By Terrence Harper
1. Prepare and rehearse. Know everybody else’s lyrics, so that you can fill in and define parts of the song to get or keep the crowd hyped. Rehearsal is important in order to show that your a professional or on the brink of becoming a pro, you’d got to know where the other person should be onstage.
2. The lead vocalist should almost always take center stage, then move from right to left interacting with the crowd. Always, go center stage when your verse starts this brings the attention to you, especially if you have multiple people on stage. Read more »
Tags: Audience, Center Stage, dance, Genre Of Music, Groups, Having A Bad Day, Hips, how to, Lyrics, performing, Rehearsal, rehearse, rhythm, stage, Stage Presence, Vocalist
Developing As A Musician and Performer, Interacting With Other Musicians, Live Performance | TipsForTheBand.com January 9, 2010 | 
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If you want to be center stage and lead act of the show, you cannot sing backup. You must sing behind the lead act, not overpower them. You must be able to play a supporting position to the idol and not feel left out if you want to sing backup.
To sing backup is much harder than it looks. Backup singing requires a great amount of listening and being very sensitive to the main singer, much as an instrumental accompanist would. You must learn to breathe and begin and end your phrase as the main singer does. You must, in effect be the singers shadow.
Hopefully you have some input or control over where you sit or stand on stage. See to it that you can see the singer at all times. The job of backup singing is much harder if you can’t see the singers face. Watch the singer to learn where they are going. The singer will change course or make a mistake and only if you are aware can you react. Watch the singer intently and always. Be on the lookout for a simple nod of the head or gesture that may indicate a repeat or change of course. Read more »
Tags: Accompanist, Backup Singer, blend your phrasing, Center Stage, Consonants, lead act, Melodies, Melody, Phrasing, sing backup, Singers, singers shadow, Star Music
Developing As A Musician and Performer, Interacting With Other Musicians, Live Performance, Singing | TipsForTheBand.com December 1, 2009 | Comments (0)
Many small club bands or duos don’t have the luxury of having a sound engineer to mix their sound during performances. Most of the time, one of the band members mixes the sound while on stage, while performing.
This can be difficult for several reasons:
- The sound on the stage is very different from the sound throughout the rest of the club.
- The person mixing generally has to stop playing momentarily to adjust the levels.
- Different band members may prefer different mixes; for example the keyboard player may feel that the keyboards need to be higher in the mix.
- The on-stage mixer may have little control over the level of individual instrument amplifiers or drummers.
- In very small venues, or restaurants, the on-stage level may need to be too high (for the band’s comfort and hearing) for the audience, particularly when they are close to the stage.
Read more »
Tags: Audience Member, Band Members, Club Bands, Cooperation, Drummers, Fellow Musician, General Volume Level, Gig, Instrument Amplifiers, Keyboard Player, Keyboards, Mixer, On-Stage Level, On-Stage Mixer, Performing In A Small Club, Relative Levels, Restaurants, Small Clubs, Small Venues, Sound Check, Sound Engineer, Sound On Stage, Stage Level, Too Loud For The Room, Volume Level
Developing As A Musician and Performer, Functioning As A Musician, Interacting With Other Musicians, Live Performance, Playing In A Band | TipsForTheBand.com May 29, 2009 | Comments (0)
While many bands, particularly the larger ones, have a sound engineer, there are performance aspects to the mix that only the band members control.
If you think that you can just play in whatever manner you feel like playing, and the sound engineer’s job is to make everyone sound good in the mix, you’ll fall short of your optimal sound. The mix can’t fix busy keyboards or guitar fills that walk all over the vocals.
While thinking about these things may seem distracting at first, but it becomes second nature after a while. Once you can do this unconsciously, you’ll get into your own part naturally. Read more »
Tags: Band Member, Band Member's Cues, Band Members, Don't Overplay, Keyboards, Leaving Space, Mood of the Song, Optimal Sound, Performance Aspects, Performance Aspects of The Stage Mix, Playing As A Band, Sound Engineer, Stage Sound, Stage Volume, Texture of the Song
Developing As A Musician and Performer, Functioning As A Musician, Interacting With Other Musicians, Live Performance, Playing In A Band | TipsForTheBand.com May 20, 2009 | Comments (0)
It’s often been said that being in a band is like being married. In some ways this is true, but in other ways it can be more difficult.
Not only do you need to get along with each other, but there are (generally) more than two people, and multiple interactions that all have to work. Is it any wonder that many bands break up with the result that members may not speak to each other for years?
In order to have an enduring band, it is important to work as a team. It’s not enough to say “leave your ego at the door” … it’s impossible, almost by definition, to be in a band without at least a certain amount of ego. But that ego doesn’t need to get in the way, in fact it almost essential to providing an exciting and entertaining performance. Read more »
