communicating the song

[GHG_nut]

Hi,

I'm new to quarteting and am having trouble feeling freedom onstage to communicate with the audience.

Any tips for me?

[MichiganJakeFan]

Hi GHG nut!

My problem when I started performing in a quartet was nerves, plain and simple. They (almost) completely kept me away from the audience. I was told frequently that I had a good voice and was good in my part, I knew my music backwards and forwards, but that was ALL that came across to the audience. Rats! What's the good in that??

So I quit for awhile - make that several years :>(. Then a very good piece of luck led me to a new quartet, singing a different part. Bingo. I finally gained the self-confidence that I knew what I was doing. I was free to let the music come ALL the way out. And guess what? I didn't even have to THINK about how to sell my song any more, it just happened. Coaches and audiences and even friends made it clear to me that I had at last suceeded - hooray!

The part change I made was from being a good tenor who had a lot of lead personality, to an even better lead who found the freedom to let that personality into her music. My eternal thanks go out to the three other people in that quartet!!

So anyway, based on my personal experience, I have to say that my best advice is to know not just your body, your voice, and your music, but ALSO your brain, and let the whole thing fly :>)

[GHG_nut]

Originally Posted by MichiganJakeFan

Hi GHG nut!

My problem when I started performing in a quartet was nerves, plain and simple. They (almost) completely kept me away from the audience. I was

I finally gained the self-confidence that I knew what I was doing. I was free to let the music come ALL the way out. And guess what? I didn't even have to THINK about how to sell my song any more, it just happened.

So anyway, based on my personal experience, I have to say that my best advice is to know not just your body, your voice, and your music, but ALSO your brain, and let the whole thing fly :>)

Wow, that sounds like fun... I'm not real good at showing expression and allowing myself to 'move' with the music. I'm trying and am told I'm getting better but I definitely have a ways to go - plus I don't want to look too dorky Maybe I should take some dance lessons...

[davemaxwell]

Sounds to me like a case of needing to "think about WHAT you're doing, not HOW you're doing."

From what you're describing, you've got all the skills and you can nail down all the words and notes, but that's only half the battle. You need to know the story behind the song and almost come up with a character to portray when performing the song. . When you're planning your songs, come up with a story or approach of what the song is about and how you're going to portray that message to the audience.

I can remember a story one of our chorus' coaches asked us when we were performing a song about a woman we loved: How old is she? The answers varied greatly from person to person. Some had the girl the same age as them, some of them had the girl much younger and were reminiscing. No one story was the same. The coach then asked how we can tell a story if we don't all have the same story to tell. It's a technique I've used some of the quartets I've coached, and when all four get on the same page for the song, it makes a big difference in how it comes across.

Once you've got your stories straight, you should find it easier to "sell" the song, so now you need to find who to sell it to. Find one person in the general direction you're looking at to be your center point. Start off the song looking at him/her for a few seconds, then you can start looking around as the song progresses, but always return back to that same person. Even though you're looking at just one person, everyone around that person will think you're connecting with them and you'll get a crowd more into the performance. Never look down (ie don't break eye contact totally) when you're performing because you've just lost the connection with the audience and put a barrier between you and them. You can bow your head sadly if you need to and even close your eyes, but if you look to the floor, you've taken the audience out of that square of believability(sp?).

You don't need to dance all over the place to perform a song well. You need to believe the story you're selling and let your body do what feels natural, but it needs to be your WHOLE body from your feet to the top of your head. And everything that comes out has to be with feeling.

Good luck to you. It sounds like you're on the verge of breaking out into a whole new level of performance!

[Dean_M]

I need help in this area also (as my chorus mates will tell you ). I'm singing in a novice quartet and the couple of folks who have coached us have been very helpful but I think it's one of those things that will take more time and experience for me. I'm not used to being expressive and some of the things I do with hands apparently aren't working.

It may sound a little goofy but the other day when I was home alone I practiced in front of my wife's full length mirror. Some of the things I was trying to express didn't really come off that way so I made a few adjustments. Definitely more practice needed...

[sgc_tom]

You're already doing one of the best things (the mirror).

Vocal interp is a big issue too. The biggest error is to sing every syllable with the same weight or emphasis. Every phrase, and every polysyllabic word, should have emphasized and de-emphasized syllables.

Three methods for starters:

1) (stolen from Jim Miller) Go through your music and draw a diagonal line through each article (a, an, & the); every proposition (on, of, in, etc.); and every conjunction (and, or, with, etc.). Do this in pencil, because you might make an exception later. De-emphasize these words when singing.

2) Read the words aloud in a conversational manner. Note the ebb and flow of each line. Also note that OCCASIONALLY a word in rule #1 needs emphasis
("You are THE one...")

3) A syllable on the upbeat (the last note before a bar line) is almost never emphasized.

This will take you a long way to artful expression.

Tom in Cincy

[Dean_M]

A lot of good stuff there Tom - Thanks!

As an update - we won the novice quartet competition so we must have done a few things right

Our chorus had a coaching session yesterday with Bill Rashleigh that was incredible. We're competing at MAD - districts in a few weeks so he couldn't really tear stuff apart too much and re-build but instead helped us with a lot of artistry details. Making sure our dynamic phrasing was actually going somewhere - and to the correct place Phrases that restate need to be done differently lest they not become just a redundant phrase. Increasing our dynamic palate, and much more I can't remember at the moment.

I'm starting to understand a statement I heard years ago - "Singing is easy, singing well can be a lifelong challenge"

So much to learn, so little time...

[Montreal_Tenor]

Originally Posted by davemaxwell

Sounds to me like a case of needing to "think about WHAT you're doing, not HOW you're doing."

From what you're describing, you've got all the skills and you can nail down all the words and notes, but that's only half the battle. You need to know the story behind the song and almost come up with a character to portray when performing the song. . When you're planning your songs, come up with a story or approach of what the song is about and how you're going to portray that message to the audience.

Boy, if I had read that before my quartet competed at A.C.&C. this past April, we'd have done a lot better with our contest package. The good side is that we made the top ten on the first try, which isn't half-bad.

If you want to see the pictures of my quartet 4 the Fun of It, here's the link: http://www.geocities.com/fourthefunofitqtet/

[Dean_M]

I thought I'd update this thread as although some of the personal information's old, the techniques and advice are still good.

I'm in a 'real' quartet now, but still feel challenged in communicating the song. Several things I've learned since I last posted in this thread -
1. Watch as many great quartets (and leads) as you can and see what you like / don't like about what they do.
2. Know your songs so well that you're not thinking about words / notes.
3. Get as much stage time as possible.
4. Don't be self-concious about the audience, just be the song.
5. It's all in the face and eyes