Mark JW Graham: Singing Lessons Nottingham
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I tweeted about this band a while ago but only just realised I hadn’t blogged about them. Basically they are a band with NO guitars (exc. bass guitar) – that’s right… NO guitars. So when I say ‘they’ve done an acoustic version of one of their songs’ you might think ‘hold on… how?’
With a sax of course! Check it…
Yes, Fitz does strain a LOT of notes, but as catchy songwriting goes, and as creative stripped back arrangements go, it’s hard to beat.
Check them out.
My friend and fellow songwriter Matt Blick recently – http://www.mattblick.com/2012/10/you-need-deadlines-slight-return.html – wrote a blog post full of songwriting tips about the importance of deadlines. I am not QUITE shamelessly ripping it off, but the third lesson I wish to share with you is a similar title extolling…
Songwriting Tips: The Importance of Deadlines
Matt rightly points out deadlines have an immensely motivating element to them. They bring a sense of urgency to getting things done, a sense of importance, or even a sense of impending doom.
This is not going to be an especially long post, simply because I’m applying my own songwriting tips and I’ve aptly set myself a deadline to write it in. I have 8 minutes left.
Set yourself ludicrously short deadlines to write SOMETHING in
I often set myself what others might call unreasonably short periods of time to do things in. Sometimes this works out, sometimes it doesn’t, but when it comes to songwriting, it’s not like anyone’s life depends on it. Of all my songwriting tips, this is possibly the most powerful tip for getting things done.
So, what I often do, is set myself 30 minutes to write a verse, or rather AT least a verse. Note that the requirement is not that it be brilliant, or original, or unique, or that you are even that happy with it… it just requires that it be:
a) at least a verse; and
b) that it is a whole verse.
When this is the ONLY requirement you set yourself, you can get to a ‘finished’ (albeit imperfect to-be-polished) product verrrry quickly.
6 minutes.
I did this the other night for the umpteenth time, certainly I’ve lost count of the number of times I do this deadline tactic. This time, I managed to get a whole song out. I actually love the melody of this song, and many of the lines and lyrics, and it is definitely a ‘finished piece’ in the sense that it has all the sections I wanted it to have. The melody is pretty darn concrete, and the themes are what I want them to be. It’s not the final draft, but it’s a really good first draft (for what I wanted it to be at least).
In previous iterations of this exercise, I’ve really only managed a verse in 30 minutes. An imperfect one I’m not that fussed by. As I got more practice at hitting the ground running and moving on, I managed to start getting a verse and a chorus done. Then a couple of different verses, and two possible choruses. Then a bridge would come. All in 30 minutes. Chords, melody, lyrics, structure, even a solo sometimes!
Sure, I could spend another 30 minutes or longer polishing it up, but that was for another day. I couldn’t comfort myself with the thought of ‘ahhh I’ll just extend the deadline’ – that defeats the point. Having a ludicrously short deadline gets you SOMETHING to work with, with minimal time and outlay. In fact, having that minutia of time HELPS you!
3 minutes.
There’s nothing wrong with coming back and polishing it up after setting a ludicrously short deadline, but setting those short deadlines help take advantage of the Perato rule – the 80/20 rule – where 80% of the results come with 20% of the total effort, but that final 20% takes 80% of the total effort. In the same way, setting shorter deadlines get you to a 80% finished product much much quicker, and then you have all the time in the world to polish it up…. but in reality I still suggest shorter periods of time. Businesses work on the Perato rule, and songwriting need be no different.
2 minutes.
For me, 30 minutes to do SOMETHING (whether at least a verse, or at least a verse and chorus, etc) works perfectly. I tend to work in 30 minute units (those who’ve seen ‘About a Boy’ will understand the logic), and I can track how long activities have taken me by doing it this way. But you can find another period of time that suits you better, e.g. 1 hour, 15 minutes. But I’d suggest you stay shy of more than an hour, because it will start to drag out.
1 minute.
To close, I just want to agree wholeheartedly with Matt Blick’s comments on the importance of deadlines set by others, but I also want to advocate using ludicrously short deadlines set by YOURSELF as a way to get something half-decent very quickly – use that time limit as an pro, not a con. When you can learn to harness that for your benefit, you start to become a better songwriter, as you learn to get from A to B in an albeit less than perfect manner, but at least you got there, and in time you’ll find your ‘journey’ gets more and more effective in even that short space of time.
TIME
EDIT: I spent about the same amount of time editing the above post than I did writing it. But 80% of what I wanted to say was there before I started editing. It was just a matter of polishing up that first draft to get across EXACTLY what I wanted.
I was recently at a training event, and I got to sit in on a masterclass with a Master Teacher of IVA – Spencer Welch, who can be found at www.spencerwelch.com. He spent time with a handful of performers getting them to hone their performance and practice performance techniques to further engage them with the audience. In short-hand, here are the highlights:
1) Direct complete ideas to particular sections of the audience – By dividing up the audience – however large or small – into sections, it becomes easier to address particular sections of the audience. Many people know this technique. However, many people often think that they need to frantically look from place to place… instead, try addressing lines of the song that reflect a complete individual idea to one section, then for the next idea pick another section to address that idea to. This makes people feel like you are actually talking to them, telling them something, inviting them in to a conversation with you.
