Singing
Monday, July 9, 2007 at 09:51AM Today, let's talk a little about singing. And no matter what anyone has told you, you can sing. It's part of being human. 
We can all sing, we can all dance.
First off, remember to always drink plenty of water and have more on hand. Singing dries out your vocal chords and when they get dry, they bang into each other and you get hoarse. Maybe Rod Stewart was deprived water as a child. Parents can be strange. But I digress. Your voice and singing are what we are talking about today.
And believe it or not, your voice is the first place your weariness shows up. Before your eyes, or muscles or your brain. It's your voice. So make certain you have plenty of rest before you perform.
Secondly, relax your throat. As you tense up, you make it harder for your vocal cords to make the sounds you want, and the higher in your range, the tighter your cords must be anyhow. So if your cords are already tight, you are going to get fatigued more quickly and in no time be unable to hit a note that you know you can normally hit.
There is another aside here that should be addressed. You don't need to hold every note a long time. Sometimes it is effective to just hit the note and get off it, particularly if you don't have a bel canto at that pitch. A great vocalist knows his limitations. A great vocalist is not going to demonstrate what they cannot do or what they cannot do without a struggle. A great vocal is not a physical exhibition. It's a performance and it's communication. You want to affect the listener.
Bonnie Raitt told me that before she goes to the studio to do the lead vocals on her albums, she speaks the lyrics and listens to what she is saying, that way she can give an interpretation of the lyrics. She does this in the car as she's driving to the studio. You can do it anywhere you have a modicum of privacy. A believeable reading instead of a recitation. Try it. You will instinctively find which notes should be held and which shouldn't. Usually they are important words and they fall on sounds that are easy to sing such as ooo or ah. Eeee is not an easy nor pleasant sound to remain on.
I have also found that in terms of singing on stage, or in the studio the preparation actually begins the night before. You voice is the first place weariness shows up…even before your eyes. Remember? And talking is harder on your voice than singing, so the night before, you go to bed early, you don't talk too much and you drink plenty of water. It will make for a better session or performance, I promise. You stay up late, party and/or drink alcohol (which has a drying effect on your vocal cords) or even talk loudly in a car for extended periods and you won't be able to sing as well.
And on the day of the show, I arrive around 5 pm. Load in and then go to my dressing room and sit there in the dark and sing until they call me for the sound check. I don't sing hard, I sing easy, but I sing. Then after the sound check I do it again, in the dark, easy; just sitting there, singing and playing my guitar. Then about thirty minutes before show time, I settle on the first song and I sing it until about twenty minutes before showtime. Then I meditate on the show, the room, the audience, the positive connection, the blessing of being able to do this, the desire to give the audience something that makes them feel better about being alive, and the equal exchange of energy between us. Then I get up, change into my stage clothes and go sing.
If I do all those things, the show is always great. If I don’t, then I don't know what's going to happen. Sometime it's good and sometimes it is just okay. And perversely, sometimes it's terrific anyhow. But it is rare when a show comes off great without doing the preparation. It is more comforting and more fun to be prepared and to do what it takes to put yourself in your most advantageous posture. If you've ever seen any great golfers, you know that they have an approach to the ball that is the same every time. It helps them focus and concentrate and it helps maintain their confidence. It's the same thing with any performance. You want to bring your best to it. Watch the Olympic competitors. They always have a ritual of some sort that they go thru before the actual competition. Something that allows them to bring complete focus and commitment to what they are about to attempt.
Remember that singing is something that is natural to the human condition. We can all sing. Yes, some folks seem to have an extraordinary gift, but that doesn't mean you can't also sing. Unless you have had throat surgery, or throat damage, you can sing. Usually the folks that think they can't sing had a sibling or parent or someone early on who told them how dreadful they sound. And maybe you did, but that's not a birth defect. You can learn to do it.
Now it is true that singing a note on key is not easy for all folks, but you can learn to do it by simply doing a pitch against one that is being played and then slowly raising that pitch. As you get closer to the pitch, you begin to hear it throbbing against the other tone. Keep raising the pitch. At the point where you are singing the same pitch, the throbbing will disappear. That means that you are on the note. I have always been able to hear pitch and been able to control my voice, so I have been lucky in that area, but I have friends and acquaintances, some of whom are quite wealthy from their music, who had to work extremely hard to get pitch and maintain it. (The next time you see me play, come up and ask me who they are, I'll tell you.) It can be done, it just depends on how much work you want to put into it. As humans, we always take the path of least resistance. If it's easier for us to add columns or throw a ball than it is to make music from our throats, that is the way we go. A perfect example can be found at any gym. If someone has an enormous belly, you won't find them at the sit up machine. Their stomach muscles are so weak as to be almost non existent, consequently it is most difficult for them to do sit ups, where as they can go to a squat machine and use their muscled thighs to push heavy things. Because they've been carrying around all this excess weight on their legs, their legs are strong and that is what they work. Unless they have a trainer or enough self knowledge to realize what they are doing and where the work really needs to be done, this is how most people behave. We also tend to go where the compliments are. If that girl in the second grade smiled at you after you sang something as a class requirement, you want to do that again and get that response again. Carrot time.
