Singer position

[Clutch]

Sorry for another music related question, but it would be pretty useful to know the answer. I'm in two bands, both of them as a singer and backup guitar. One of them is pop-rock, few or no solo's. But the other one is heavier, and theres quite a few. When Brad's doing his solo, I have no idea what i'm supposed to be doing lol Him our drummer and our bassist are all doing something cool, and I'm just standing there playing the background guitar or the harmony and feeling awkward wondering what i should do anyone have a similar problem or could think of something?

[Word]

dance?

[sinewav]

Use that opportunity to have a drink of water. You're not required to do anything. But maybe you can close your eyes and feel the music, and get your head in the right emotional space to give the lyrics more meaning.

If the guitar player is doing a solo, it's his time. Don't do anything that detracts from him. Walk off to the side of the stage is you need to.

[Phytotron]

"Doing something cool." You seem to be far too concerned with image and performance rather than musicianship. I suppose that's to be expected given the examples mainstream culture provides, but it's a damn shame nonetheless.

Are you one of these kids who started on Guitar Hero, then decided you wanted to be a rock star?

[Titanoboa]

If the guitar player is doing a solo, it's his time. Don't do anything that detracts from him. Walk off to the side of the stage is you need to.

Yeah. At least have a step back from the mic, and direct your attention at him. When the solo is over and you go to the mic a second before you start to sing again, people will get the "They know what they're doing" kind of feeling.

Look at Brad (or in his direction if you can't stand looking at him ) as if it's the best solo he's ever played. Anything to make the audience think what you're doing is actually good

But of course, don't overdo it.

[Tremor]

If you look at singers when they are live or in miusic videos, they are usually shaking their head or dancing or moving in some kind of way to the music because its your music. Performing your music and hearing it has to get your adrenaline pumping and make you want to move in some kind of way. If it be head banging, hair flipping, nodding, etc etc, just find something.

[Clutch]

I play because its fun and expressive And yeah maybe i'll just nod with the beat or something trem thanks

[ItzAcid]

yup, trem's idea is the best. sine has a good idea though too. getting a drink at that time would give him the spotlight and keep you refreshed for later.

[Clutch]

yeah but im usually playing the backup guitar so i can't get a drink while im strumming. Maybe when I'm not playing then i'll do that

[sinewav]

...i can't get a drink while im strumming.

Pft! Try harder. When you finally develop a taste for alcohol, you won't care and you'll just let your guitar feedback for a several seconds while slamming a beer.

[Clutch]

Well when that happy day comes i'll try it!

[ItzAcid]

No joke! A glass of wine or any other alcohol ( please don't drink everclear before a performance ) that isn't too strong can relax you. Won't be nervous at all. You may not be nervous already, but if you are then thats the solution. I'm not saying to be an alcholic though lol.

BUT if you are sine then you CAN drink everclear before a performance. His sheer shredding skills can't be less than amazing even in a drunken state! haha

off-topic post i know

[Phytotron]

The thing about people who drink or use some other substance (e.g., pot) before playing is that the user usually believes their play is enhanced and they sound amazing. Sometimes their drunken or stoned buddies or audience agree. Sometimes listeners (and players) don't know any better. Sometimes the audience is too busy socialising, dancing, or banging into each other to notice or care.

But the reality to the sober listener is that, generally speaking, the performance is negatively affected. And I'm not just talking about cases of one being totally blasted.

Now, if you're someone who gets really nervous, jittery, high-strung, then [12oz. beer, 5oz. wine, 1oz. spirits] may take the edge off. Then again, so can just letting out a cathartic yawp or something. However, for most people the best approach to alleviating nervousness is to simply play out a lot (or even just in front of friends, initially) and naturally acclimate yourself to the experience. Even then, a lot of experienced performers still get a little nervous beforehand or right at the start, but after a few minutes it'll pass. It's a natural, automatic response of adrenaline; just the way the brain and body work. For some people it just comes with the territory, but you learn to deal with it.

