How to cope with Stage Fright

how to conquer stage fright

It made the Beatles vomit before their stadium shows. It kept Barbara Streisand from performing for over a decade. I watched it make Steven Tyler pace nervously in his dressing room before a show at the Boston Garden. From butterflies to panic attacks, stage fright is nothing more than a fear of the unknown. How will the audience react? Will I forget the lyrics or sing out of tune? Will my voice hold out? Since none of these questions can be answered before hand, anxiety builds.

Preparation before Singing

Preparation can help. If you are well rehearsed and in good physical condition, any reasonable person would expect to perform well. But stage fright is not a rational fear, and performers are not reasonable people. It doesn’t matter if it’s all in the mind; dwelling on worst-case scenarios puts a real clamp on the voice. Trying to talk yourself out of these mental tail-spins only makes things worse. What’s important to remember is that anxiety means you care. Apprehension is good, positive, energy which heightens reflexes and expands our abilities. Your job before a gig is not to deny fear, but to manage its symptoms.

Fear triggers a fight or flight response, making the body rigid, shutting down digestion and increasing the heart rate. This creates a lousy environment for singing. At the first sign of nerves get your body moving. Swing your arms and legs like a wide-sweeping pendulum. Slow, steady, controlled movements are calming. For most of us, loading the equipment before the gig can serve as a good physical distraction, so focus on lifting properly -- don’t rush.

Nervous dry-mouth robs the vocal folds of vital lubrication, no matter how well you hydrate. When the digestive system shuts down, the saliva ducts close; the water you drink never reaches its target. Placing almost anything in your mouth should stimulate the saliva glands to reopen, but watch for counter-productive side effects. Forcing a meal on a nervous stomach causes cramps, gas and excessive mucus. Chewing gum can make it difficult to release your jaw later when singing. Sugar-free lozenges are okay, but I find it easier just to suck on my finger. The salt gets my mouth watering without coating the throat.

Take Deep Breaths

A rapid heart-rate shallows breathing. To reduce your pulse, inhale on a slow ten count, hold your breath for ten, then release for another ten counts. Incorporate your voice by singing long, low volume, single notes. The longer you sustain, the better the next breath will be. Repeat this until the voice stops shaking. Don’t rush the process by adding force. When single notes become steady, vocalize on scales or light phrases from songs, slowly challenging range and volume.

Control Your Mind

If you freak-out on stage, take command of your thoughts immediately. Barrage the irrational feelings with bits of reality. Recite your name and birthday to yourself. What is the date? This may seem ridiculous, but I’ve coached many people through panic attacks who could not recall how old they were for a minute or two. Most of all, remember that an audience is human. People will pull for you if you let them know how you feel. Missed lyrics and bad pitches are instantly forgiven if your heart is in the right place. Would you think any less of a performer who looked nervous? Of course not. So, give your audience the same credit and open up. Don’t let fear keep you off the stage.

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Anatomy 101

"Anatomy 101" - Mark Baxter

Welcome students. Today we will take a look at the basic parts of our vocal instrument. I’m sure you considered cutting this class; singers rarely educate themselves on the various parts of the body. They fear the knowledge will hamper free spirit. Ironically, this attitude often inhibits vocal ability due to common misconceptions. Many of us maintain a cartoon-like perception of anatomy. We picture, for instance, the lungs to be hollow, balloon-like organs occupying the entire area inside the rib cage. Muscle behavior is based on these larger-than-life perceptions, causing problems with control.

Singing starts with an inhale. Most people know this action requires the diaphragm but are not aware of its location or how it works. Place your hand over your belly button. This area is NOT your diaphragm; it is the abdominal wall. The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle which divides your torso, separating the lungs and heart above (thoracic cavity) from the digestive organs below (abdominal cavity). To locate, place your finger at the bottom of your sternum bone (breast plate); the diaphragm crosses directly behind. Notice it is fairly high up inside the rib cage. Now place your hands on your chest, fingers facing up, with the base of the palms on your nipples. This provides a good visual of the size of your lungs. Made of thousands of tiny air sacks called alveoli, the lungs resemble dense sponges more than balloons. They do not draw in air themselves; they are enlarged as the diaphragm descends (inhale) and reduced as the diaphragm returns (exhale). When you hear the term ‘support’ in relation to singing, it means the diaphragm is able to move up and down freely and make minute adjustments in air pressure. It does not mean to push from the abdominal wall.

The larynx is in the middle of the throat, sitting on top of the windpipe and is the vibrator of the instrument. Its inside diameter is about the size of a quarter. There are two horizontal flaps within the larynx, called vocal folds, which can partially cover the windpipe and vibrate when air passes through. These folds are similar to eyelids in size and shape but are covered by mucus membranes and need to be kept lubricated. There is a network of muscles in and around the folds which manipulate their tension for pitch change, thickness for volume and their position for a variety of tonal qualities. These muscles operate reflexively, like those of the eye, and work best when provided with an appropriate amount of air pressure.

