How many of you actively gig/sing in public?

Wurly

Happy Wednesday folks.

Just wondering how many of you are actively gigging at the moment or do some sort of singing in public?

I have some friends who absolutely adore singing but never want to be part of a band or indeed perform in front of anyone. i used to be the same until I started getting involved in Karaoke in my teens. A love of performing was born and then I started getting involved in bands etc. For me, nothing beats the thrill of doing a really good gig.

Some singers though are just content to sing for themselves. Some even get coaching for this purpose and never get heard by anyone else.

So - do you sing in public or private? Or a birra both?:)

wet-paint

Mostly public, everything from weddings and medieval banquets, to busking on the street, barbershop quartets, restaurant background entertainment and choirs and solo gigs in requiem masses.
Good craic.

Wurly wrote: »

Happy Wednesday folks.

Just wondering how many of you are actively gigging at the moment or do some sort of singing in public?

I have some friends who absolutely adore singing but never want to be part of a band or indeed perform in front of anyone. i used to be the same until I started getting involved in Karaoke in my teens. A love of performing was born and then I started getting involved in bands etc. For me, nothing beats the thrill of doing a really good gig.

Some singers though are just content to sing for themselves. Some even get coaching for this purpose and never get heard by anyone else.

So - do you sing in public or private? Or a birra both?:)

Wurly

Barbershop quartet?? EPIC. That's amazing.

wet-paint

Whatever pays the bills.

Fi H

Interesting question! I've recently started writing my own songs & love singing but absolutely go to pieces when i try to sing in public! that even goes for karaoke unless i have had about 10 pints at which stage my nerves are grand but i'm incapable of singing

Any tips on public singing would be greatfully appreciated!

wet-paint

Practice was the only thing that got me over it, as well as the gradual realisation that unless you're busking, people there are there to hear you, and are already predisposed to liking what you do, it's a positive atmosphere. Go out on stage with the mind set that you're there to give the audience a good show, they're not there to critique you, but to be impressed by you.

Also, joining a choir means that all of the emphasis is not on you, so it gives you a stepping stone to getting over performance nerves.

Wurly

I started in musical societies. So I got used to using my body, getting into the song character wise and singing in groups. Highly recommended.

metaoblivia

I do sing in public sometimes. For a while, I was involved in a vocal ensemble, but then I moved away. I was disappointed because I love performing in ensembles and I really enjoyed the music selection. Recently, I performed in a Christmas show, sang in the pre-show ensemble and did a few solos throughout the show. And last October, I did possibly my biggest performance ever at the Orpheum Theatre in LA (there were 1700 people in attendance, I think). I sang in a trio and the video is actually up on youtube (and had something like 60,000 views, eek!).

Lady Chuckles

I sing in public in choirs a few times per year
It's been a while since I did a solo performance. I'd like to do it again sometime (mainly to conquer what ever stage fright is still there) but I'm happy out where I am

salex

I sing in public.
I love feedback energy from audience.
It is great filling.

Press_Start

I openly sing in bands and an acoustic duo.

I'm studying voice in music in college. I find it a great way to get the best out of your vocals, because i think if you can stand up and sing in a mediocre sound quality room in front of people you don't know and sing well, it can take the edge off of exams and more relaxed situations.

In terms of performing i can;t get enough of it. I'd do a gig every night if i could. nothing beats the feeling of people singing along with you and bouncing off the energy of the audience/ crowd. Especially if you wrote the song, and people are singing it afterwards!!
For me though the nicest , maybe not the best, but the most all round nicest part is the immediate aftermath of either a song or a gig. When people show you what they thought, be it polite clapping, rapturous applause, or just some kind words after the gig itself. It lets me know that people give enough of a toss to actually give me feedback, and if they enjoyed it, what they enjoyed about it, and if they didnt, why not? I accept criticism as long as it is constructive, and not "You're Sh*t Boi"

shefellover93

Doing a bitta busking, my first experience of actually singing to people (Drums are my first instrument) and I spose when people give you their hard earned cash it's a nice confidence booster That being said I wouldn't give myself money just cause I always hear my little mistakes and I hate my voice when I sing :pac:

9959

Fi H wrote: »

Interesting question! I've recently started writing my own songs & love singing but absolutely go to pieces when i try to sing in public! that even goes for karaoke unless i have had about 10 pints at which stage my nerves are grand but i'm incapable of singing

Any tips on public singing would be greatfully appreciated!

