Sing 4 Your Life! THE BLOG For Singers!

I don’t know how many times I have said it, but I find myself having to clarify it again. Many of my students who have read my articles and watched my videos get confused when I talk about over-rehearsing a performance and how it can interfere with being spontaneous when we perform our act.

And at the same time I tell them to practice until a particular element of singing is on auto-pilot so that they don’t have to think about technique when they’re performing.

So let me see if I can explain these seemingly contrary points of view, okay?

I just got finished watching the final match of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. Roger Federer, probably the greatest player ever to play the game of tennis was playing against Andy Murray, a younger player from Scotland.

Throughout the match, the commentators on 3 different channels, which broadcast the event, spoke about Roger’s dedication, hard work, and commitment to the game. It was mentioned that Roger’s incredible success is due largely to the hours upon hours of practice he puts in daily to maintain the apparent ease with which he hits a tennis ball each and every time he enters the court. I agree…even though I’ve also said that over-doing a practice session can be detrimental to a singing performance.

So while there are similarities in the way we approach singing and the way an athlete approaches his sport, I think I had better make this glaring distinction.

Singing is a unique art form that is created in front of an audience which watches it come to life as it is being made…much like watching a tennis player in action. Practicing the technical elements is to make it look easy during our performance, just as Roger’s practice sessions are to make his strokes look graceful and fluid to the spectators. Roger’s technique, as any tennis player’s is THE VERY THING that the fans of tennis have come to see, but they are also moved by his demeanor on the court. If he is obviously loving what he is doing, people feel it.

The singer’s technique is an important part of his performane, but it will not mean much unless the performance makes an emotional connection with the ones watching it. So while I say, yes, you MUST practice the techniques until they are on auto-pilot, you must be careful not to over-rehearse you performance and risk losing it’s spontaneity.

And there’s also that intangible quality of both the art of the tennis match and the vocal performance, and it is simply…does the one performing display how much he or she loves what he is doing? For fans respond to that quality at a deep level.

The techniques can be practiced until they become second nature, but the delivery, the quality of the communication one will make with the audience has to come from the heart and be genuine…not rehearsed.

Does that make any sense?
Have I confused you even further?

Write to me or leave your comments on our Singers Social Network Site, www.SingYourLife.ning.com.
JOIN US!!

Oh! Forgot to tell you! The final chapter of “Get Off the Bandstand” is finished, and the entire manuscript can be viewed on the members only page on the main Singyourlife site. And I am also posting it on the Singers Social Network as part of my monthly blog.

Also, I found a slew of tracks that I had forgotten to put on the lists I made, so if there’s a particular track you’re looking for, just ask me okay? Remember, I’m letting them all go for 75 cents per track.
The lists are on the members only page along with a whole bunch of free stuff. As a member of the Singers Social Network, you are entitled to all the freebies over there, including lead sheets, my e-books on singing and performing, and more, so come on over and join us!
http://www.singyourlife.ning.com

Sin[g]cerely,
Chrys

Setting the mission and tone for 2010!!
 

The world had changed a great deal since I started the Sing Your Life website back in 1999. There seems to be an unspoken mandate which hovers above my head, and more or less demands that I change to keep up with the rest of the world…And I’ve resisted…but no more…not this time.
 

I think that as we get older, we need more stability in our environs and tend to get pretty stubborn about changing with the times. I was talking to a dear friend the other day, a piano player who I work with here in town, and he said something that rang so true for me. He said, “…my lady friend complains a lot that I live in the past too much, but ya know? It was better then, dammit!”
 

We both laughed.
 

I’m not so sure it really WAS better then. I think now that it’s in the past, whatever it is, and we know it well and it’s familiar and has become comfortable, it may seem better. God knows, as we get older, the future becomes more and more ominous, so the past, even if it really stunk, does provide some comfort….the “devil you know” kind of thing.
 

The truth is, in my view, that NOW is all we ever really get, and to embrace NOW is to reduce the fears and anxieties of that which has not yet happened, and to calm the sorrows of our past mistakes…so that’s where I am steering my boat. And I invite you to come with me into 2010, singers!!
 

I feel the urge to complete a whole lotta projects this year:
 

• “Close Enough For Jazz” – A memoir- (pecking at it, but very slowly.)
  
• The Complete Video Vocal Performance Course – (start looking for new videos in January)
  
• Development of an ongoing Performance Workshop, including the art of Cabaret, the art of Auditioning, and more… (done with local students and we’re looking to video the process for all of you to see)
  
• The completion of “Get Off The Bandstand” – Last installment coming in February.)
  