No reason to resort to drunkenness or getting stoned and messing up your performance. Beyond that, we all know of, and I've personally known, too many people who've ruined their musical 'careers' (not necessarily professionals) as well as their lives as a whole, relationships with others, and lives of others due to substance abuse. Many have died. What can begin as a drink or joint or two to loosen up can easily become a crutch and escalate from there. The few high-profile performers we all know of who've somehow managed to get somewhere despite drug and/or alcohol abuse are the exception (and often kicks in after they've become famous, not as a means toward), while hundreds of others at least as talented have fallen by the wayside. And, of course, even those high-profile ones tend to **** up their lives and some have died. Getting through it and coming out the other side healthy is very rare. Don't you dare believe any bullshit about how "living hard" and doing a lot of drugs and/or drinking is somehow the path to better musicianship or success.

I would trade the few years of great music created by someone I knew personally for that person to still be alive today.

[Clutch]

I would trade the few years of great music created by someone I knew personally for that person to still be alive today.

That's actually a beautiful quote

[Lucifer]

I'm going to disagree with Phytotron about a couple of things, but I want to strongly agree with him about not letting substance abuse become part of your life.

First, stagefright. Do you actually suffer from it to any degree? I do, and it's not something you ever really get rid of. It becomes an act of courage just to get up in front of people and do what you do, and believe you me, there's a lot more to performing than getting up in front of people and playing an instrument. I suffered from it badly enough that I would drive down to sixth street, get out my juggling balls, and then sit for an hour trying to work up the courage just to let someone see my balls (pun intended). What's worse, at least as far as busking is concerned, a good starter set can set the stage for a wonderful night, while a mediocre or bad starter set can be very difficult to recover from. It's the same with teaching, and any form of public speaking. Performance is the same anytime you get up in front of a group, and I've given presentations to boards of directors, stood in front of a hundred of my peers in school, and lectured in front of students. It's all the same thing, and the general feeling of stage fright is the same. I've spoken to a lot of teachers on the subject, one in particular that used to tour Romania with a blues band (and was quite famous, as I understand it), and they've all told me the same thing: stage fright never goes away. I'd gladly recommend a beer for people with test anxiety trying to get through school, but I'd never recommend drinking to deal with stage fright when you're performing, especially if you want to make a career out of performing.

Second, yes, I do believe that what you do matters. You need to contribute to the performance the best way that you can, and recognize your role at various times. When your other guy is soloing, you're supporting, and anything you do should be to support his solo. If you're going to dance a bit (where dancing while playing guitar is a skill all its own), then you need to step back and dance like a backup dancer, not a lead dancer. That's also the most important time to make sure you're tapping your foot. But remember that there *is* a difference between playing in front of an audience, and performing for the audience. It sounds like you want to enhance your performance and maybe step out of the ring of players that play in front of the audience. So, yeah, tap your foot, shake your head, feel the music, sway your guitar, punctuate your phrases with gestures. If you're playing a harmony, go stand next to your lead player and move together. Save the spinning guitar tricks for when the solo is over. And above all, practice all of these things before attempting them in front of the audience.

Third, recognize when musicianship or performance are the priorities. When recording, it's all about musicianship. When performing, quite honestly, the last thing I want to do is go to a concert and watch the band stand there and recite the album. I want to be entertained, I want to be moved, I want to feel something, and I want it to mean something. Musicianship and performance are intertwined when you're on stage. Laying in a cool fill sounds nice, but the performer wants to throw a physical gesture of some sort on top of it. Pick up the neck a bit, lay in your cool fill, then drop the neck low and look your audience in the eye when you hit the groove. Even better, let the other guy play the fill and you can just spin in place (mind your guitar cables!) to punctuate the fill. But don't dumb down the whole song and play the Sesame Street version of it so you can do cool dance moves. At the end of the day, you're making an artistic presentation, whether it's on the album or on the stage, and you should use whatever tools are available to make the best artistic presentation you can.

(I like fire, lasers, etc. in a performance )