Singing (Vocals)

• Breathe in through your nose rather than your mouth when singing because your nasal passages moisten the air which is great for the vocal chords.
• If you've got dry mouth or dry throat, drink more water daily and lay low on things that dehydrate like anything with caffeine, alcohol, and smoking.
• Don't let your larynx rise while singing. If you drop your jaw and keep your tongue flat, your larynx will stay in place.
• Breathing in should be silent and a sip will do ya' if you send it to the lower part of your lungs.

• Work on singing technique daily, creating body memories that you can then rely on during a performance without having to think about it.

• Speak a lyric and then sing it like you speak it to create a more authentic sound and use of phrasing.

• Pretend you`re going to yawn. The position of your mouth, tongue and throat right before you actually flip into the yawn, the pre-yawn position, is the position you want to have while singing.

• You should never feel any strain in your throat when singing. Even if you`re screaming.

• Judging your voice by the way it sounds only can be misleading due to surroundings, sinuses, and lack of objectivity. So, judge your singing by the way it physically feels rather than by the way it sounds.

• If your chest moves when you take in a deep breath. You are not breathing correctly.

 

Performance

• Don’t open with your best song.
• Always have a plan and then be spontaneous off the plan.
• Don’t face the drummer when ending a song.
• Walk with purpose and stay in one spot until you finish a line or a riff before heading to another spot.
• Unless you’re writing a new song, always practice as if it’s the live performance.
• Let the song dictate the moment you’re creating visually and emotionally.
• Create different amounts of pressure on the audience using stage positions and angles.
• Make your “high’s” higher and your “low’s” lower, which includes use of dynamics, tempo, energy, and movement.
• Don’t talk between every song. Know what you want to say and when you want to say it.
• Don’t let cables, mic stands, lighting etc. control you and your performance, use them to create the performance you want.