[chilovesjj]

Hi hi ^.^
So I've been asked to sing some songs at a Japanese culture day at a university~
And this probably sounds really stupid, but I've never really been taught how to perform live.
...thus I think I'm probably really bad at it .___."
So I just wondered if anyone with a bit more experience could give me some tips?

How to really.. entertain, rather than just, SING. I feel like all I've done previously is sing,
so it's not much of a performance. Does that make sense? I don't know xD
(It's also been quite a while since I sang live, it was at some school concert or other, lol)
This is obviously a bigger event, and in previous years it's had over 1000 people attending.

Hopefully some kind soul will understand what I'm trying to say (I'm terrible at wording things xD)
and give me some advice, any advice on performing live, in general. ?

Also, advice on types of songs to sing? They just want 'jpop' songs so I have a lot to choose from.
But of course I have no dancers (and I'm not an amazing dancer myself XDD),
so I figure really dancey songs would be boring if I just stand there? But I don't want to do all ballads either.
So just. Yeah. xD; Any and all help and input will be very much appreciated!

Thankyou~!

[amydien]

I've performed quite a few times in a large crowd before, so maybe I can suggest some that I've been taught before...

Remember to look at the crowd as if you're talking to them when you're singing. It helps "connect" with the audience.
Smile, especially if you are going to sing a happy song.
It's okay to close your eyes once in a while if you're feeling the song, but dont close your eyes throughout the entire performance (you'll look weird lol).
Move around the stage even for a bit so that you dont look like a singing statue. Or walk from one side of the stage to another, so that it looks like you're involving the audience in your performance (you'll see many artists do this too). Even if it's a small stage, you can still do this

I hope that helps somehow. Some of them are quite obvious things to do though, sorry if these are not the advice you were seeking

[LK.]

Yep I agree with Amy,

I was told once ( because I was in the same position as you ) by a 'wise man' ( haha ) that being nervous creates selfish energy. He later explained that when you perform, you perform for everyone, When you're nervous you make it all about 'yourself', so chillax ! have fun !

☆ Relax! Relax! 心に
Relax! Relax! 深呼吸 ☆

I love performing by the way! well not singing wise .. haha.

[nx_kiiwii74]

amydien has really good advice ^^
also, it's great to be really into the song as you sing. but be careful with facial expressions -- if you're too into it you might end up having an awkward face and it'd be really awkward for the audience to watch as well xD i learned that from watching an older performance of mine... it scarred me for life. lol. keep an expression fitting to the sing you're singing~
jpop, huh? maybe a mid-tempo r&b songs so you can move around but don't have to dance? if i think of any i'll edit.
take deep breaths before you go out on the stage. i find im always close-to-death from nervousness backstage but when im out there its not that bad. gather your confidence and think of it like, "all right! yay its showtime, time to show these ppl what im made of ^o^V" if its a big crowd i think that's even better -- too many faces to see any individual expressions. like singing to a gigantic blob of colors ^-^ ♥
haha positive feelings!!
if i think of anything else i shall edit good luck!

[chilovesjj]

Thankyou for all of your advice, your suggestions are all really helpful!

Amy- don't worry, that is just the kind of advice I wanted, thankyou! <3 I tend to kinda be a singing statue XDD So I'll try to move around a bit and sing more expressively ^.^ I am pretty noob at performing so even things that seem obvious, are very helpful to me lol

Lamassu- that's a really good point actually yeah, I never thought of it like that. If I sing for them and don't focus on myself so much, it will probably be a better performance, and I'll feel less nervous. I'll definitely try to remember that ^.^ (a wise man indeed! ^^)

nx_kiiwii74- you make some good points too, I've seen some singers make REALLY weird faces when they sing. I have a big mirror in my living room, so I'll practice singing in front of that to make sure that I don't look strange! xD Thanks for all your suggestions, and for wishing me luck!

[osamayomama]

it really depends...
are u singing with a live band? or an instrumental? that make alot of difference.

if u are playing with a band get pple to stand get start clapping to the beat and just give them the mic once a while
and things like SCREAMMMM~~~ at the end of everyother song would be nice

if u are playing with an instrumental.... just throw some funny phrases or skats in middle of intros or bridges

and for the type of songs... i definatly recommand jrock even if u're singing with an istrumental. its gives you alot of flexability with your performance and alot of room for adlibs. and its not too boring ^^

[chilovesjj]

^singing with instrumentals Would you be able to recommend any Jrock songs? ^.^" I don't really know very much Jrock but if you can give some examples of songs that could work then I could try them out I've actually edited the instrumentals of songs I'm considering atm, so that there are no long instrumental sections, I cut them all down since I figured they'd be boring since I'm not dancing or anything in the intervals xD

[KleptoPenguin]

Hmm... advice, advice... crap, at moments like this, my mind retires...

