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This post is solely the result of a conversation I had in a singing lesson with one of my voice students, Francesca T. Thank you Francesca!
To understand this discussion, I want you to watch the following video in which Will Smith discusses his skydiving experience. It is hilarious and worth your six minutes. There are many ways singers can confront their stage fright. I have lots of different techniques, from mental tricks to physical habits that can help singers overcome their fear of singing in front of a crowd. However, all these tricks pale in comparison to the single truth that you have to realize as a singer to be effective: there is no rational reason to be afraid. Here's why. When you hear a singer for the first time, do you want that singer to perform poorly? Of course not! You want the singer to blow your mind and make your evening amazing, inspire you, help you experience emotions etc....The reality is that singers have incredible power when they perform. Singers have the ability to inspire and heal thousands of people just by the sound of their own voice. Singers actually have all the power in this situation. Judges and audiences are the passive recipients of your ability. Singers have all the control. When you realize this truth, and it does take time to truly understand it and believe it, I promise you will never feel the impact of stage fright. Singing lessons provide the tools to get to this realization, but ultimately it is a self-discovery no teacher can impart. You truly have to believe it in your core to eliminate your fear. For me, this moment of realizing my own power as a singer and eliminating a major case of stage nerves came after college. I was a working a normal desk job, saving money for a house as I waited for my wife to graduate college in another city. Needless to say, I was very busy and did not have a lot of time to perform or take voice lessons. At an audition for a local community musical, a lightbulb went off in my head. I realized that auditioning was its own version of performing, and that instead of worrying about whether I got the singing job, I should enjoy the experience as much as I could because I might not get to perform for a while. I knocked that audition out of the park. People were laughing, crying etc...all because I simply let go of my fear and live in the moment and embrace the performance I had the privilege to put on. DWS As many of you know, All-State auditions wrapped up last week. I am incredibly proud of Zach, who was the BEST SINGER in the area for baritone. My tenor, Sebastian, came in as 1st Alternate. While I know he is disappointed, this is still an incredible achievement in which very little separates the best from the worse at the Area auditions. He did very well, and I know he will make an All-State Choir next year.
I've posted before on what it takes to be a great singer, and how talent is surprisingly not that important. Luck, a strong work ethic, self-awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses etc...and so many other qualities matter more than talent. However, I am being a bit disingenuous if I were to say there isn't a quality common in all great singers and performers: a willingness to ignore critics. You see, every famous singer and actor (even the legends like Sinatra, Beyonce etc...) will tell you how many times they heard "No" before they heard "Yes." Part of it is simple math; there are far more singers than jobs! But the reality is that everyone, even if they are well-meaning, is a critic and is convinced they know where you belong, how you should sing, dress, act etc... I cannot tell you how many times I have been rejected as too small, too tall, too good-looking, too plain-looking, too loud, too soft....the list goes on and on. Auditioning is a brutal, unfair, and cruel way to earn a living. For most people, a year of two of the constant criticism and rejection is enough to scream! And yet, for some singers, it hones and shapes your focus and determination. Instead of hearing "no", you hear "not yet." Instead of hearing "You can't do X," you think "just wait til you see this!" For any singer to stay in the business, you have to have a certain bull-headedness, arrogance, and belief in yourself that defies the odds and naysayers. To some people, it comes across as a bit crazy! And yet, that inner voice that says "Don't Give Up!" is essential if you want to have a career in music. It isn't a guarantee of a career, but it is a necessity. Which brings me to my student, Sebastian. Aside from his talents as a musician, what impresses me the most is his drive and focus. He works incredibly hard, and has improved tremendously over the year and a half I have worked with him. If anyone can overcome this disappointment, it is him. In fact, I bet this temporary failure will in fact shape his character and make him a better, singer, student and adult in the years to come. DWS When I was a teenager, I LOVED American Idol. The judges (especially when the show first aired) seemed to genuinely care about the contestants and were very witty. You heard wonderful new singers, most of whom truly were amateurs starting out professionally. As the show matured, some of the show's strengths went away but the show will always have a fond place in my heart.
