Help! It didn’t sound this way at sound check!!!!

Did you ever do a sound check… it sounded great .. you could hear everything you
needed and then WHAM… you get the show and everything has change… of course, when you ask… nothing has ever been changed…. So ask for help and if none is available, or it doesn’t get any better, or it gets worse.… here are some tips on getting thru your performance…

1.) Don’t get upset!

BUT I WANNA KILL SOMEBODY.. WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME….

LET IT GO!!!!

When you get upset, you over tense, over push, over sing, and exhaust your voice. This is sometimes very difficult to do, but it only makes matters worse for you technically and usually kills a remarkable performance. If you rely on technique at these times you can get thru your night, make it fun and interesting for you and your audience, learn something new about yourself, not injure your voice and give an amazing performance in spite of the conditions! Because lets face it, even in the best situations, gear goes down.

Breathe low
Expand your rib cage
Keep your shoulders relaxed
Keep your shoulders relaxed
Keep your shoulders relaxed (yes, it’s in here 3 times for a reason!!!)
Watch for tension in your neck and shoulders… this restricts the throat and can be deadly for a singer…
Keep your face and jaw relaxed.
Relax your eyebrows… (oh just go ahead and try it…)
Make sure you lower body is working for you.
Keep your abdomen engaged and use your legs and butt to support those notes.. Don’t push the notes out with the throat… use your body… those muscles are much stronger and have better endurance than vocal muscles.


2.) Use your technique

Keep your throat open
Keep your good posture
Keep your placement up front and feel it….

3.) Try singing the song a different way…

This might be a great time to practice your conversational singing. Maybe instead of trying desperately to hold that low note out even though you can’t hear it… try being more conversational with it. Say it. It’s about telling the story. Singers usually sing too much anyway. Try to tell your audience the story and sing more when you can hear.

You and your audience will still have a good time if you just don’t freak out. Adjust what your doing and have fun anyway!!!