• The completion of a short story I’ve been writing for 40 years. (Obviously, I have severe writers’ block on this. Ha ha!)
  
• The completion of the final CD, (working title: “The Delights & Distresses of Growing Old” – just gotta call Barney and BEGIN!)
  
• Completion of the Backing Track Project – (to sell off entire remaining inventory)
  

 

I believe I need to finish these things not because I may be getting ready to depart the earth or anything dramatic like that. No! I seem to want to finish these things so I can get them all out of my head, and I can then sit on the beach and watch the boats go by, or the flight of a blue heron, or the gentle kiss of the waves against the rocks along the bayfront here in Corpus Christi, and to simply exhale a sigh…and enjoy the view.
 

And at the same time, even as I write that, I recognize all too well that sitting on the beach with nothing to do is the very worse thing that I could do, ha ha!
Staying youthful and vital for as long as possible requires constant engagement with Life on a moment-by-moment basis, so while I yearn for leisure as most aging working people tend to do, the projects are really my fuel for staying active and engaged. Kinda funny, huh? Or maybe just ironic??
Like I keep telling my sister when she sighs and says she’s so tired, “Be careful what you wish for, Doll! The Universe is always listening and if you want a rest, you might just get one…and then really hate it.”
 

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UPDATE!
For those of you who may be interested, I have recently completed the Standards and Jazz BT list and have posted it on the Members Only Page of my website…and to end any confusion, when I say “MY website”, I am speaking of www.singyourlife.com/
 

When I say “OUR website”, or “the COMMUNITY Singers’ site”, or “the Singers’ Network page”, I am speaking of www.singyourlife.ning.com.
 

I guess I shoulda named our community a little differently ‘cause many of you have gotten somewhat lost looking for things. Forgive me. Hope I’ve made things a little clearer for ya now.
 

Anyway, since my niche group of singers is mainly interested in Standards and Broadway tracks, everything from those categories is now posted and you may browse the lists at your leisure and send me your requests whenever. REMEMBER!  I have reduced the cost to 75¢ per track, so get ‘em while you can.
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Here is Installment #6 of “Get Off The Bandstand”
This month’s section is extra long to make up for the month I missed in November. The final section shall come to you in February, 2010.
 

 (previously, I spoke of what it means to SHARE the stage with other musicians, and the nuances of hand signals in the unspoken language of jazz… we continue now with the rules for the vocalist…)
 

Here is an excerpt of what is contained in this installment?
“Can you just imagine saving all your pennies to go see a Broadway show and because the performance you are viewing happens to be the 200^th time the performers have sung this music? Can you just imagine what it would sound and look like to you, the listener if the actors and singers were bored to tears with this show?
 

You would leave that theater, feeling empty inside but not really understanding why. You might comment that you were disappointed and felt that it lacked a certain energy that you were expecting, and you might think it was the failure of the voices, or the acoustics in the theater, or the band was too loud, or the dancing was amateurish, but what really was the root of your displeasure was the simple fact that the players on the stage were bored…and so…you were too.”
 

Moving to the Side
 

In the world of Jazz, it’s considered rude to stand in the center of the stage, hogging audience attention that should be on the band. It shows a lack of regard for the musicians, and for their participation in the music itself. It also shows a lack of professionalism on the part of the singer. Instrumentalists refer to singers like that as “clueless”.
 

I was on a job once where the singer stood smack in the middle of the stage after she had sung the first time through the song, and she actually hummed along with the instrumentalists’ solos. Another time, that same singer talked OVER the solos, telling stories to the audience. As you can imagine, that singer was NOT asked to sit in with that band ever again. She didn’t understand and had to be told that the gig was NOT her personal showcase, and while her stories might work in a Cabaret setting, they amount to a lack of considersation on a Jazz gig.
 

The correct and respectful move is to stand on the side, either left or right, and allow the band to play…as long as they want to.
 

In college I was privileged to sing with a great band called “The Jazz Explorers”, and we worked all over the college town of Ithaca, New York. One night we were in an exclusive jazz club, where elite jazz fans only were admitted!
 

I sang “Night in Tunisia”, by Dizzy Gillespie, moved to the edge of the bandstand and let the saxophone take it. He was in rare form that night and having recognized that he had the audience with him, he kept playing…and playing…and playing. He must’ve played 10 choruses or more. The crowd was in a frenzy of delight listening to him. Can you even imagine, what would’ve happened if I had interrupted that?
 

