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What’s Causing Your Stage Fright?

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Season Two of The Voice debuted last night on NBC, with the usual hype and over-the-top antics we’ve come to expect with the growing list of talent-based reality shows.  Did any of you catch the season premiere?  Any fan favorites emerging yet?

Even for practiced performers, we can only imagine how nerve-wracking it must be to audition in front of music industry veterans like Christina Aguilera and Maroon 5′s Adam Levine.  But if performance jitters are holding you back from showing off your talent, it’s never too late to start combating your fears.

Most of the time, performance anxiety stems from three main roots: the individual person, the task at hand or the performance situation.  When you understand the cause, it can be much easier to take a step back, realign your focus and take control.  Even if you start out reserved, you can learn to unleash the powerful, confident musician inside of you!  By learning how to handle each of the causes of stage fright, performing in front of others will get easier and easier. Here’s a great rundown from The Musician’s Way Blog:

1. Person
Our personalities and beliefs strongly affect our experiences on stage.  For instance, self-assured, extroverted people who view performing as a rewarding challenge are generally less jittery than those who are shy and dread being the center of attention.  Our performance histories then multiply our natural tendencies.

Timid musicians who have endured repeated episodes of shakes, dry mouth and butterflies, let’s say, will probably be extra worried before concerts; outgoing ones who have regularly enjoyed and succeeded at performing have reasons to look forward to making music for audiences.

The good news is that with well-directed effort, even anxious musicians can replace negative thoughts and experiences with positive ones.

How to take control: Take a moment to consider which of your personal qualities and past experiences enhance or interfere with your ability to perform.  Write the positive memories down, and focus your energy on these before you perform.

2. Task
Needless to say, exceedingly difficult tasks are more stressful to perform than easy ones. Similarly, insufficient practice can leave us feeling on edge when we step under the lights.  Two less-obvious but vitally important factors that affect our security are our practice and performance skills.  In particular, students who don’t practice their music deeply but depend on automated types of learning will feel their control drain away under pressure.

Likewise, when musicians aren’t skilled at basic performance tasks, such as speaking to audiences, performing can be extra nerve-wracking.  All musicians can increase their task mastery and therefore their stage power by choosing accessible repertoire, practicing it deeply and learning performance skills.

How to take control: Make note of the task-related actions you’ve taken that have supported or undermined your success on stage. Supportive actions include selecting manageable music and practicing it regularly.  Remember these as you prepare for your next performance.

3. Situation
The greater our concern for the outcome of a performance, the greater the potential for stress and anxiety.  An out-of-town audition, for example, exerts more pressure than a casual gig at a local coffee shop. A recording session at a pricey studio comes with higher stakes than a laid-back session at home.  Unfamiliar or poorly run venues can also add to a performer’s discomfort. Plus, intense public scrutiny can be unsettling, especially when vast numbers of people hear us and then tweet, blog and otherwise publish their reactions.

But whatever the performance situation, when we know how to prepare, we can deliver thrilling performances.

How to take control: Recall performance situations that have enhanced your creativity and ones that have fueled your nerves.  What was it about those positive experiences – did you have family and friends there to support you? Were you performing in a specific place?  Even if these things aren’t exactly the same, practice visualization techniques and imagine you’re in that familiar situation.

Readers, do you have any other tips for battling nerves?  Share them with the community!  Head on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment.

 

 

You might also like…

-  When Picturing the Audience in Their Underwear Doesn’t Work
-  How to Build Up Your On-Stage Confidence
-  Find Out What it Takes to Rock Beyonce-Style Confidence

 

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Can Yoga Help You Sing Better?

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

For months now, the Billboard chart has looked pretty similar each week, with Adele perched at the #1 spot with her hit album 21. Adele has maintained that spot for 18 weeks now,  needing only 3 more weeks to pass previous records made by the Bodyguard soundtrack and Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii. With an accomplishment like this, we don’t see her leaving the spotlight for some time.

As a singer, you’ve no doubt heard about the importance of proper breathing.  In fact, deep breathing can help all musicians, as it helps to relieve tension, enhance focus, and even alleviate stage fright.  It doesn’t surprise us, then, when musicians sing the praises of practicing yoga to improve vocal skills.  Can yoga really help you sing better?  It certainly won’t hurt.  But consider it your warm-up – and with any warm-up, there are both effective and ineffective strategies.  Here, speech pathologist Joanna Cazden shares some important guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to yoga and singing, as published on SingerUniverse.com.

Inside your voice box, or larynx, your vocal cords function as a valve in the airway, and they are exquisitely sensitive to airflow. They can get dry, tired, or irritated if the airflow is too forceful. If it’s too weak, the cords tend to tighten and squeeze, rubbing against each other and thickening over time. So while hatha yoga postures (asanas) are generally good for singers, the way you use your breath during those postures is even more important. Advanced breathing exercises (pranayama) should be approached with extra care.

