Sing 4 Your Life! THE BLOG For Singers!

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 Foursâ€?.
  
• 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…