When they were ready to give it back to me, they let me know with a nod.
 

Jazz musicians depend on intercommunication to achieve and maintain a sense of spontaneity.  They encourage each other vocally or through their instruments to attain higher levels of performance. The connection with an audience is also vocal and visceral.
Because an original function of jazz was to accompany social dancers, a jazz audience’s physical responses signaled the musicians to continue or heighten their level of intensity.
Among musicians themselves, the jam session exists as the central agency for communicating in a common musical language, in an atmosphere of collective
spontaneity. Parallels between the sense of community in a jam session and an open forum of discussants are clear –a successful session, like group conversation, depends on courtesy, decorum, and mutual respect as well as open-mindedness and willingness to listen. Thus, the connection between
music and language manifests itself in the jazz context.
[from “What Is Hip?” And Other Inquiries In Jazz Slang Lexicography by Rick McRae]
 

Listening, Appreciating, and Learning
 

Please remember, singers, it’s a collaboration, not a showcase! So what do you do as the vocalist when you’re over there on the edge of bandstand while the sax, and the trombone, and the piano and the bass and drum are taking solos?
 

You listen and applaud right along with the audience.
 

Because they ARE watching you! The audience I mean! They are watching…you, and the all of the artists on the stage. They want to see if the music is as appreciated by each of you who are creating it as it is by them, the listeners.
 

Does the sax player like the way the pianist takes his solo? Does the trombone player smile when the bass player is taking his?
 

It’s an secret language of sorts that give jazz it’s ethereal mysterious, quality that allows an audience to imagine and picture scenarios of its own.
 

If you, or any other musician on stage were to look disinterested while someone is soloing, that would interrupt the mood and take much of the magic out of the overall performance.
 

(This next section is pretty technical, so feel free to bypass it and go straight to “Continuing Your Musical Education”)
 

 

 

Learn and Understand “Trading Fours”
 

There’s a particular feature of jazz playing that does not exist in any other genre of music, and it’s called “trading fours”.
This particular musical device is a technique in which the musicians alternate brief solos of four bars each, usually occurring after each musician has had a chance to play a solo, and often involves alternating four-bar segments with the drummer.
Most tunes played in a jazz setting are written in a 32 bar format. For example,
take the tune “Teach Me Tonight”. This song has 32 measures or bars. The first section, (“A”) contains 8 measures, which is then repeated, (2^nd with different words, followed by a “bridge” of 8 more bars with a different melody line and different words, and then what is called the “last 8” with the same melody as the 2^nd 8, but with different words. This format is called AABA, or a “Standard” format.
When the musicians decide to trade 4’s to this tune, it could look like this, (although there are multiple varieties of trading 4’s which we’ll see later.):
Starting at the beginning of the song:
Saxophone improvises on melody: “Did you say I go a lot to learn. Well Don’t think I’m trying not to learn”. That’s 4 measures of music.
Drummer plays:  “Since this is the perfect spot to learn. Teach me tonight”. 4 bars
Piano improvises on melody: “Starting with the abc of it, right down to the xyz of it” 4 bars
Drummer plays: “help me solve the mystery of it. Teach me Tonight”
Trombone improvises on bridge: “the sky’s a blackboard high above you. If a shooting star goes by”
Drummer: “I’ll use that star to write I love you, 1000 times across the sky”.
Bass: “One thing isn’t very clear my love. Should the teacher stand so near my love”
Drummer: “graduation’s almost here my love, teach me tonight.”
Now understand singers, I’ve written the words so that you can understand the way the song is divided up when trading 4’s. Naturally these musicians are NOT singing the words, they are improvising on the melody.
Furthermore, the song can be played over and over again in this trading 4’s arrangement so that it builds to a great dramatic cadence!  Audiences absolutely adore this device cause it’s joyful and celebratory! And it gets everyone involved at once, and is just plain FUN!!
And let me say…If, as a singer you are ever invited to trade fours (4’s) during a piece, consider it the highest honor you will ever have bestowed upon you as a jazz singer. But learn to SCAT first!
Continuing Your Musical Education
 

Singers! If you should ever get to that place and time in your life where you feel you have learned all there is to know about the music you sing, do yourself a favor and everyone else as well…and QUIT!
 

