Members Delmont Posted October 5, 2014 Members Share Posted October 5, 2014 Here's me singing some R&B and blues at a recent gig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH0A...8F7Wq9u76QQ1hA ...and there's a lot more of my singing on the Fullertons' website below. Two questions: 1. Can you give me any stagecraft advice for improving my singing, performance, or presentation? 2. Any tips on remembering lyrics? That's always been my downfall. Words are a lot harder than chords to remember. There are so many more of them and they come at you a lot faster. Thanks! Delwww.thefullertons.net( •)—::: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members highmtn Posted October 5, 2014 Members Share Posted October 5, 2014 @Delmont, Del, For your singing, you could improve your overall voice and quality by studying the voice in a program that promotes the kind of music you like to sing. Getting help developing your range, tone, breath support, and all other aspects of the voice will give your voice a general boost that will give you a more professional sound and more confidence in your abilities. There are some good online programs... one in particular I think is best. There are also good private instructors. Just find a good one that is able to sing the way you would love to be able to sing. As to remembering lyrics, that's a hard one. It's great if you can simply memorize all the lyrics you need. The band I play in does about a thousand songs, and there is no way we can memorize that many lyrics. We previously used music stands and laminated lyric sheets in 3-ring binders, alphabetically organized. Now we use ipads or laptops to pull up lyrics or chord sheets. Even Paul McCartney and just about every other big star has monitors prompting them with lyrics, just in case they have a moment of forgetfulness. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted October 6, 2014 Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 The sound on that video is brutal. From what I can hear of your voice you sounds fine. You're no Stevie Ray Vaughn but you can hold a tune. Get a music stand and use it to hold your words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delmont Posted October 6, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 Thanks, Highmtn! Thanks, Ido! A few voice lessons wouldn't be a bad idea. You're right, Highmtn, I do forget to breath. I'll get halfway through a line and have no idea how I'll ever make it to the other end. Range is tricky: at 62, my voice still cracks. I should've never have quit my day job! (But I'm glad I did.) Ido, the good news is I don't want to sing like Stevie Ray Vaughn, so that's one hurdle cleared already. It was interesting to see, in a TV tribute to Dylan, a tele-prompter feeding Johnny Winter the words to "Highway 61." Yikes! (To be fair, he never looked.) I do have a couple of music stands that I use for practice. Using one at gigs isn't totally out of the question, but I can sing a song with more conviction if I know it. I've taken lots of people's advice already: got the mercury-laced fillings removed from my teeth, try to eat enough greens, take B-12 supplements, get exercise, do puzzles, and don't drink at gigs or practices. None of that has hurt, but words still escape me, even if I've sung a song hundreds of times. So - any other suggestions on what's worked for people would be great. Any more ideas? Thanks! Delhttp://www.thefullertons.net( •)—::: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteffyJ Posted October 7, 2014 Members Share Posted October 7, 2014 Don't know if this helps but I create a story for each song in my head e.g I'm walking down a road and pass various objects/people which are a cue for lyrics in the right order - I know this might sound like even more to remember but if def helps me - before that all my songs had a 1st verse chorus, half a second verse ended with some of the 1st verse again!! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delmont Posted October 7, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 7, 2014 Thanks, Steffy! People like you are called mnemonists. In your head, one thing represents another. You're using the so-called "method of loci": To organize and recall data, you picture and place things in what they call a memory palace. Mine isn't even a memory dog house. A lot of math savants use the method of loci. As you can imagine, I've never been very quick with numbers, either. So I just keep plugging away. Sometimes something sticks. Delhttp://www.thefullertons.net( •)—::: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted October 8, 2014 Members Share Posted October 8, 2014 Do you get paid to play or is it just for fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delmont Posted October 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2014 Do you get paid to play or is it just for fun? Fun first! And the occasional gig. I'd like to gig more and record more, which are the second and third reasons I want to work on my singing. (The first reason is just that I like sounding good.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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