It might be a bit of a cheeky question but would anyone on here be willing to offer me a bit of constructive criticism on a recording? I'm not so keen to post it for the world to see, but I have to sing it in front of people soon, and I think it's at the stage where I've sung it the way I do for so long, that I can't really hear my own mistakes... I'd ask my teacher, but I won't see her until after the event, as I'm singing it in front of people on Tuesday, and I don't have a lesson til Wednesday.

Be brave and post it here for us!

Yey! Post post post! I'll be nice and helpful if I can

x Bass Clef

Hi Lucky,

I'll take a listen for you if you like - but I agree with everyone else, if you can muster the courage and post it here, you'll get a lot more advice than just one person !

If you want me to listen privately though, just PM me.

Allan

(DISCLAIMER : **THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING****THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING** - Hope that gets my point across this time that I just want to offer some help, ok?)

Sorry, it wasn't so much shyness that prevented me from posting (I've posted total rubbish before, including this song before I'd actually done any work on it ) but not being sure of how to post audio. If I put this link here: http://www.mediafire.com/?ytvdvwlymmm does that work? Or do I need to do something else?

Not sure. It's asking me to download something. Is that right?

It's right if the something has "How Can I Keep From Singing" in its title. Otherwise I don't know...

I'll try putting it on Youtube, see if that works. At least I know how to do that, there just won't be any picture.

Yeah it does. I have it downloading! It's very slooow though!!

Ok, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HB2_meRThU

That one should work at least.

Would you like criticism here and make it open for discussion, or would you rather receive a PM?

You need an MP3 encoder... .wav files are huge!

I'm going to have a listen but I'm not really in a position to offer advice, sure it's great as always, though!

Criticism here is fine, thanks, unless you'd rather PM.

Hey Lucky,

I couldn't get it working, though I'm not sure that I'd be able to offer anything very helpful anyway!

Hope it went well today though.

Without my teaching hat on, I enjoyed listening to it - it was an interesting and heartfelt rendition. Sometimes it's nice to listen without feeling the need to pick holes in it!

David

Hope the audition went well tonight, lucky!

Thanks everyone. It went ok, until I got too nervous and forgot all my words. That was quite embarrassing actually. Never mind, you live and learn.

I think most singers have been there at some point - I certainly have! All good experience, lucky, and will probably never happen again with that song. When will you hear whether you got the part?

I'm not sure, soon I hope. Would like to get it over with, as I don't think I have a part (but I'll continue to hold out a little hope til I find out for sure).

If anyone was wondering, the ultimate decision was that I don't have a solo for this concert, I do have a solo for the next one. This is to give them a chance to work with me on my performance skills. Umm, but I'm going to uni on Sunday, and was intending to just come back at the weekend for the first concert... I'm sure I'd mentioned that before...

So now it seems I'm coming back for the second concert too, but have no idea when they want to work with me on my stage presence and stuff!

Bit of a pest about the travelling, but well done for being asked to perform at the next concert!

Well, at least you'll have a good excuse for coming home more often! (I bet you eat better at home than in York! )

Do you know yet what they'll want you to sing at the second concert?

It's good news that you got a solo though!

What is it about your stage presence that they want to work on?

Nah, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be singing yet, but I should think it'll be reasonably easy and quick to learn - though sometimes they just ask people to do whatever they performed at their audition, if it was suitable, or a song of their choice, if they can be trusted to pick something suitable, so who knows?
I definitely will eat better at home, but it'll be strange coming back! I normally stay away when I'm at uni for as long as possible!

My stage presence/performance abilities are pretty much non-existent. I tend to stand on stage looking at my feet, or looking very, very scared. I'm not sure what's to be done about it though, since I think it's a confidence issue, and I have tried without success to do better in the past.
Never mind though.

Can you try relaxing? Chances are that you will have friendly audiences who want you to suceed (unlike some comics who might have to battle the audience - that sort of thing shouldn't apply). Then they've either already paid, or they've got to pay to get out - either way you've got them mwahahaha.

I sympathise. My daughter doesn't mind singing in exams but singing for a room full of people, especially if she knows some of them, is a different matter altogether. The last time she sang at a school "instrumental evening" she made a point of staring at the clock at the back of the room throughout her song and she said afterwards she thought she was going to be sick! So, I will be interested to learn what advice you get.

Well done, anyway, being invited back.

Hmm I definitely do need to relax, but it's a bit difficult. When I'm on stage I automatically go tense, and then I think "oh no, I should be relaxed or I'll look stupid" and then I tense up even more, and so on, and so on. So that is kind of just the whole problem with my performance issues.

I always find it weird staring fixedly at the same point for a whole song... That's what my teacher always used to tell me to do (find a point in the middle distance to look at), but I just always feel really strange doing it.
Halka, if your daughter finds any solutions to performance anxiety, let me know please.

lucky, maybe it would actually help if you got away from the "standing still, try to find a point to look at"-idea and started to move and let your eyes wander.
Move, move, move and let it out! It is not appropriate for every song to run about like a loonpot of course, but this very common classical ideal of "come una statua" does not really help with performance anxiety.

We all know that we get rid of excess adrenaline if we move. If you try to keep still, you'll only make it worse. Allow yourself to move, wander around on stage etc. (you will find strategies to incorporate it in your performance without it looking stupid). Communicate with whatever audience is there, it doesn't matter. Just do what feels natural.

I was exactly the same as a young performer and crippled by performance anxiety (so bad that my knees were shaking and my voice started getting unstable), but it can be overcome. If I can do it, everyone can, because I was quite a nervous wreck
I am still nervous when I perform today, and it is good that way, because it shows you care and gives you that extra-boost you need to emote. You just cannot allow it to wreck your performance. It is no weakness to be nervous however - accepting this fact is the first step towards getting to grips with it ...

I agree with Mezzo on this - fixing a point in the distance doesn't actually look very interesting for the audience and probably will cause you to tense up more - the idea of staring fixedly at one point is likely to recruit other muscular tensions in your body, making support harder to achieve too.

When on stage, I tend to move around as much as the song allows and even if I have to stand still, I try always to at least subdivide the audience into eight sections or so and to sing a bit of the song to each of them - whilst you can't be too mechanical about it, this often helps each person in the audience to connect with you as you sing.

Try asking yourself questions about your song - who am I ? What am I saying here ? Why am I saying it ? What's my background story ? and - my personal favorite - Where am I whilst I'm singing it (try singing one of your favorite songs seeing yourself on a sunny beach, then again on a windwept cliff-top with a raging ocean below you, and again holding a sick friend's hand at their bedside - broad ideas certainly, but ones that may help you discover new areas in the song that you may have missed before).

Good advice as usual from Mezzo and Rosfrog. The bottom line regarding singing is that you are performing, so deliver the song almost as if you are acting it out. Put in the correct levels of emotions, think of the words, get the story across to the audience etc. You won't have time to be nervous!