open and not closed based off of what you think the idea life really is. Yeah. I've had more failures than I've had successes. But you remember the successes because that's what people remember. [MUSIC PLAYING] Well, being able to recognize that you have a calling comes from repetition. You know, even if you feel like it's not happening as quick as you want it to or you think it should, the more you work at it, the more you begin to feel the gratification of the time to put in it. You could film yourself. Put yourself on social media and become a sensation overnight. But that doesn't mean you've been prepared. That doesn't mean that you know what it takes. That doesn't mean you've had to go through doors being shut in your face and then have to figure out a way to turn the other cheek and continue to move forward and be optimistic. No matter where I was I would always start singing. I mean it's like, OK, for hip hop, right, when someone starts a cipher where they're all standing in a group and they're kind of going back and forth freestyling. For me, I would do a similar thing. I would go into the gymnasium because the acoustics were a little bit louder in there. And I would just start singing. And before you know, it people would start to move closer and closer. And they'd asked for another song. And ask me to sing something else. I could remember, you know, at family gatherings I would be the guy who asking everyone to come around, I want you to watch me perform. I'd stand on the stoop and I would sing to them around Christmas. I would sing Christmas carols. I would always just perform. I just had this energy to get the attention of people. I started entering into talent shows around the city. And I watched all of the other artists perform. But I would pay very close attention to the things that I think maybe the artist didn't execute properly or didn't fully execute, and I would go after that. I mean you name it, I basically tried it. From performing in parking lots, performing in bathrooms, meeting people on the spot. If I knew that someone was in the same bathroom with me, I start singing to try to get his attention, you know what I mean? If I knew that there was a celebrity, I'd walk up to them and...
About the Instructor
Usher, winner of 8 Grammy Awards, reveals the technical skills, career lessons and breakthrough advice that he has used to captivate audiences for over 25 years. For the first time ever, learn how Usher approaches performance and wins over audiences from the studio to the stage. There has never been a class like this before.
Featured MasterClass Instructor
Usher
In his first ever online class, Usher teaches you his personal techniques to captivate audiences across 16 video lessons.
Explore the Class