And actually, this step is meant for all singers of every genre, style, and level.
 

In recent years, the majority of my students have been ladies over 50, who have not stopped learning, desiring, and expressing. In fact, these women enthusiastically drink in everything they can about singing and performing music.
 

When the market gurus tell you to find a niche you can love, I DO understand that, because, it is these women, with the energy of children, and the wide-eyed thrill of discovering their voices, that keeps me young and vital every day.
 

Can you just imagine saving all your pennies to go see a Broadway show and because the performance you are viewing happens to be the 200^th time the performers have sung this music? Can you just imagine what it would sound and look like to you, the listener if the actors and singers were bored to tears with this show?
 

You would leave that theater, feeling empty inside but not really understanding why. You might comment that you were disappointed and felt that it lacked a certain energy that you were expecting, and you might think it was the failure of the voices, or the acoustics in the theater, or the band was too loud, or the dancing was amateurish, but what really was the root of your displeasure was the simple fact that the players on the stage were bored…and so…you were too.
 

A Broadway Show, especially a Broadway show, has to be played and sung with the exact same vitality on the last day of the run, that it had on Opening Night!
No, it’s not that easy, which is why many extremely successful and long-running musicals change cast members halfway through…to keep it fresh and exciting for the audience.
 

That being the case, can you just imagine what it can be like to have a singing gig in a supper club several nights a week and have regular customers who come in for a drink just to hear you sing their favorite song? How would it be for that customer if your singing was lazy and unenthused? Think he’d want to give you that $5. tip you were expecting? Think he’d continue to show up night after night?
 

I know these things singers, because as they say, “been there, done that”.
 

My point is this: As long as you are still growing musically, and still finding new and wonderful ways to express the music you are singing, it will always be fresh and exciting…always!
 

Remember when you were a small child and your Mom bought you your first box of crayons? There were 8 crayons in the box, right? And the colors were red, blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, white and black.
 

You drew pictures and colored in coloring books and spend countless hours of enjoyment with your colors…until those crayons were broken and in teeny pieces all over the floor, and then one day….your Mom came home with a big surprise for you.
 

A new box of crayons with twice the number of colors of your old box. Wow!!!
 

You opened the new box and saw all these NEW colors inside. You reached into the box to grab one and which one did you choose first?
 

I would wager that you chose a color from the first box…a color you knew. The familiar colors had a certain warmth and safety about them, and I’ll bet it took a little while to “get to know” those new colors in the box, so you were careful at first, using only the colors you knew. If you Mom was smart, she let you decide which colors to use and didn’t force any new ones on you, knowing that when you ready, you’d explore this new horizon on your own.
 

And that you did! One day you grabbed the purple crayon and drew a line.
 

WOWEEEWOW!! How great that looked!! Such a cool color! That was the beginning of your willingness to try all the rest of the colors in the box.
 

When I am teaching a student of mine how to put his or her own stamp on a song, it’s very similar to a kid with a box of crayons. The singer will sing what he knows and feels comfortable with until there comes a time when he feels an urge to stretch himself and try something knew. Many…many students of jazz singing will suppress that urge for sometimes…well…years. Why?
 

The simple answer is FEAR! Fear of making a mistake, fear of sounding off key or cracking, fear of the unknown…plain and simple!
 

But here’s the thing! Once the student overcomes that fear and allows himself to try something knew and pushes himself to keep trying in spite of what he may hear as unpleasant, he is growing and learning and getting better and better with each attempt.
The Purple Crayon
 

It starts with a single note. Instead of singing that line exactly the way you did the first time, change just ONE single note….just one. The first time my students do this, there appears a smile that begins at the corners of each mouth, like they just did something really great, and it grows and grows with each move they make in the song.
 

RULE! You never let the music get old, boring, or flat. You look for and find anything at all, even just a single note that will change a line or change a mood, and change YOUR OWN ATTITUDE about the song.
 

And remember please, it’s not about impressing others, it’s always about Expressing YOU!
 

In the 70’s I was fortunate enough to have a steady singing gig in NYC. My partner Lenny and I worked in some of New York’s classiest clubs and we did so, 6 nights a week with Sundays off.
 

We had a loyal clientele, including some of New York’s most famous, or shall I say INFAMOUS mobsters. They loved us…mainly ‘cause we sang a lot of Sinatra, but they were extremely generous when it came to showing their appreciation.
 

