So you want to know what it takes to start singing live and you want some tips to make sure your future gigs or worse, your first one doesn’t turn into a complete flop? You’re at the right place.
Singing live is the ultimate dream. Regardless of the genre, being able to confidently sing and showing off your vocal skills to put on a show that your crowd deserves is definitely one of the skills you ought to have! The only way to do that is by having practiced hours after hours beforehand.
Let’s break down a little further and see what it takes and how to have realistic expectations you must have in order to do this successfully.
Practice is Perfect
I like to give my answers directly and truth be told, this is kind of it. 99% of your stage performance will come from you doing something over and over and with accuracy in your room.
If you’re struggling with doing something in your room by yourself then you can be assured that it will fall apart when you go in front of someone to do the same. That’s how easy it is.
Practice is Preventive Medicine
So, let’s try to perfect what we can and make sure that when the time comes we are able to do our best.
Leave no stone unturned, take it slow but also steady (ten times more important), mark your calendar, and if you haven’t developed a habit of practicing at a particular hour. Develop a practicing habit.
The reason there is so much emphasis on practicing is that you need to turn something unfamiliar into a familiar thing into second nature. The only way it’s going to happen is if you’ve spent hours doing the same thing over and over again. Which is what practice is.
Though make it deliberate and make sure practice hours are not wasted by you doing two things at once, you may use your instrument but never lose track of what you have to practice, remember, make a deliberate effort to practice what you ought to perform.
Give Your Best
Sure you can still give a bad performance when you have practiced long and hard for it. It’s possible but you still have to give your best. The reason that I say that is because giving anything less is disrespectful to yourself and what you do.
Wow, heavy words. They’re true though. Sometimes it won’t work the way you plan it to, not initially anyway. I promise you that performing live never goes your way on the first go.
You must do it again and again and each time you go up on that stage and try to give yet another performance, you still have to give your best. Nothing less nothing more.
People Don’t Care
If you’re someone who lives in constant fear of what others might do and think then I have some news for you.
People don’t care as much as you think they do. They will forget a mistake and if they hold onto it then they’re not the kind of people you ought to be hanging out with.
Feeling shame for performing is something that you shouldn’t worry about. You will get it right eventually. How to get with the band, how to be yourself, and be fluid and relaxed in front of a crowd. It’ll all come naturally. Don’t worry about it. Just keep on doing it.
And if people do remember, remind them that you may not have gotten an award for your performance but it’s in the trying that you’ve become a little more like the person that you are hoping to be. It’s a positive reinforcement of what you are trying to do.
It’s not a sly remark to make them feel inferior, it’s your perspective and you’re promoting who you are and projecting positivity around you.
Most people can’t do that. Never become a bitter person for trying to do something harmless.
Failure is Inevitable
It’ll always creep up on you. It creeps up on artists who’ve been performing for the better part of their lives. It happens and it will happen again. It will happen to everyone, including you. Never assume you’re the exception even if you make it big!
So, don’t expect perfection right off the bat. Nervousness, stuttering and not being able to move properly are all things you can overcome with time and experience. Never off the bat.
But let time pass and let it sink in and you will find a lot of things that you were once afraid of doing now no longer bother you.
My Performing Story
I always knew I wanted to be a composer and performing my own songs was the way to go for sure. I did a lot to avoid performing per se. I really did, I once actually faked not being able to play better because I didn’t want to be stuck in that class.
After I dropped out of Berklee, I came back home and was enjoying my ‘composing’ per se. It was in the city of Bangalore that I found a small group that held small music jams. 20-30 people just singing random songs or whatever came to them and I started going.
I actually started to enjoy what I hadn’t at Berklee. Performing live. It was all improvisational and I had a lot of freedom.
The moral of the story is this, in order to find where and what kind of performer you want to be you have to experiment a lot. Maybe not a lot. But a little bit for sure! Because there’s no telling what you’ll fall in love with!
Want To Be a Better Singer?
I have written extensively on why everyone should have an online course in their library. You can read it here.
There are many courses to choose from and you can find them all here. You can check them out before buying but do check them out even if you wish to buy them later.
I personally own The Four Pillars of Singing, this is an affiliate link. This comes in the form of a book and a digital course. I own the digital course for efficiency.
All of the knowledge you could ever have can only be brought out if you know how singing works. This is one of the best ways to improve yourself.
Whatever you end up doing I hope you read a lot and enjoy doing so!
All the best!