First, the singing breath does not use the balanced, equal-in-and-out rhythm common to most yoga teaching. Voice production requires a very swift inhalation followed by a long, slow exhalation. You do this automatically when you talk, but it takes practice to quickly inhale enough to sing and then exhale very gradually. Try occasional cycles of breathing in fast and out slow during your asanas, with a relaxed throat, to reinforce this asymmetrical rhythm.

Second, some yoga teachers train a particular sequence of inhalation, such as drawing air into the belly first, then the waist, then the upper chest. These techniques are not harmful, but when singing, you don’t have time to inhale in stages—the whole breath system must open simultaneously. Again, just being aware of the difference can help you switch gears from yoga practice to vocal rehearsal.

Third, the vocal cords are vulnerable to dryness and fatigue when vigorous forms of audible breathing, sometimes called ujaya, are focused in the throat. The louder the breath sounds and the longer such practice, the greater the risk of vocal cord irritation. If you do this type of pranayama, place the friction higher, near the soft palate, and allow at least half an hour of rest before vocalizing.

In general, politely avoid any teacher who always wants to hear you breathe. Effective breathing for most styles of yoga can be totally silent, and experienced teachers can check on you by sight rather than sound. Vocalists need this extra safety to avoid drying the cords.

Keep these guidelines in mind when you reach for your yoga mat – and if you’re not currently a yoga fan, why not give it a try?  As long as it’s done correctly, any breathing exercise can benefit musicians of all types and levels.  Have you seen improvements with the help of yoga?  Leave a comment on our Facebook page and join the discussion!

 

 

You might also like…

- Do You Sing? Prevent a Vocal Hemorrhage and Keep Your Voice Healthy
- Just Breathe: Tricks for Mastering Breathing for ALL Instruments
- A Santa-Approved Warm-Up Exercise

 

Photo by Synergy by Jasmine.

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5 Tips for Smooth and Efficient Chord Transitions

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Kenny Chesney led the Academy of Country Music (ACM) nominations last week with a total of 9 categories covered, including Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, and fan-voted Entertainer of the Year award.

If country is your top genre, you know that your guitar is your best weapon.  For beginners, however, there are often a few things that might hold you back.  First, the painful process of building calluses can drive many to stop practicing.  Second, there’s always that awkward stage of learning to seamlessly transition to different chords.  You know the drill -  practice makes perfect.  But here are some additional tips from Teachstreet.com to help with switching chords:

1. Keep your fingers as close to the fret board as possible.  When that pinkie and third finger start flying out in space it takes longer for them to come back down.

2. Build your chords from the bottom string up.  For some reason a lot of us get in the habit of building our chords from the top down.  Like in an open C major chord, starting with the 2nd string, then 4th, then 5th.  The problem with that is your pick is going to hit the bottom strings first, so get those notes placed first.  That extra split second will give you a chance to get the last top bits of the chord in place.  I know it seems like a negligible amount of time, but you’ll be surprised how it can improve your guitar playing.

3. When moving from one chord to the next, move the finger that has the farthest to go first.  For instance, in moving from G major to C major in the open position, your first finger has to move all the way from the 5th string to the second.  Lead with that finger and you’ll find that your other fingers naturally pull along behind to end up close to their intended frets as well.

4.  Stay relaxed and let the natural movement of your hands help you get to the chord.  Believe it or not, the guitar is actually designed very well to accommodate the natural movement of the human hand.  When you use tip #3 and lead with the farthest finger, your other fingers will follow along behind it naturally and you can get them to settle in the right place.  If you tighten up they won’t move as naturally, so stay loose.

5. Keep your right hand moving.  The way your brain works has a lot to do with how your hands react.  As a beginner, your brain is giving you permission to stop in between chords and rationalizes it as “we’ll get it eventually.”  It’s normal and happens on a subconscious level.  You can easily change that by setting up a dissonance in your brain.  That means presenting your brain with a problem it needs to fix.  Here’s the way it works:  You brain loves when your hands are moving together.  So if you force your right hand to keep strumming, no matter what happens in your left, your brain will want to solve that dissonance by making your left hand move faster to keep up with your right.  Exactly what we’re looking for.

Did these tips help?  What other advice can you give to the beginner guitarist?  Leave a comment on our Facebook page and share your expertise!  Like this article?  Don’t forget to share on your favorite social network!