Reader Comments (9)
Hey James!
What a brilliant and generous idea for you to post your "tricks of the trade" for the rest of us to study and contribute to. Given your wealth of talent and knowledge, you have SO MUCH to offer. Every time I have seen you perform live, I think, "This guy is a master musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, performer."
I love what you say about preparing for a show ... taking the time to meditate on the exchange that is ahead and going onstage truly focused. That truly makes for a more consistently excellent onstage track record.
In these days of mass production and everyone sharing music freely, live performance is so important. And it is SO MUCH MORE than just standing up there and singing the songs. Please tell us your ideas about performing ... about reading your audiences, drawing them in, interacting with them, pacing the set, telling stories, being flexible, helping to build the fire that everyone participates in during a show. It's a group thang!
I will check back here often. Wonderful!
Much love,
Ashley
wow, ashley, you've given me some great ideas for future posts. pacing the set, structuring the set, i am looking forward to hearing more of your ideas.
thanks,
james
Hi James (and everyone reading here)--
I've always believed that everyone, including (sometimes especially) good singers can benefit from some vocal training. I took voice lessons for 6 years, and it was most valuable in helping me take care of my voice, and giving me tools to make adjustments and do consistently good performances, even under bad conditions (while sick, fatigued, etc). Some singers avoid training out of fear of losing their unique sound--it's a myth. Quite the opposite: basic vocal training gives you greater control over your voice.
I recently purchased an instructional DVD/CD combo called "The Zen of Screaming," from a voice teacher named Melissa Cross (who I've never met--I don't have any deal going with her :-). The DVD has some incredibly valuable breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups, and I now use the accompanying CD of vocal warm-ups in my car, before gigs. Great stuff that's increased my vocal control and expressiveness.
Keep up the great work! Talk to you soon!
Pat Wictor
I bet I know who at least one of those "pitch challenged" friends of yours are... (nudge, nudge, wink wink, say no more!)
Nice blog, James. Just got out here today. Having fun working my way backwards through the posts. Not that I'm going to be taking up a musical career any time soon (I'm pretty much a professional audience member these days), but I find getting to know more about your "behind the scenes" thought processes enriches the musical experience for me.
Loved seeing you at The Flipside. Looking forward to seeing you again (sooner rather than later, please).
--Di
pat, great to hear from you and thanks so much for the input. very good advice. the warm up exercises are so important to me doing a good vocal performance and enabling me to actually sing all night, every night. catch up with you down the road,
diane, thanks for checking out the site...and please let your hubby know i'd love to hear his contributions and yours on websites for musicians for that matter.
james lee
I'm a great believer in eye contact. I maintain that there's an audible difference when a singer is looking the audience in the eyes and making an emotional connection, as opposed to staring at the ceiling, or their instrument. Part of it is posture, of course, but another part isn't.
Great stuff, James. This is a fabulous concept, and I'm impressed that you're willing to share so much of your own technique with the world. Thank you!
Tom,
Really good point. Eye contact is something that I do the whole time that I am performing. I try to look at everyone in the hall individually, even tho that is, of course, impossible. But by continually (and slowly) scanning the room, i try to make contact with all of them. I remember watching a very famous fellow perform years ago in a club and he spent the whole time staring up into space like he was looking at the moon or something. After he became famous I saw him perform and he was looking at everyone. It is important for the audience to be included. Another little thing you can do is to acknowledge their applause. Let them know that you appreciate it. And sometimes, if you do several songs in a row without talking to the audience, you can start the second song before they are finished applauding the first song, then start the third be fore they are finished applauding the second song. Make certain that your third song is a real crowd pleaser and then let them applaud til they are done. I believe that audiences feel that their part is the applause and if you cut them short on that for a little bit, somehow they seem to feel the need to really finish that applause and when you finally let them, there is even more of a connection. Performing is magic. It's what I live for.
Thanks for the input, Tom
James Lee Stanley
Great Stuff! if I may offer some more info...it's not just the cords that are involved ...I know I know...but I just think its important to say that you can have wonderfully lubed healthy cords but the surrounding tissue around the trachea (windpipe) and esophagus (where you swallow food and liquids) as well as your mouth and nose are also involved...so id there is irritation there or dryness which causes not only irritation of the vocal cords themselves but that irritation causes your blood vessels to dialate...(when you get a burn on your skin or get hot redness shows up cos more blood is coming to the surface...so it is also good to steam your self...this is sooo simple to do...you can just run a hot shower or take a washcloth and put it over your face...which also brings relaxation which is marvelous if you are gonna perform...I hope I made some good sense...or sense of some sort
bobby, good post and good point. i forgot that another easy way to lube your pipes is with steam. takes the wrinkles out of your shirt too! yes, this coupled with plenty of liquids and your voice will ring like a bell.
james