Mark Williams Answers a Singer's Question
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How Do I Recover From a Rough Song Performance?

This week, we hear from a singer who ran into an unexpected rough spot in their last performance. Believe it or not this has happened to every singer at some point. How can we recover from that? Read on for my take on this common challenge.

Question

I have been following you for years. I have your cassettes (lol) and CD’s. You were even used in choir rehearsal. I used to solo a lot but stopped for quite a few years. I did a solo for Christmas and did very well. I recently did an Easter lead and my song was great until the ending. It can’t be erased and has gone out on the air waves. How do I try again? I know to trust God but I am still embarrassed to try. I’ve sung all my life I’m now 62. Thanks.

Answer

Before I give some possible answers to your questions I want to ask if you feel you were thoroughly prepared for the song? Were the high notes at the end a ‘risk’? Were they a ‘hit or miss’ going into the performance or did you have every confidence that you had those notes and could really nail them? So much of singing is confidence. Confidence and proper preparation.

In reading your question you point out that you took quite a few years off of singing. It’s so great that you did well at Christmas – because that tells you that you absolutely can do well. You, like countless others of us, just had one rough song—and only part of it was rough.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]So much of singing is confidence[/perfectpullquote]

My simplest suggestion to you would be to get back on the horse and choose a simple song to sing next. Get your confidence fully back. Choose a song to sing that is meaningful to you and that you know with complete confidence that you can sing every single note easily without worrying about notes or struggling.

The worst advice I could give you would be to just try that song again without any real training on it because the same thing could happen. Work up to it and make it a goal to ‘nail’ that song the next time you sing it, but sing something else first.

If you’d like a Vocal Assessment, I would love to hear your voice and give you some tips and maybe even some specifically for the end of that song. Also – since it sounds like it’s been a while since you’ve done a lot of solos – knowing that you have all of the cassettes :) and CD’s – you can revisit Breathing and Warm-Ups. I think those would be a great tool to really stretch you in a healthy way.

I made a coupon code for 10% off a Vocal Assessment for you. Just enter ‘roughsong’ in the cart.

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