Well for starters, 10 pints is far too much for performing. Try and limit it to an imperial gallon (8 pints). However, a matinee involving an audience of children is a different matter, here it is highly recommended that you 'go hard' on the self-medication, a gallon and a half (12 pints) plus a couple of 'liveners' BEFORE the interval. Try and gauge how you feel whilst you're having your bag of crisps (large) during the break, if you can feel anything at all you might need a top-up, don't go mad, a couple of large vodkas and a glass of sherry should suffice. Then, walk back out on stage (or at least try and walk) and give 'em hell. The best of luck with your career!!!

G.K.

I'm part of an acapella group sining at the Albert Hall on November the 12th. I also sing with that group in other concerts and have played singing parts on stage as well (And I will be again in Les Mis come April).

Despite trumpet being my first instrument I find I have fewer confidence issues while singing.

Second and Sebring

I sing in public in a band. I've mostly stuck to backin' vocals till recently when I became a lead vocalist but nothin' beats that rockstar feelin' of singin' in the shower.:L

Niamho!

I sing at weddings mostly. Every other party I go to I nearly always end up singing too but not sure if that counts.

i used to turn down every opportunity to sing in public because of my nerves but now i'm fine. I love it, and I don't have to be asked twice now.

People are always telling me i'm wasted and I should be doing something, and when they ask me why i'm not I can't really say for sure. I'm confident, but i'm not really confident in putting myself out there I think... I don't know!

wet-paint

Currently printing off a ream of material to bring to America in a week, I'm off on a six month tour of the States singing in a quartet.

Gigiddy.

Wurly

wet-paint wrote: »

Currently printing off a ream of material to bring to America in a week, I'm off on a six month tour of the States singing in a quartet.

Gigiddy.

WOW - that's fantastic. Well done you!;)

Aurongroove

christmas is a very busy time for singers. I have a band, a folk harmony group, a choir and there's always sessions going on. I do the odd bit of classical singing too. weddings ans such.

G.K.

I'm going to be involved a few weddings soon, the first ones I've done, should be good.

Got Les Mis, National Festival of Music and a few school gigs lined up already for 2013.

Wish I hadn't already done the Albert Hall gig, that was a great experience.

G.K.

Sang with the Swingle Singers today.

Wurly

Wuhoo - happy Friday to you.

9959

G.K. wrote: »

Sang with the Swingle Singers today.

Was it all 'a capella'?

G.K.

Yeah.

9959

G.K. wrote: »

Yeah.

Great stuff.
Barbershop, Doo-Wop (A Cappella), Choral Singing, IMO there's nothing purer than the sound of unaccompanied human voices in sweet harmony.
By the way, I say this as a ham-fisted guitarist and pianist!

harmony24

hey!

me myself i have been in a few bands. i absolutly love singing, but ive two little boys now so i have to focus on them at the mo, but i hope to get back into the gigs when they get older, why do you ask anyways? :P

G.K.

Sang solo in public for the first time.

Sang Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin.

coffee_cake

Doing a feis in a month
erk

9959

G.K. wrote: »

Sang solo in public for the first time.

Sang Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin.

bluewolf wrote: »

Doing a feis in a month
erk

Irving Berlin probably the greatest lyricist of them all, with Stephen Sondheim and Sammy Cahn running him close.
"Let's Face The Music And Dance" is my particular favourite.


bluewolf,
Feis!?!...... double erk!
There may be trouble ahead......

coffee_cake

Yeah, doing the Lieder one
start big :eek::p

Loumeg

I too have never been brave enough to sing in public, I would get a real feeling of absolute horror being asked to sing at family do's especially when a close family member threatens me to do it ha, but then once I would sing the response from everyone would feel so electric that I would want to go again. My biggest problem is that i cannot sing once i have had a drink or two, my voice goes all hoarse it is so annoying.

I was asked to sing at my fathers wedding recently and none of my father's side knew that I could sing and the response was so overwhelming I managed to steal the spotlight. Since my sister put the video on FB I have now been asked to do two other weddings and NOW IM ****TING IT ha!!! Need to get lessons