Singing’s all about showing our feelings, and risking being vulnerable in front of others. And it only works when we’re truthful about those feelings. So there’s an obvious catch 22 here. We need to be vulnerable to move an audience, and that’s often the thing we’re often most scared of.…
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Dealing With Stage Fright
Almost everyone has stage fright. It can range from an overwhelming fear to a mild apprehension before a performance. I’ve suffered from it greatly throughout my career as a performer. At first onstage, then when I got to a level of proficiency, that went away, leaving an apprehension before a…
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Zen qualities of singing
This article will hopefully help you find your perfect balance when singing. I’ve mentioned the Zen aspects of singing throughout the program, so now is as good a time as any to try and clarify this concept. In essence, “the Zen of singing” relates directly to the concept of…
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How to feel rhythm
Feeling and expressing rhythm is an integral part of singing. When we have a good sense of rhythm the song can flow, and we can flow along with it:) I know how hard this can be, though, since I’ve observed it being challenging for so many students. It’s tempting to…
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Give Yourself a Grounding Cord
This can be key to your performance and literally “grounds” you. It only takes a moment, and is also something you can do every day. Every morning, for example, as you start your day. Most of us are disconnected from the Earth. We wear rubber soled shies, walk on concrete…
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Understanding your voice
The first step to understanding your voice is being honest about the type of voice you have. Try to stand back and be objective about the noises you’re making. Whether you like them or not, for starters:) You might wish to be a rock singer, for example, and yet simply…
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Why Meditate?
Why Meditate? Meditation takes you past the “beta” brainwave patterns of everyday life (see below) and plugs you in to what’s really going on with you. It’s food for the soul, vitally, physically, mentally and spiritually. When you meditate regularly you’re calmer, and it’s easier to sort out what’s going…
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How To Ad-Lib, Or Improvise
How To Ad-Lib, Or Improvise There are mainly two ways to approach a freer form of expression in a song. These are “ad-libbing”, and improvising. More details on those distinctions later. You can develop both of these methods by either: 1. Hearing it in your head and just diving in.…
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Good voice bad voice
It’s very tempting, when singing, to want to only show our best side to an audience. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say “imperative “as far as the ego is concerned. Making an ass of ourselves is our greatest fear and the tripwire that we’re aware of a…
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Throat Problems
I had a ghastly flu virus a couple of years ago that quickly went down to my throat and vocal cords, making them behave very strangely indeed. A couple of my students had exactly the same reaction from the same virus, and it took more than a year to slowly…