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Practicing Performance

vocal practice and performance
Many singers consider practice and performance to be distinct activities. Gerald Klickstein, author of the new book The Musician’s Way, shows how they can be combined into an inclusive creative process.

Suppose that you’re preparing for a concert. How do you bridge the gulf between personal practice and public performance?

I’ve observed that many singers under-perform because they omit a crucial element from their preparatory routines: practice performances.

Here are three ways that any musician can practice performing and thereby become masterful on stage.

1. Assemble a performance-development group

The skills required to perform soulfully in public have to be practiced.

All of us, therefore, need opportunities to try out our material, learn how to manage our nerves, and hone our stage presence; I find that the ideal setting for doing so is within a performance-development group.

To form such a group, you need two or more soloists or ensembles of comparable ability, a defined space such as a classroom, and a mutually supportive attitude.

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Singing AND Screaming


Hello once again everyone!

As I said in my first blog, my major fear about being on the road was that I would blow out my voice and that would be the end of it all.

But no such thing happened. In fact, after several nights of singing and screaming over and over, making sure to be on top of doing all my vocal exercises, it got to the point that I didn’t want to stop.

So the ride back home was definitely a bummer— I really wanted to be singing at the next gig!

I think I came into this tour fully armed with all the necessary tools to have a successful time with my voice; however, I’m now a little wiser in the sense that I am better experienced with the tools that I possess.

I’m committed to warming-up correctly every day; about a half hour to forty-five minutes of practice time, with whatever rep one chooses, is definitely enough to stay on top of your game and then some.

Basically any vocalist needs to practice the highest standard of maintenance with their voice, especially with metal music where one is both singing AND screaming.

If you’re the singer who maintains perfect vocal health while smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and drinking a mess-load before going on stage, while I personally don’t recommend it, more power to you! But behavior like that may very well make you sound extra poopy and could ruin your performance.

You have a responsibility, not only to yourself but to your fellow musicians, to do whatever is necessary to remove any potential of those habits messing up your A-game. If you give your voice the respect and treatment it deserves, it will work wonders for you.

Maintenance ensures longevity and being around for a long time, doing what we love, is the goal that I think most of us want to achieve!

So that closes one chapter, now we go on to face a new challenge: singing in the studio!

My new goals are to expand the range of my scream (both high and low) and to develop a little warmer tone.

So, watch for my blog re. kicking butt on studio vocals.

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Any questions for Chris can be sent to editor@voicecouncil.com

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