One guy, Louie, loved the song, “Help Me Make it Through the Night”, so whenever he came in to the club, I‘d sing it for him.
Now, I’m not a big fan of Country, but let’s face it, when Louie, who was a hit-man for one of the illustrious Italian families of New York, requests a song, you sing and you sing it with gusto! And the more gusto, (emotion, feeling, drama) you sing it with, the bigger the appreciation.
 

So an attitude change for Country music was definitely in order for me. And I actually learned to love that song, the more I sang it and changed it, here and there, differently every time. And I made a ton of money with it as well.
 

RULE: If you’re a jazz singer, you cannot sing a song the same way twice.
If you do, there is no spontaneity and without that…well, it ain’t Jazz, see?
 

And as a Jazz singer, singing other genres for the jobs you go on becomes a fun experience for you because you find little ways to alter the songs so that you never tire of them or get bored with them.
 

Keep learning…keep growing…always…always, singers!
(To be completed next month with the final chapter, “IS JAZZ just about the MUSIC?”) �
 

‘til next time, Singers!!
Chrys

After-Thanksgiving Issue, 2009

Hi Singers!
Gads! So much to tell you guys!

First, I sin[g]cerely hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and used the day to seriously count your blessings and feel the gratitude that is needed to physically alter you earthly experience. The longer I live and the more I read about spiritual matters, the clearer it becomes that if we express gratitude, the vibration we generate in that expression can actually change things in our lives…practically over night.

It’s easy to be upset, annoyed, or bitter about the economy for instance, and I certainly am not recommending we jump up and down in enthusiasm for it, but what I AM suggesting is that we quietly thank our version of God, (Source, The Almighty, The Universe, Divine Creator of ALL that exists, whatever you call it), for the the good things we have…like family and friends and health instead of focussing on the bad stuff. It really does help! As Ghandi put it, “Be the change you wish see”.

Let me wish you each and every singer who read this blog a wonderful holiday season… whichever holiday you celebrate.

Here’s what happening in my world….

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My toilet tissue list of “projects” grew like crazy and I never DID get everything completed in the time I gave myself, but here’s the thing. I figure, since I, and no one else, created the time-table, I could also change it and thereby alter the deadline I originally set for these projects. And so I did that!! Easy! Problem solved! It’s so simple when you give your permission to take the pressure off…ha ha!

But here’s an update on where I am with each project:

The Video Collection:
I am working on a professional vocal series that covers these questions: (each video to run about 30-45 minutes)

1. If you Can Talk…You can Sing!
2. The Role of ego in a vocal performance
3. The Competitive Singer or the Creative Singer? Which are You?
4. Don’t forget to breathe.
5. Being more than a singer…being a musician!
6. Expression vs. Impression
7. Let’s Put On a Show!!
8. PRACTICE does not make perfect. PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT!
9. Perfectionism vs. Authenticity
10. Mis-takes…Take 2!

If you are a member of the Sing Your Life Community, you can receive advanced copies of each series of lessons for your review prior to their publication and distribution to the public. Further, if you care to share your viewing experience on any of the lesson packages, you receive special gifts from SYL!

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Sing Your Life is Out of the Backing Track Business! We were thankfully put out of business by a site that allows the buyer to change the key right there on the displayed page PRIOR to actually purchasing the track.
Now, when I say “thankfully” put us put of business, I am saying that the job of locating a track in my database, listening to it, transposing it into the appropriate key for the customer, (and this is a long and arduous process if the singer has no idea of the keys he or she sings in), compressing the file for easy transport through email, or singing it myself if a vocal guide track was not available…all these steps were taking a good deal of time and I simply ran out of those luxurious hours. And that’s where the pressure was mounting …so much that I eventually made myself ill.

Finding the site with which we are now affiliated has freed up the time we can now devote to the Video Packages, and the 2010 plans for all of you singers.

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We have several projects in the works for 2010…

1.Along with the Videos mentioned above, we are developing a workshop for those singers who want to perform in front of a “live” audience with a “live” accompaniment, like a band or a pianist, or guitar player.
Using a group of local students as a model of sorts, (or guinea pigs as they may call themselves, LOL), we have secured a local venue where each singer can showcase their own act of about 30 minutes in front of an audience. The singer will put a showcase together with my coaching help, work out the theme, the keys, the patter, etc., and then rehearse the whole thing with an accompanist and perform it on a Friday or Saturday night at a local coffee house.
I’m considering getting the entire process recorded with each student from the brain-storming
process to the actual performance, which I will post for my internet singers to use as a guide of how to put a show together.

