The Performance of Your Life
Knowing the proper behavior on stage is critical to giving your best live performance. With that in mind, try to follow these tips:
The Practice Run
Rehearse with the band. You should have at least one dress rehearsal and several more practice rehearsals before a live performance. When you do your final dress rehearsal, sing from memory.
Outfit
The outfit you choose to wear for the live performance can make or break the show. When you choose an outfit, make sure that you wear it during rehearsals so that you get used to it. Make sure that you can move and breathe in the outfit you have chosen to wear.
Stage Walk
Practice walking to the place you’ll stand on the stage. Walking across the stage is much more difficult than you would think. The idea is to stop in place, but land in the right posture as well. Find your alignment, walk across the room and maintain that posture.
Turn the speaker away from you
Singing with a band can be really cool, but the first time can be a bit confusing. You’re going to have some trouble hearing yourself if the speakers are turned away. For the first few times you could ask to have a speaker turned towards you. Remember that bands often play pretty loud, and turning the speaker towards yourself can be distracting if you have a huge wall of sound coming at you. If there is an instrument that plays the melody line, make sure you learn to pick it out.
Smile
When you go on stage, smile at the audience. A smile will make you appear to be confident, which will boost your performance. Make sure your smile doesn’t look fake as you cross the stage.
Acknowledgment of the audience
When you are singing, you might not know when it’s time to pay attention to the audience. Singers can’t always sing intimate songs in an intimate locale, but you can imagine yourself in a cozy locale if this helps you with your performance. To get a feel for whether to include the audience as part of your song, watch and learn from the seasoned pros.
Distractions will occur
Unlike in rehearsal, a live performance can have plenty of distractions. People cough, enter late and even leave right in the middle of your song. Most people are ignorant as to how this can distract a performer, and because you are the performer you are expected to be professional about it. So because you will naturally be distracted at a performance, you will need to stage a few distractions at home to get you ready for the big time. Get a friend to try and distract you while you practice ignoring them and concentrating on your performance.
What to do with your hands
The best place for your hands during a performance would be at your sides. It may not be the most interesting place for them but you’re probably better off erring on the side of calm and still. If you gesture, then make a complete gesture, because anything incomplete or half done will make you look nervous. If you want, you can fold your hands in front of you.
Great so now you’ve got a good idea of how to behave on the big night. In order to wow your audience you’ll need to work hard to perfect your singing skills. You can either take private singing lessons or use a professional home-study singing course like Sing With Freedom. Also if you’re looking for guidance about the best techniques to promote you and your band, you’ll definitely want to check out Social Bandmaker.