Posted on
Tips on performing for singers
Performing is one of the most important parts of being a singer. Although the voice is important, knowing how to entertain your audience through your performance is also massive. Matching your performance with your vocals and the song is essential. Below is some advice that will help you when you’re performing.
TeenStar’s tip for performing
Use the space around you to perform
Whether you are on stage or in an audition room use the space around you to perform. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to walk over every inch of it, but make use of it, don’t let space swamp you. Your performance is not only about your voice. Whether you’re using a mic or not or stood with a mic stand, you can still move around more at the upbeat parts or even use your arms to highlight emotional parts of the song. Getting close to the front of the stage helps with connecting to the audience too.
Using facial expressions
Facial expressions are really important when you are performing. Not only do they help you convey the emotion of the song to your audience, but they also help to connect with your audience. If you’re singing a sad, emotional song, bring that pain or sorrow into your facial expressions and if it’s an upbeat happy song be sure to have bright and fun faces. What is also important to remember is to ALWAYS SMILE. Even if you are singing a sad song there are always parts that you can smile to your audience at. Smiling shows you are enjoying yourself which makes the audience enjoy the performance too. Eye contact is also really important to connect with your audience.
Importance of performing
Convey emotion
During a vocal performance, one of the most important jobs a singer has is to do is inject emotion into the lyrics of the song. Learning how to embrace the power of emotion is vital for giving your audience a convincing performance and conveying the lyrical content. Many artists experiment with different vocal qualities and changes in tone in order to learn how to add emotion or edge to lyrics – notable examples include Adele, Michael Jackson and Eva Cassidy. The tone of our voice generally carries much more meaning than the words we actually say, so practising methods to vary vocal tone is a sure way to improve your overall performance.
Think about image
Having your own image that reflects your personality is important, but what is more so is matching your performance and song choices with your image. This doesn’t mean you have to wear all black if you are singing an emotional song, but it may not be suitable to wear bright rainbow colours. It’s essential that what you’re performing musically matches your image and style. You also want to be comfortable with what you’re wearing during your performance.
Learn your lyrics
You absolutely need to learn the lyrics to your songs inside out. There’s no point in working on any of these other tips if you can’t remember lyrics. Practise singing them a cappella and this will help you remember them. Nothing looks more unprofessional than a singer with a lyric sheet or a singer that can’t remember their own song.
Practise the song
Practice makes perfect! Practising your songs is so important no matter what stage of your career you’re at. Get your songs rehearsed again and again so that performing them becomes second nature. This way, you can focus more on performing on stage and interacting with the crown instead of trying to remember your song.
Create magical moments
Music can stir up a lot of emotions for everyone involved. This is what creates so many magical moments around music. Adding emotion to a song demonstrates your ability to connect with a song’s meaning and also engages the audience with your performance.
Choosing the right song will help you to create audience engagement. If you can connect with the song emotionally then you are more likely to sing from the heart, making you feel more confident in your performance and believable to the audience.
After choosing a song you can connect with, the use of various dynamics and tone to your singing can also help add emotion to a song. However, if you are insincere and have to manufacture it then this will be picked up by the audience.
Cool things to do on stage while performing
Break from your character
Singers who occasionally break from character can make themselves a lot more relatable to their audience. Don’t be afraid to show a small crack in your persona.
For example, if it’s a serious song with a sad theme, perhaps ramp up the emotion at the end, showing how the song has affected you. Perhaps you might even have a small anecdote you can tell the audience about, or offer a back story to the song’s lyrics.
Know your audience
Before you show up to your next gig, do your research into the local area. There might be some recent news on local websites that you can refer to when opening up a song. This will immediately create a connection with your audience and let them know this isn’t just another gig.
Whatever you do, don’t get the name of the city wrong. Touring artists have a lot to remember already but this happens far more than you think.
Acknowledge your band members
If you are singing with a band, then give them their share of the limelight.
You can introduce everyone at the start of the performance. Alternatively take it in turns with the introductions, perhaps during a solo section or when a song finishes where a particular member played a large part.
The band will appreciate this, and the audience will also be able to put names to the faces entertaining them.