While Simon Cowell may have been the most important judge in terms of critiques, I personally loved Randy Jackson. His warmth as a person just radiated on TV. He was always kind to the singers, even when they really didn't do so hot. He coined a new word in musical terminology, "PITCHINESS." When a singer didn't hit the note, "He was a little pitchy," was his catchphrase. The term "pitchy" actually refers to a musical concept called intonation. When you sing a pitch, you want to be dead-center on that pitch. However, many singers will be slightly high or low of the actual pitch, which is called poor intonation. If you are too high, it is called "sharp", and if you are too low, it is called "flat." Fixing "pitchiness," or intonation, when you are singing is a complicated subject not easily answered by a blog post. There are numerous reasons why a singer might have poor intonation: vocal tension, poor breathing, poor coordination etc...But there are some simple steps that you can take to reduce intonation issues. 1) Know you are off-pitch. This may be a "duh" moment, but you would be surprised how many singers do not hear themselves singing off-pitch. The best way to recognize this is to have your voice teacher point it out in a lesson, or listen to a recording of yourself. 2) Know if you are sharp or flat. How you are off-pitch matters. Singing too high tends to have different causes than singing too low. Again, having a voice teacher makes this task much simpler! 3) Figure out of the source of the problem: is it lack of air? too much air? tension in the throat, jaw, or tongue? This is the hardest part of fixing intonation; you simply need a professional voice teacher to identify the source of the problem and give you specific ways to address it. DWS This blog is going to concern itself with a very specific part of singing: the initial sound produced when you start singing. Now, that may sound a bit odd - isn't the pitch you produce the first SOUND you hear? Well, that is the ideal, but most often students produce an initial sound that is unrelated to the pitch. There are two of these 'onsets:' a glottal attack and an aspirate onset.
A glottal attack (or hard onset) is produced when the vocal folds come together before a pitch is produced and air pressure builds behind the vocal folds. The air pressure becomes so great that it essentially bursts out and produces a grunt-like noise. An aspirate onset (or soft/breathy onset) is the opposite of the glottal attack. Breath flow starts BEFORE the vocal folds are brought together, producing an 'h' before the pitch is sung. The technical goal for every voice teacher is to produce a BALANCED onset where neither onset (glottal or aspirate) is heard by the listener. A balanced onset will give a singer much more longevity as a vocalist and also produces a very pleasant sound. To work on each of these onsets, a voice teacher gives you exercises that essentially encourages the opposite onset to balance your voice. If you are producing a hard onset, for example, you might sing with an imaginary 'h' before each note. Visa versa, to reduce a breathy onset, you can use certain consonances to encourage the vocal folds to close and build air pressure to reduce the breathiness of one's tone. That being said, there is nothing artistically WRONG with a breathy or glottal onset so long as it is a choice and used only occasionally. Lots of pop singers use glottal or breathy onsets for artistic reasons. A breathy onset can create a very soft, warm sound. A glottal attack can produce a very aggressive, attacking pitch. The goal is to have the CHOICE on which tone you want to produce. That is the sign of a great vocalist. DWS For high school choral singers, there is nothing quite like the All-State process. Aside from the incredible competition from fellow singers, it is the Olympics of singing. You know how dramatic finishes are in the Olympics, with milliseconds separating gold and silver? This is exactly what happens in the All-State audition. Everyone who makes it past the preceding three auditions to get to this final round is an exceptional singer. So when you put all these fantastic singers before the audition panel, the scores reflect the high quality of singers: what separates the best (1st Chair) from the 1st Alternate (9th Chair) is razor-thin margins. And just like the Olympics: they are no do-overs or rematches. You get one shot, and it doesn't matter how good or prepared you are, if you mess up, better luck next year!
As an experienced voice teacher, I've come to the conclusion that the qualities that separate an All-State singer from others is similar to other endeavors in life: the best have a great mix of talent, hard-work, luck, good attitude and healthy self-esteem. Out of all these qualities, however, the least important is talent. As someone who has heard literally thousands of young singers, I can tell you that talent is remarkably spread out across the state. You find TALENTED singers in every school, that when you hear them, you think they will achieve great things. Yet most of these singers won't make it All-State. Why? Talent is like the phrase "a diamond in the rough." Diamonds are essentially highly compressed carbon that forms over a VERY, VERY long time. To become a diamond, carbon dioxide has to be heated under extreme temperatures and under high pressure, and then quickly rushed to the surface to cool (thank you science teachers!). For singing, talent is the carbon dioxide: lots of singers have it, but it isn't all that special. However, once the right amount of effort, determination, and luck are applied, great things can happen. Those singers, the ones who shape their talent into a finely-tuned instrument, can make All-State. Good luck, break a leg, and In Bocca Al Lupo, All-State Auditioneers! DWS |
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