Posts Tagged ‘singing performance’

Dealing With Performance Anxiety

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

One type of anxiety that is a huge problem for singers and artists is performance anxiety. Finding ways of dealing with anxiety and turning nerves and adrenaline into positive forces in your performance are just as important as great technique and knowing what you’re afraid of is half the battle. After you pinpoint the source of your fear, you can take charge of it.

Some common fears you may deal with as a performer are: your voice cracking during a performance, not being able to reach certain notes, feeling or looking stupid in front of friends, forgetting the lyrics of a song, wondering if you will fail or succeed, or even rejection – just to name a few. When you name or pinpoint your fear you can take the necessary steps to beat it. When you understand the problem, take the time to deal with the source of your fear as opposed to just the symptoms.

When you have an adrenaline rush in the body, it results in a racing heart. Running in place until you’re out of breath is one way to duplicate the effect of an adrenaline rush – then practice singing while your heart races. Being out of breath while you practice helps you get used to singing phrases where you desperately want to just exhale and not sing. Breathlessness is similar to what happens when anxiety strikes during the performance. Your breaths will feel like they are falling into your body. It is important to understand that even when the heart is pounding, you can sing. It’s not easy, but it is possible.

It might help to know that you’re not alone and that thousands of singers deal with anxiety before performing as well. Everyone experiences anxiety differently but there are several common symptoms that can surface such as; shaky hands, nausea, butterflies in the stomach, sweaty armpits, the urge to cry, nausea.  an almost an endless list.

Most singers assume they should be calm and collective before a performance, but for most people it’s just not the case and believing they should be only increases the anxiety.Expecting to be nervous and jittery, on the other hand, can enable you to sing through your anxiety. Don’t be a afraid to use the fight-or-flight nerves and excitement to your advantage. Just by reframing the thought process and acknowledging your nerves, will allow you to seize the opportunity and improve your performance.

For more great information on improving your live singing performance and confidence in singing, be sure to check out this learn to sing website.

Answers to your singing questions

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

How should I sing?

You should choose a singing method that works for you. You can find singers and teachers who are quick to recommend their method, claiming, “It’s the best.” A good method is one that can teach you the basics of singing such as breathing management and articulation.

My voice doesn’t work, did I do something wrong? What do I do?

Your voice might stop working for many different reasons, and they can all be fixed. Thinking too much about how you sound as you sing can make you nervous and you may not sound your best. Not getting enough sleep can cause your voice to feel sluggish and not respond as easily as it normally does. Your voice will feel tired if you’ve spent too much time singing the day before. Your signing muscles are very similar to the other muscles in your body. The muscles need to be worked out, but they also need their rest. Emotions can have their affect on your voice as well. Crying can make the cords swell and feel puffy, too.

Do fat people have bigger voices?

Nope. Your voice has nothing to do with the size of your waist. If this were true, then large people would be natural singers by default. Actually, having extra weight around the middle makes it harder to move your body and to breathe. If moving like this is second nature to you, then you have nothing to worry about. To be honest, the size of your head and throat make a larger impact.

My voice is really scratchy, do I have nodes?

You need to put your vocal cords through a lot of abuse to get nodes. You won’t get nodes by yelling for a day. Naturally they would swell, but it would take much more abuse to give them nodes. Nodes are basically like calluses. If you don’t abuse the cords, the problem will not exist. If the scratchy sounds continue, try vocalizing high in your range. Nodes will for the most part only affect the high part of your voice. If the sound is husky only in the middle part of your voice, you probably have another kind of swelling other than nodes.

What’s the difference between a singing coach, voice teacher, and an accompanist?

The coach is a person that can play the piano and will give you good advice on singing. A coach will teach you many different things, such as a singing style that works for you, and finding places to breathe in the song. A coach gives you the basic, and compliments your voice teacher.

A pianist or accompanist is someone who plays the piano for you to practice singing but doesn’t offer advice. An accompanist is not cheaper than a coach though.

The voice teacher is the most important and will show you your technique. Although the coach may have knowledge of technique, the voice teacher should be the pro and expert. While the voice teacher may not be a great pianist, they do have a great amount of knowledge. For any voice session, you will probably spend half of it on technique, and half on repertoire.

Want to learn how to sing like a star but don’t have the money for expensive private singing lessons? Then I highly recommend you check out Singing Success from Brett Manning.

Answers to your singing questions

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

How should I sing?

You should choose a singing method that works for you. You can find singers and teachers who are quick to recommend their method, claiming, “It’s the best.” A good method is one that can teach you the basics of singing such as breathing management and articulation.

My voice doesn’t work, did I do something wrong? What do I do?

Your voice might stop working for many different reasons, and they can all be fixed. Thinking too much about how you sound as you sing can make you nervous and you may not sound your best. Not getting enough sleep can cause your voice to feel sluggish and not respond as easily as it normally does. Your voice will feel tired if you’ve spent too much time singing the day before. Your signing muscles are very similar to the other muscles in your body. The muscles need to be worked out, but they also need their rest. Emotions can have their affect on your voice as well. Crying can make the cords swell and feel puffy, too.

Do fat people have bigger voices?

Nope. Your voice has nothing to do with the size of your waist. If this were true, then large people would be natural singers by default. Actually, having extra weight around the middle makes it harder to move your body and to breathe. If moving like this is second nature to you, then you have nothing to worry about. To be honest, the size of your head and throat make a larger impact.

My voice is really scratchy, do I have nodes?

You need to put your vocal cords through a lot of abuse to get nodes. You won’t get nodes by yelling for a day. Naturally they would swell, but it would take much more abuse to give them nodes. Nodes are basically like calluses. If you don’t abuse the cords, the problem will not exist. If the scratchy sounds continue, try vocalizing high in your range. Nodes will for the most part only affect the high part of your voice. If the sound is husky only in the middle part of your voice, you probably have another kind of swelling other than nodes.

What’s the difference between a singing coach, voice teacher, and an accompanist?

The coach is a person that can play the piano and will give you good advice on singing. A coach will teach you many different things, such as a singing style that works for you, and finding places to breathe in the song. A coach gives you the basic, and compliments your voice teacher.

A pianist or accompanist is someone who plays the piano for you to practice singing but doesn’t offer advice. An accompanist is not cheaper than a coach though.

The voice teacher is the most important and will show you your technique. Although the coach may have knowledge of technique, the voice teacher should be the pro and expert. While the voice teacher may not be a great pianist, they do have a great amount of knowledge. For any voice session, you will probably spend half of it on technique, and half on repertoire.

Want to learn how to sing like a star but don’t have the money for expensive private singing lessons? Then I highly recommend you check out Singing Success from Brett Manning.

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