How to sing a song as if it’s the first time

I went to a theatre performance the other day. It was basically one actor on stage for over two hours.

It was coming to the end of its seven-week run, but it still felt as fresh as the first time it was performed. How do you manage to keep a performance alive after so many repetitions?

Silence: the other half of singing

At the end of a recent residential singing weekend I was acutely aware of absence when everyone had left. The silence was almost painful.

It got me thinking about the different kinds of silence in singing.

Why is there so much talking when I’m teaching a song (and why don’t I notice it)?

After teaching songs to a group of singers, I often get feedback that it was hard to concentrate because so many people were talking.

It always surprises me, since I don’t usually notice. So what’s going on here?

Choir leaders and singers: how do you know when you’re overdoing it and need to stop?

I wrote recently about Why your throat might be sore after singing. One of the reasons can be overuse. You’re just doing too much.

photo by Lee Haywood

But how can you spot when you’re in danger of doing too much so you can stop in time? Here are three ideas that might help.

Is it important for singers to memorise the songs they perform?

I’m often asked how to get singers “off book” for their next concert.

 

The assumption is that it’s best for a singer not to have lyrics or sheet music in their hands when performing. But is this necessarily a bad thing?

Why you can only focus on one thing at a time when singing

Singing can be daunting at first because there are so many things to remember: posture, breathing, smiling, tuning, balance and so on.

But if you try to focus on all these at once, it will end in disaster (especially in performance). Here’s what you can do instead.