2. There are several older singers in our community who I want to gather around and put on a seminar of sorts, a cyber-seminar on performance expression. I guess it’s part of the maturation of us singers that contributes to the disappearance of a self-conscious performance, ’cause our younger singers don’t seem as comfortable on stage. I thought it might help them if some of us older ladies, who have “been there, done that”, share our own experiences and tips on what we’ve done to get over the “butterflies” that come with singing in front of strangers.

3. Later in the year, we will start working on an original Christmas Song which I wrote along with my older sister who provided the lyrics.
There wasn’t enough time to work on it this year because the arrangement for chorus was not completed until late October. The choir arrangement has been written by my dear friend, Barney McClure, who is a renowned composer and arranger of vocal music, including songs for vocal jazz ensemble and choirs of 100 or more singers. Barney is also the gentleman
who arranged my recording of “Where Do You Start”, which I posted to our Community Pages last month. He was so impressed with my Chrsitmas tune, he arranged it and published that arrangement, which means that the song is currently being distributed to Universities and Colleges and Church Choirs all over the country. This’ll be a real treat for those of us who can read music, and who enjoy singing with a group. We will begin work in August of 2010. I will post the music for you to download and practice.

And BTW, check out Barney’s arrangement of a song her wrote called “Before the Rain” at: http://www.barneymcclure.com/. I just melted when I heard those harmonies.

4. Yes!, Virginia! I WILL complete the sage of “Get Off the Bandstand”. It will have an ending…and an important lesson, so stay tuned.

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That’s just an outline of our agenda coming up, singers. I will continue to post free video clips based on questions and concerns I receive from you singers, so if you are working on something and need some advice or you have issues with vocal and performance matters, just let me know, okay?

Have a wonderfully joyful and fulfilling holiday, singers, and we’ll see you next year!!

Sin[g]cerely,
Chrys

LA was grand! Got to conduct my vocal performance workshop with my west coast students that I hadn’t seen in ages, and it felt really good to hear them each sing for me again. I never get over the good feelings that permeate and penetrate the space when folks who love music get together to sing. It keeps me young and motivated to keep promoting the joy of singing for its own sake and not only for material gain.

I want to let you all know that I am available for “live” workshops if we can pull together at least 8 singers in one location. Judging by the info I have on my mailing list, there are several of you in Canada, both on the eastern side around  Toronto and Montreal, and on the west coast like Vancouver.  There are also quite a few of you on the Minnesota area, and some other places as well.

If you’d like to experience the Sing Your Life vocal performance workshop, please contact me and I will put you in touch with other singers in your area.

I also wanted to tell you that you can now experience a free half hour consultation with me on Skype. The call is free and so is the lesson, and you get an idea of how my “live” lessons are conducted. All you need is a webcam, a computer microphone and Skype.

The tracks are still being put together on lists that you can download from the Members Only Page…so keep checking and downloading the lists you don’t have yet, make your choices and send me the entire file!

Okay, here’s the next installment of “Get Off the Bandstand”. Enjoy!!

(Previously, I told you about the “big star” that treated the band very badly, and the consequences that ensued. This time we explore the proper way to act around the musicians who are playing with you and for you.)

 

CHAPTER TWO
Honoring The Musician
 

More than in any other style of music, a Jazz singer must know what it means to honor her fellow musicians. Why? Because Jazz is a collaborative process where each and every member of the band, including the singer, are integral parts of a total expression, a story where each individual instrument represents a chapter without which the story would be incomplete.
 

So first and foremost, understand your PART!
 

• Don’t walk up onto a bandstand without knowing the song you’re going to sing, the key it’s in and its tempo…and how to count it off.
  
• Know the sign language to indicate, Back to the Beginning, (Top) or Extended Ending (Tag), etc.
  
• Don’t talk, just sing!
  
• At the end of the first chorus, (a chorus of a song is the complete song, sung or played ONE time through), step to the side and allow the other musicians who wish to participate, play their instruments.
  
• Listen to what they are playing, and applaud with the audience when each instrumentalist finishes his solo.
  
• Learn and understand “Trading Fours”.
  
• Have Fun!
  

 

 

Okay, let’s take these one by one, shall we?
 

Knowing your song, the key, the tempo.
 

Absolutely, the most crucial and telling aspect of your performance as a Jazz Vocalist is your musical knowledge when you approach the bandstand.
 