 


 

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Lyrically Stuck? Think Like Eddie Vedder

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Earlier this week, Eddie Vedder announced the venues for his upcoming solo tour, stopping in 13 cities to promote his 2011 solo album “Ukelele Songs.”  The tour begins on April 11th in Las Vegas, and then works across the country, ending on May 16th in Orlando.  Pearl Jam embarks on its European tour just one month after.

Vedder’s passion-filled lyrics, ranging in topics from personal to political, have made him one of the most prominent songwriters of the rock and roll genre.  Pair that with his signature singing style, and you’ve got the makings of one of the most influential bands of all time.

If songwriting is something that you want to improve on, honing in on your creativity is an important skill to learn.  We suggest checking out our previous posts on writing lyrics and breaking songwriter’s block, but if you’re still not feeling creative, don’t stress too much.  For many musicians like yourself, finding new and unique ideas – and just plain motivation – are the hardest parts.  In order to help you out of that rut, here are 3 more exercises to find inspiration for song lyrics:

1.  Location Inspiration: Find lyric-writing inspiration through location

Location is very important when writing, because atmosphere affects your creative energy.

For example, it may be difficult to write sad or painful lyrics in a park. At a park you’d probably feel relaxed and maybe a little content or happy. This atmosphere wouldn’t work to channel sadness, unless you have a sad memory attached to the park (more on object inspiration next). In an empty and run-down apartment, you probably wouldn’t feel happiness, so it’d be the best location to write a “painful” lyric or two. Even your kitchen is different from your living room in evoking creative emotion. Choose the best location to write your song lyrics.

2. Object Inspiration: Find lyric-writing inspiration through objects

Rarely does inspiration just come from within. Songwriters surround themselves with things that will inspire their next creative work.

- Open a photo album and reminisce on old memories attached to your target emotion.
- Read old letters and remember where you were and what you felt when you first read them.
- Visit friends or family member you haven’t seen in a while, to get inspired.
- Watch a television show or film where your target emotion is prevalent.
- Go to a familiar place and think about old memories from there.

Use whatever object you need to channel your target emotion.

3. Topic Inspiration: Find lyric-writing inspiration through a topic or idea

Imagine yourself in particular situation. It could be a situation that’s happened to you, someone close to you, a group of people, or someone well-known.  Now put yourself there mentally and emotionally. How does it make you feel? Explore those feelings until you’ve found your target emotion. One way to make sure your lyric idea has the strongest inspiration is to brainstorm on universal topics – issues that large groups of people are experiencing.  Successful topics are often ones that many people find relatable.

 

Where do you go for inspiration?  Do you write in a specific room or place to get the creativity flowing?  Share your tips with the community on our Facebook page!

 


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5 Ways to Practice Without Your Guitar

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher can now add “Godlike Genius” to his resume.  NME, a UK-based music publication, gives the award to one musician each year, to be presented at the annual NME awards gala in February.

What makes a guitarist a genius, exactly?  With previous winners like Dave Grohl, the Clash, and the Cure, Gallagher has some big shoes to fill.

Don’t have hours upon hours to commit to practicing?  That’s ok.  In fact, there are ways of practicing your guitar skills without actually having your guitar with you.  Check out these great tips from Jemsite.com about how to practice sans guitar:

1. Learn The Fretboard
The better you know your fretboard, the better you know your instrument and the more easily you can move around it. Here’s one technique to try: slip a small fretboard diagram into your wallet so you’ll carry it around with you everywhere. When you have two spare minutes, you can pull out your chart and name notes to help memorize them. If you don’t have the slip of paper handy, you can use visualization exercises. Picture a fretboard in your mind, pick some notes, and “see” where they occur on the fretboard image.

2. Learn About Chords
No matter how long you’ve been playing, there is always something new to learn about chords. Look around for sources of new ideas or information, find yourself some chord theory books, or study the chords used by great songwriters.

3. Visualization
Use visualization to work on all kinds of guitar skills. Visualization is the process of picturing a situation in your mind as if it were real. It has been proven that visualization stimulates the same nerve paths as actually performing actions, so it helps to reinforce your learning.  Use visualization to practice chord changes and progressions, scales and licks, picking patterns, and whole songs.

4. Develop Your Ears
As you listen to music and other sounds in the street, try to pick out the sound of certain intervals or notes. For example, you can designate a “major thirds day” where you try to spot major third sounds around you.

5. Study Music Notation
Many self-taught guitarists neglect music reading and writing skills. Carry around some sheet music and you can practice reading it during your lunch break or on the bus.

 

And there you have it – now having a “day job” is no excuse to forgo practicing!  Even if you’re strained for time, you can find a way to make it work.  What do you think of these tips? Anything you’d like to add?  Sound off on our Facebook page – and don’t forget to share with your friends if you liked these ideas!

 

 

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