Performance Tip #3: How is your WHO reacting when you sing? (Rhonda Carlson Workshop)

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Before we go any further, let’s recap some of the material I’ve covered from the workshop with Rhonda Carlson.

In part 1 we established the importance of a specific backstory. This enables you to inhabit the story the song is already telling, and give it nuance and a personal connection.

In part 2 we then took this a stage further and established that the nature of a backstory leads to an understanding of WHERE you are telling the story, and WHO you are telling the story to. Where is the story being told, and to whom.

In this next part – part 3 – the next logical step to build on a story being told in a place to a specific someone, is to ask “how is our listener reacting?

Think about our specific backstory of ‘Someone like you”.

Specific (but made-up) backstory for the singer: “We dated for years, we were even engaged… but that seems like so long ago… and just now he didn’t even recognise me when we passed each other in the street…”

We then also extrapolated a possible scenario of WHERE this might have occurred…

[the protagonist] has just been blanked by their ex-fiancee in the street. [They are out] early with a friend on a harshly-lit winter’s day on the high street, and [they have] stopped dead in their tracks due to being blanked. Their ex-fiancee just walked straight by them and into a restaurant where they are greeted warmly by a throng of friends, maybe even another partner or spouse, whilst being completely oblivious they walked by the protagonist.

The WHO is the receiver of the story and listener of the song. In this case, the WHO is the friend the protagonist is with. This could be a best friend who knows the backstory, or a friend who is hearing it for the first time. What if the friend is a work colleague, or even their boss? What if the friend they are with is now their husband/wife? So many options here!

The question this raises is as follows…

How would that person receive that story? How would they react?

To get even more specific, how would they react in response to each line of the story being told? No-one sits and listens to a speaker with zero expression or zero emotional reaction. Each line, each sentence will provoke a progressively changing emotional response from the listener. Most singers rarely think about this. They just think “the listener is happy” or “the listener is sad”. Rarely is ANYONE 100% one emotion or another, they inhabit shades of different emotion, and they also express emotions differently (especially as they shift from one to another).

Let’s Imagine…

Let’s imagine the protagonist is telling a close friend about their past relationship, and this friend has no idea about their past. The friend enquires in a concerned manner about what’s wrong? Then the singer tells them through the first verse…

NOTE: I’ve modified the you/I to he/she because this makes the song far more focused on the intent behind the specific backstory we’ve constructed, as well as the accompanying where and the who. This is totally OK to do with this song (or any song) if it enables you to tell the truth behind the story you’ve constructed more emotively and genuinely. If you absolutely have to mirror the words more closely, then construct a better suited backstory that makes the original lyrics work as is.

First Verse

“I heard that [he’d] settled down

How would the friend react to this, perhaps confusion? Or perhaps the penny drops? How would that impact the telling of the next bit of information to the friend?

That [he’d] found a girl and [he’s] married now.

The friend surely would understand by now, sympathy and empathy would flow… which could potentially fuel whatever emotional state the singer is in, whether one of sadness, anger, frustration…

I heard that [his] dreams came true.
Guess she gave [him] things I didn’t give […]”

Pangs of sadness or embitterment could well flow here, but the singer must react and respond to the reactions given by the WHO they are singing to. This is exactly like having a conversation with any other human being. We don’t talk constantly to a wall, we respond to what we are given by them and adjust our tone and intent accordingly.

It’s really not that complicated

While this might seem like a lot to take in, it really is about understanding how to apply your normal everyday condition of talking emotively to people, just to do so within a song. It’s about identifying simple mechanics and borrowing social scenarios you already understand, to convey emotional meaning and a story encoded with the already predefined lyrics of the song… to bring life to a pre-set script, if you will.

Try applying this to a few songs you’ve got a story, where and who attached to, and see what you get out of it.

Learn More: Related Articles

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
Ease, Strain, Time to think: Improve your performances easily
5 Simple Tips to Improve Your Performances
Pacing yourself: Micro- and macro- rests in songs and sets

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