If you do not know the keys you sing in, you truthfully have
NO BUSINESS UP THERE…PERIOD!
 

 

 

 

In addition to knowing the key your song is in, you must of course know

• ALL of the words by heart, (no lyric sheets please, this isn’t Karaoke),
  
• and if the keyboard player doesn’t know your chosen song, you should have a lead sheet available. (A Lead Sheet is the melody line and the Chord Progressions, and sometimes the lyrics, but not necessarily).
  
• The lead sheet must be IN YOUR KEY, and not be just a piece of sheet music you purchased at the local music store.
  

 

Look, if you sing the song in Bb and you hand the keyboardist a piece of sheet music that’s in the key of G, you are forcing him to instantly transpose each chord, which I can tell you, most players HATE to do that on the bandstand ‘cause it acts as a distraction to their expression. More likely than not, you’ll be asked to sing it in G so his life can be a little easier.
Point being that if you don’t want to be singing in uncomfortable keys, bring music in YOUR keys.
·        And Always bring a copy for the bass player as well.
 

Knowing the Signs
 

On a Jazz bandstand the talking is done through the music, so there is a minimum of talking. Therefore Jazz musicians have developed a sort of “sign language” to indicate things to each other. Often the leader will call a song and hold up 3 fingers with which he points down to the floor, This means the song is in 3 flats or the  key of Eb. That tells all the players on the stage where the song is likely to begin and end. It’s called setting the “tonality”.
 

Jazz singers should make it their business to learn keys and be able to communicate to their musicians the key the tune is to be played in without having to yell it all over the stage.
 

It is also very helpful to signal the musicians when you’re preparing to sing the song out, (that is, sing the last chorus), whether you’ll be coming back in at the beginning, or the middle.
 

Usually, with a ballad, you can be more effective by coming back at the Bridge, so as not to draw the slower song out too much and possibly lose your listeners. Oh, and by the way, know what the “Bridge” of the song IS. And for that matter, “the First 8”, “Last 8”, “Tag”, “Intro”, “Bail Out”, etc.
 

Here are just a very few signs, (there are many more found in jazz theory books and websites):
 

·        Index finger on nose = back to bridge
·        Hand on top of head = back to the beginning
·        Outline circle with index finger = Tag
·        Key of song = number of flats, using fingers pointed down. Ex: Key of F, one finger pointed down, (1 flat),  or Key of D, 2 fingers pointed up, (2 sharps).
·        Index finger across the throat = Take it out…NOW!
 

 

Don’t Talk, Just Sing
 

A Jazz gig is a collaboration where all of the players are involved. It is NOT a showcase for the singer. In other words, it is NOT a Cabaret Act. The people gathered to listen are Jazz enthusiasts, and are interested in the music and how the musicians on the stage, including the vocalist, interact with one another, rather than anecdotal accounts of the singer’s experience.
 

That’s not to say, you can’t thank the crowd for the applause, or even announce the next tune, or acknowledge a soloist’s improvisation. It just means that you should keep the talking to a minimum. There is a place for patter, but a jazz gig is NOT that place.
 

Musicians with whom you are sharing the stage can become incensed when you start telling stories up there. It takes away from the music, breaks the flow that has been created, and steals the spotlight from the band as a whole to the singer alone.
 

And this leads us to the next item.
 

 

TO BE CONTINUED…
 

 

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(Previously, I started to touch on caring for your musicians, and I left you hanging when I mentioned an episode that involved a huge recording artist when I was on the road traveling with a big band.)

Here’s the rest of that story…

Our Band Bus had pulled into Harrah’s Club in Reno at about 8 AM after traveling all night from Anaheim, CA where we’d done several shows at Disneyland, as part their “Big Band Festival” that they always had every August.
 

As soon as we exited the bus, a guy who met us, approached the leader and asked if the band could play back up for the headliner, whose band guys were stuck somewhere in Idaho and were not going to make it to the club in time for her opening night. It was only for one night, so our leader agreed to it, after the price was negotiated.
 

Everyone had been looking forward to sleeping between some clean sheets for several hours before the show. When you’re on the road for several months a year, this becomes special, to sleep in a hotel because it only happens 3 nights out of the week, the rest of time we sleep on the bus, (but that’s another story, heck, it’s another book).
 

Well, the star of the show called a rehearsal for 1PM, so we went to our rooms, unpacked and did manage grab a few winks anyway.
 

