Voice lessons, and a good vocal coach, are paramount to improving vocal quality. I've always been fortunate in that I've had a good voice and could sing in tune, but to stand out from the crowd you need those lessons.

I picked up a magazine in Nashville, TN several years ago that had a feature story pertaining to what many, great singers did to improve the vocals. The vast majority took voice lessons and had vocal coaches. Additionally, the best singers also took lessons on diction. The list included Elvis, Sinatra, Strisan, and a host of others. When you sing clear, crisp words, and pronounce them properly, it really adds a lot to your vocal quality. (Hmmm. Guess that's why drunks don't sing well at Karaoke bars. )

I took vocal lessons from a very gifted and talented jazz singer at the local community college. It was an 8-week course 2 nights a week, that culminated with a performance in front of the entire college faculty, music instructors and a couple hundred guests. The audience was given the task of providing a portion of the final grade. Though I have been performing in front of audiences since I was a teenager, I can attest first hand that this was quite intimidating. Between the written exam and the performance I managed to pull off an "A".

John, good points about the retirement process. Fortunately, all of the jobs I've cut out are those that require lots of drive time. This not only reduces the chances of being involved in a serious or fatal accident, but it also cuts a huge chunk out of the operating expense by eliminating a couple $2 tolls each way, and not burning copious amounts of gasoline.

Cheers,

Gary