For ballads, I find taking in a breath to 'breathe' in the music in the intro before singing helps out. You usually end up smiling too, because you've got to think 'this is a great song, and I'm about to sing it!'. It also gets you into the smooth, calm mood a ballad gives. Keep your shoulders relaxed, and when you hit high notes, open into them, expanding up your chest so you can have as much air as possible, supporting it with your stomach. Look happy and sad according to the lyrics. In ballads, expressions really are essential, because you're selling this song to the audience! If you believe what you're singing, they'll believe it too.

For upbeat music, show plenty of attitude. Move yourself according to the beat. Once the music starts, walk around the stage to the rhythm of the track, and stop at the appropriate points to interact with a small section of the audience, then go back to including the whole audience. If there's a 'big' moment, get yourself back to centre-stage, face the whole audience, and belt it out, because this your moment!

As a general thing, before the performance, read through the lyrics, as if you're saying it to someone, act it out. Keep how you say it in mind when you sing it, because you'll be singing it really genuinely, knowing what all the lyrics mean, and you'll mean it too. This comes out in your singing, and means any expression you put in will be totally natural and honest.

Hope some of this helped. Sadly I don't know any J music, so I'm rendered useless ^^;

[twinkerbell]

Ahh Chi, i don't really have any advice on how to perform live, because i never performed live either XD
But i can give you some advice for ome songs if you're still searching for^^

How about some songs from Ikimono Gakari? My ultimate all-time favorite song, Sakura, i would recommend it to you day and night^^. It's a sad song, but it's not a ballad, more like a mid-tempo one, but you don't have to dance either (the original singer(s) don't dance either).
Or another one from them could be Hana Wa Sakura. That's like Sakura too, sad song but nothing ballad-ish. Well, maybe the first 10 seconds, but it rapidly changes^^

Here are YT links of their live performances too, if yu wanna see^^

Hana Wa Sakura
And for Sakura, sorry but i really couldn't find a live performance @__@ - Sakura

Personally, i think these 2 songs are beautiful and you can show off well your voice^^
And if you decide to do one of these, i have the onstrumentals already for them (+ the originals) so if you want, i could PM you ad send them to you^^)

Hope my advices helped you in a way XD

[bands182]

becca what are you on about!
you performed live before!! you were even on TV singing before!!
youll be fine dont worry

all the advice above is really good, im probably a boring singing performer....[i cant sing that great ha~]
but ive performed with friends and if im too nervous to look at the audience i just dont focus in on the faces, but remember to always lift your chin up, cos ive conducted singers before who always seem to shy away and look down a bit, which restricts the airway hence lower the vocal volume.
smile and dazzle them with your talent and prettiness unnie ^^

fighting!!

-Ali

ps- englands getting warmer

[C13L]

In terms of song choice here are some things to consider when it's for a cultural event:

- Upbeat songs that people are familiar with (assuming that the majority of the people watching aren't Japanese or know Japanese) People will compare you to the original but i think the audience gets into the song easier if they've heard it before
- song with some english lyrics in it so the audience can relate. Depending on your song choice you can even get people to sing along or repeat what you sing.


Clapping is cheesy but it's fun too if you find a correct place to do it that doesn't make people too tired to clap on. (for some songs this can be before a bridge or a part of a song that slows down because then it won't be awkward for them to stop at that point... another point for some songs could be the end chorus)


If the song has a long intro you can talk to the crowd.


Be in the moment and perform for the people =)

[RiderKamen]

I never musically performed to a large audience but what I do is that you practice until you reach before the breaking point.

When u perform, u got to exaggerate far as in being in the song. Hand gestures communicate to the audience; what you are wearing is communicating to the audience; your location and stance communicates to the audeince.

[acchord]

Wow congrats on that great opportunity to perform by the way. Now I would say this I am not an expert performer but I study performances pretty in depth.

1. Crowd interaction
- As stated above relax so you're not overanalyzing yourself (this helps if you practice aloooot so your performance becomes instinctive this frees up your mind to focus on presentation and crowd interaction) Give yourself to the crowd. Interact with them, wave, look at certain people. Well I probably wouldn't wave during a heart wrenching ballad haha but use fair judgement.

2. Practice Practice Practice ( practice singing in a mirror or singing in a dance studio mirror if possible or the biggest mirror close to you) Envision how you would want to see someone perform the song and try your best to create that atmosphere on stage. Trust yourself as a consumer and audience member. They probably want to see what you would want to.

3. Work the stage and naturally just vibe with the music. Let the music flow through you. One thing I can't stand is over rehearsed strict movements to music. You can tell the difference between a singer that dances or moves to music out of expression and the singer that is going 1 and 2 and 3, 4 and 5 in their head. So go on the stage where you feel like going but try to reach everyone at least once. So everybody gave some aweessoooome advice. So GO AHEAD AND DO IT!! FIIIIIIIIGGHTING!! haha I always wanted to say that. Hey see if you can record it so your soompi family can see how great your are