Songs and Singing

My hands are up! I would be the first to say I am no "Sinatra" but what the hell, I still try to sing anyhow.

A person like me who was a late convert to folk/celtic/trad soon finds themselves reviewing their style of singing, for instance, I've just started singing without the help of a mic and reverb ...and boy is that a shock, but it does teach you to pick your songs much more carefully with respect to the vocals. A greater degree of volume control is something I am working on at the minute, or "light and shade" might be a better description. I found myself trying to "sing over" my acoustic guitar or Bouzouki........a few sessions in a noisy bar tempts you to sing out loud but I find when I am in quiet company or at home I sing better because I relax and lower my volume (usually voice and instrument) I find this difficult to do, but I REALLY ENJOY singing when it manage to get it right and the song just floats together as if by magic.

My advice is remember to sing as yourself and don't try to emulate the original singers vocal (if the song was a cover )

If you are asked to sing at a session/folk gathering there is always a quiet moment as people wait to see your response ...start smoothly here and at you own level. You will find common courtesy still exists nine time out of ten.

Did you know that many guitarists do not tune their guitars to the standard tuning of E A D G B E?

Many professional guitarists tune their guitars to E flat. The tuning would be E flat A flat D flat G flat B flat and E flat.

Why do they do this? The main reason why you would tune flat would be to accommodate the vocalist. The vocalist may not have the range for the E tuning. If you tuned your guitar down 1 half step you could still play the same guitar chords, but it would now be lower by one HALF STEP so, the next time you learn a song, see if it has been lowered. Personally I find DADGAD is a little easier for accompaniment as the capo can be used on the first fret to play in the E flat key using familiar ‘D’ shape chords and progressions. The next time you are practicing along with a CD and sound as though you might be flat (even after tuning) think about the above and you will save yourself a lot of frustration, the guitar player might be tuned flat to help the vocalist.

Rehearsing

Don't beat your song/song’s into the ground. Practice what's wrong, not what's right. Everyone should have the song on tape. Each member of your band has a particular purpose. If the vocals are lacking, work on them. If the guitarist needs to work on the solo, work on that alone with the tape. Make the most of each rehearsal, help each other and always respect everyone. This approach means quicker development for all concerned and a happy group of people working together towards a common goal of constant improvement.

Gigs

• Take your own sound system (PA) and your own engineer if possible. No compromise. It's got to sound good - it's what people are paying for. So even when I/we were only on small fees we had our own sound engineer.
• Be honest about the range of your material. Construct the set accordingly. A lot of songwriters think because one song is about Jacqueline and the next about Angela that they're different songs but if it's the same finger picking type of chord sequence, it's the same musical experience for the audience. Group your material into categories and have different category songs follow each other.
• Don't get too wrapped up in your own performance. One night I was told "you were more moved than moving" When you've finished your last song, walk in front of the monitors and take a bow. The applause will double because you're crossing into the audience's space. People like that - it's good body language.
• People don't want to hear you talking about money or referring to your material as 'merchandise'. It's songs. It's music. And don't let people see you talking about the fee, the money or expenses even if you're dealing with it yourself. Just try to keep that separate. Conduct yourself with a certain dignity. 
• No post mortems after a show - absolutely forbidden. Any problems - save it until the next day. Have a nice time and celebrate by all means. But everyone will be too vulnerable, wound up, elated or depressed for post mortems.  Treat everyone with politeness. It's a small world full of people with long memories. Don't make enemies.

The single most important piece of advice to busy folkies is "Stop doing endless gigs and start doing tours”. You've got to start working in set periods. Give the tour a name. Try and have your debut or new album available to go with it. Try and make it a distinct event." What I/we do now is tours, festivals or special events. It changes the way you think about working and how you structure the year.

So far I have managed OK but I am looking for hints and tips myself.

Go on, send in a comment I like to get feedback and I will post the best tips for everyone .

SHUT YER BIG TRAP'S....THERE'S A WEE BODY TRYING TO SING