As it turned out, her charts were not exactly clear with regard to repeats, intro’s and tags, so the band had to play several times and attempt to figure out how they went. Normally, it’s customary in situations like this to ask the singer what some of the symbols on the charts mean, but this singer,
not being able to read music herself was not helpful at all, and in fact became quite frustrated with the band, saying things like,
 

“What the Hell’s wrong with you people? Can’t you F***ing Read?”
 

Or there were exchanges like, “Where’s my starting note? My band always give me my starting note”
 

“It’s not on the sheet, but we’ll be glad to add it”. (So the band would play the intro and include the song’s starting note in the last bar, which would be played by the piano).
 

“That’s not the way they do it. I need to hear it better. Can’t the trumpet play it? You guys are F***ing LAME!”
 

I swear, I was in total shock!
 

Do you remember the 1979 movie with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, where a woman walks out on her husband and 4-year old child, and the young inexperienced dad is left to figure out how to parent his son? There’s a scene where Dustin Hoffman’s character is making breakfast, and his son is observing. As the waffle is being placed into the toaster, the boy announces, “That’s not right. That’s not the way Mom makes waffles. I want waffles that way MOM makes them”, and he runs out of the room.
 

Well, that’s the best way I can explain how this lady, a humungous star was acting during this rehearsal. Unbelievable!
 

So the rehearsal, which should have taken about an hour, ended up taking 3 ½ hours, which included several instances of undeserved, foul-mouthed verbal abuse by this so-called “sweetheart” of song to guys who had agreed to back her up and literally save her opening night. They were not happy.
 

And if the afternoon was not difficult enough, that night, she abused them even further by insulting them in front of the audience, saying things like,
 

“I know this band sucks, but try to stay with me okay? These A**holes can’t do anything right, but my real band will be here by tomorrow, so be sure to come back, okay?”
 

I was mortified and could not believe what I was witnessing. A big star like this who couldn’t read a note of music, could not answer simple questions from the musicians when they asked her, “What does this sign mean at Letter D?”, or “Are you coming at after 4 bars or 8”?
 

She would just yell and use some epithet to deflect the fact that she knew nothing about the music she was singing.
 

And I must admit that as a singer myself, I felt embarrassed for her, yet, at the time, I have to admit, with guilty pleasure, I thoroughly enjoyed her total humiliation when the band deliberately played several sour notes that threw her off and made her leave the stage in a rage, while the audience laughed their heads off.
 

She swore that the band would never work again, but as it turned out, it was she who was on her way to all kinds of trouble and pain, and while she HAS managed to hang on to her fan base, even today, I wonder how much tragedy in her life she could have avoided with a little more gratitude and less arrogance!
 

And as a 19 year-old watching this drama unfold, you can bet I took it all in with great interest, and counted my blessings that I knew how to read a chart and I silently vowed to always treat my band mates well.
 

I feel the need to mention here that since this incident, it has come out that this singer had a serious disorder and was also unfortunately addicted to pills, so maybe I can let her out of the  box on this one. After all, she was young, (only 2 years older than I at the time), and not all that stable to begin with.
 

Oh and by the way, while I can’t mention this singer’s name, lest I be sued from here to Timbuktu, if you want her name, drop me a private email and I’ll tell ya who it was.
 

My point is this.
 

Treat your musicians with civility and respect if you want to be treated that way yourself. And for Heaven’s sake, do NOT hide your inadequacies by making your band look bad. The band, the audience, and certainly the promoters can all see past that ploy, so you only demean yourself!
 

Let’s get really real here, singers! It’s easy to fall into a trap of self-importance when you’re being showered with the acceptance and accolades of applause…and all the “oohs” and “aahs” of your fans. Yes, I know!
 

But you cannot imagine how much higher you can go when you use your talent to bring people together…in joyous celebration of friendship that makes them feel love for one another, not just for you. That’s the real prize and it produces highs you will never forget.
 

In my Book on Promotion, I have a chapter on discovering who you are as a person as well as an artist BEFORE venturing out into the harsh realities of the music business. Part of that knowing is:

• the GRATITUDE for the gifts you possess
  
• HONORING your musicians
  
• the APPRECIATION for your audiences
  
• the CONSTANT THIRST for the continuation of your musical education
  
• GIVING BACK to your source of power through your music.
  

 

Sounds like lofty nonsense to many of you, I know…but hey! We’re just getting started!
 

 

          TO BE CONTINUED…