2) Change hands that you use to hold the microphone – Many times, people stand still with their hands by their side, unable to move or feel relaxed, and are rigid for the whole performance. There are also other performers who strut about stage frantically throughout the performance. Both become tiresome, because there is no variety. Actually, the slightest bit of change can introduce needed variety. As simple as changing hands that you use to hold the microphone can make a huge difference. Just remember to do this between complete ideas in the song, otherwise it can feel rehearsed rather than natural.
3) Don’t leave your microphone stand centre stage – Center-stage is the power position for the whole performance. Don’t leave your microphone hogging that power position. You can move it out of the way, drag it round with you, but YOU are the performer – you are who people are there to see, not your mic stand.
4) Don’t always stand right up to the microphone – If you see someone standing with their lips touching a microphone, your natural expectation is that they are about to start singing any second now. Even a few seconds delay between being right up against the microphone and starting to sing can leave an audience feeling confused about what is meant to be happening. If you are not going to be singing for a period of time, try backing away from the microphone until you are ready to sing again – this makes it abundantly clear to the audience what is going on and helps them to feel comfortable during your performance.
5) Practice songs with these moves – Spencer pointed out that performances are over 50% visual – how you look, how you move, how you appear can make or break a performance. The way you move about stage, how natural or UN-natural you look can win over or alienate an audience. We spend so much time honing our ability on voice, guitar, piano, other instruments, etc, but how often do we practice stage-craft? How often do we work through a song and think ‘how should this LOOK to the audience?’ The best bit of advice Spencer gave on top of all these tips, is to practice them in front a mirror and get used to them until they feel and look natural.
I’ll confess and say this post is a little over 500 words, but it’s such helpful advice to practice and get better at. It really does alleviate nerves and improve your performance. Can’t recommend these tips enough!
If you want to learn more about performing and improving your own performances you may enjoy these related articles:
Performance Anxiety: What is it, where does it come from, what can we do about it
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 1
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 2
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 3
Ease, Strain, Time to think: Improve your performances easily
Pacing yourself: Micro- and macro- rests in songs and sets
A number of students ask me about ‘vocal consistency’, how one day their voice feels great and they can do anything with it… and the next it feels horrible and it won’t even string a couple of words together… how can we develop a voice that is relatively consistent one day to the next?
There is a straight-forward answer, but…
… unfortunately the voice is an organic instrument. It’s affected by fatigue, humidity, temperature, hormones, and a host of other things. That’s not to say everyone is badly affected by each of these factors, some people are more susceptible than others, but it’s a fact of life that we need to learn to deal with.
Simple but time-consuming
One of the main precepts of the technique we use in lessons is that the vocal cords are capable of doing everything we ask them to do provided that we let them do their job properly. The exercises we use are designed to help you be introduced the what your vocal cords are capable of doing, and to reinforce that correct behaviour. So there is a degree of awareness that this is possible – which builds trust in your voice – and a degree of practicing those co-ordinations – which builds muscle memory.
The challenge lies in spending sufficient time experiencing the vocal cords doing their thing correctly AND often enough that we can trust the muscle memory that is inbuilt and that we have enhanced through doing the exercises.
The answer then?
The answer to consistency, is to practice doing it right, and keep doing it. The exercises ensure that we are using our vocal cords correctly. We then just need to keep repeating the ones that are providing us with the correct vocal co-ordination to further in-grain that behaviour. The consistency will come with consistent and effective application of the exercises.
In other posts I’ve likened the operation of the voice to the way that a piano is configured and tuned to have a consistent quality throughout. In a similar way, the exercises are like the act of building, configuring and tuning an instrument like the piano, so that the notes are simply accessible without reaching up or pressing down – you can just trust that the notes are there.
Don’t be disheartened…
For some people, their voices can be quite stubborn, and it takes a while for that muscle memory – and more importantly a reliance on that muscle memory – to take hold. For some people, it’s a more or less instantaneous thing – they do it right once, and it lands them squarely in the ballpark of what they should be doing within a few exercises. Everyone is different, but the key to consistency for all of us is this:
Step 1: Do It Right Once
Step 2: Repeat Step 1 as often as necessary.
If you want to learn more about vocal technique and great singing, you may enjoy these related articles:
The Difference between Amateurs and Pros
The problem with trying to teach voice using ONLY voice science
Vocal Pedagogy: Past, present and future
Singers: The Difference Between Vocalists and Performers
Can vocal technique help laryngitis?
Vocal Tessitura: What is it?
What is vocal fach?
I know it’s important to keep a fresh set of strings on your guitar for optimal tone, but to practice so as to get THAT good seems a bit OTT. Still dang impressive though!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA0m1K2jW4
Great rock band. Truly excellent. Vintage inspiration, modern edge.