There is a short stretch of throat above the larynx called the pharynx. It is the main resonator of the voice. Most of us imagine this area as having a large diameter; yet we know better than to swallow a penny. The pharynx is lined with sensitive muscles which narrow the internal space further in response to contractions of the abdominal wall. The pharynx connects to the mouth and nasal cavities, also important resonators. The muscles of the tongue and jaw are the strongest in the body, and both brace instinctively to provide extra rigidity to the throat. All these closing actions greatly reduce the potential for overtones. Another reason not to over-drive your air pressure.

Every instrument requires a specific touch and the voice is no exception. Visualizing how small the parts of your instrument really are will help balance muscle activity. What I have provided is a very basic overview. Do yourself a favor and explore an anatomy book. The more you know about the functions of each part, the easier it is to make any instrument sing. That’s all for today. Class dismissed.

We have teamed up with one of our singing partners to bring you this great FREE offer to really help you kick start your singing voice. You are going to quickly discover everything you never knew about singing... and how to exercise and get the best out of your vocal chords so you can sing with full vocal range and develop lasting good habits that take your voice from ordinary to extraordinary! Singorama can help you. Not only is it educational, it's really fun! Click on the image below to discover how.....




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Maximum Range

Maximum Range - Mark Baxter

Not once has an award been handed out for singing glass-shattering high notes. Likewise, no song has ever become popular simply because it contained some birdcalls. Yet, we singers tend to fixate on range as if it’s the reason we’re not winning awards and selling piles of CD’s. True, there is an emotional lift when a melody soars upward, but the pitches should always be proportionate to the instrument. Sing at the height of your voice’s potential and your audience will assume your abilities are limitless. Sing beyond your boundaries and you merely call attention to your limitations. This does not mean you are stuck with the measly dozen or so pitches you sing well these days; rarely does a singer access his or her full genetic range without some training. It does mean, though, that before you worry about expanding, it helps to embrace what you have.

Vocal range is a lot like the range of motion of your limbs. Can you drop down into a split without warming up? Even after warming up? For most, the elasticity necessary for a move like that requires a long program of stretching. The same is true for your voice. The vocal folds are membranes (a little smaller then your eyelids) that close over the windpipe. When air streams through the tiny opening they create, their edges vibrate. The vibration is nothing more than a microscopic wiggle. Look closely at a guitar string after it’s played and you’ll see them same thing. The speed of the wiggle, or vibration, is called the frequency. We refer to frequencies, or pitches, by their beats per second. The pitch, for instance, that an orchestra uses when tuning is A – 440, meaning the frequency wiggles 440 times in one second (the larger the number, the higher the pitch). To sing high, your vocal folds have got to vibrate fast.

The action required to sing different notes is very much like tuning a guitar. Muscles surrounding the larynx pull or release the folds to create high and low pitches. The amount of movement required for your entire range is microscopic. I suggest you reread that previous line about a thousand times until it is embedded in your subconscious. The root of all vocal problems is that we perceive the activities involved with singing as big events. They are not. We ball our fists and load up enough air pressure to create an aneurysm just to get through the chorus of a song. The automatic reaction to such force is resistance; the body braces for the assault. Rigid muscles surrounding the larynx deny flexibility and lock up the vocal folds. No flexibility, no range – it’s that simple.

The key to singing high notes is volume. Reducing the volume of your voice removes the burden of excess air pressure so your folds can become more elastic. Just as it takes a little stretching every day to get your legs into a split, vocalizing daily at a low volume will allow you to visit higher notes without stress. It’s best to sing scales rather than songs at first; the memory of a song’s performance will lead you to pushing. Allow you higher notes to venture into falsetto or head voice. It’s okay if the transition cracks or skips out; this is just a symptom of your imbalanced ways. Don’t worry that the light voice you vocalize with is not up to performance standards. Only after you are completely comfortable with producing a note at a low volume should you attempt to raise the output. Increasing the volume in very small increments will allow you to monitor muscle independence. If facial or neck muscles join in to support a note, you’ve added too much air pressure. Your controllable range for the day lies waiting at the balance point between force and flexibility. And as always, tomorrow is another day.

Mark Baxter's site: http://voicelesson.com/home.htm

We have teamed up with one of our singing partners to bring you this great FREE offer to really help you kick start your singing voice. You are going to quickly discover everything you never knew about singing... and how to exercise and get the best out of your vocal chords so you can sing with full vocal range and develop lasting good habits that take your voice from ordinary to extraordinary! Singorama can help you. Not only is it educational, it's really fun! Click on the image below to discover how.....




We always appreciate feedback so please tell us how much you liked the singing tips. Please remember to share, like and post with your friends or anyone who is also looking for great free singing tips than you very much and look forward to seeing you back soon.