Singers non-technical advice

[Bajazz]

My tutors told me to drill technique till you puke, but forget all about it on performance. Same with memorizing lyrics. When you got it all nailed down you can concentrate on delivery. But how?

 

Here is the thread on the non-technical aspect of singing. Give us all the secrets to be a awesome singer and touch everyone!

 

my contribution:

1. Learn the story of the song. BE one of the characters, the guy with broken heart or the happy one. Relate it to experience in your own life. This is the foundation of musical delivery and the oldest trick in the book.

 

2. Sing TO the audience, not your feet or the ceiling. let them know you're serious by eye contact and gestures. If you, like me, have little charm, fake it on stage!

 

3. Be non-technical about the sound gear. Biggest turn-off is musicians monitoring the sound on stage and turning the back on the audience to listen to the FOH speakers while performing. If problems, note it in the back of your head for the break or after show.

 

4. Always be confident in your delivery. If you make funny face when you have the lyrics wrong or slip into falsetto on a difficult note, everyone knows, but if you act like it was on purpose, no one knows.

[Jersey Jack]

3. Be non-technical about the sound gear. Biggest turn-off is musicians monitoring the sound on stage and turning the back on the audience to listen to the FOH speakers while performing. If problems, note it in the back of your head for the break or after show.

 

Yes, good advice. I would only qualify the statement about gear by emphasizing that gear is like vocal drills--you have to work with it before the performance and you have to insist that you have the gear and the set-up that enable you to hear yourself on stage. There should be no fussing with gear while performing, but prior to taking the stage one has to be a tyrant!

 

Recently I saw Ryan Adams, and he was fantastic-except for the fact that he spent the entire show gesturing to a sound man on the side of the stage, indicating whether he wanted his monitor raised or lowered. This was very distracting to the audience. It literally went on all night, during every song.