Be Yourself. Annnnd, “Action!”

When you’re out singing somewhere and you talk in between songs, it’s not scripted, right?  Whatever you decide to talk about just comes naturally at that point, right?  So, that same comfort zone should be where you stay throughout your whole performance.

Although you’re an entertainer when you’re on stage singing and, thus, some people might consider you a personality, you’re not performing the same way that an actor is.  The job of an actor is to assume the role of a particular character and portray that person to the audience through their dialogue, personality, emotions, mannerisms, and so on.

One could argue that there’s a difference between Joe when he’s the singer/songwriter on-stage versus during the day when he’s Joe ordinary citizen.  But he’s not acting as a singer/songwriter.  He’s on stage because he writes songs and can sing decent enough to get up and do so in front of a crowd.

That’s why I’m surprised when I hear singers that all have the same sound nowadays.  It tells me that they’re trying too hard.  It gets worse, though.  Get this – they’re trying too hard to be themselves.

Did you ever meet someone and after listening to them talk for a bit you conclude, “This person has a great radio voice”?  Chances are they’re not even in broadcasting.  That’s just how their speaking voice sounds.

So why, then, do singers not just open their mouth and let the lyrics and the melody come out?  It starts to get rather monotonous after a while, listening to singer after singer after singer come with their sound and it’s really just what so many others are doing nowadays.

Singers, you are overthinking this.

Yes, there is formal training.  And yes, you want to have great diction.  And yes, we want to feel your emotion.  And yes, your voice is your instrument.  But don’t embellish it to sound a certain way, because everyone else is already doing it.  We want to hear you, not the last girl we just heard and the girl before that.

Did you ever start writing a song and then stop and say, “Wait a minute.  This melody sounds familiar”?  It’s because you end up realizing that it’s from something you’ve heard before.

So, similarly, with singing, don’t be a copycat.  Actually be yourself.  I’ll say it again.  Open your mouth and let the lyrics and the melody come out.  You don’t try to be yourself.  That means you’re pressing.  You just act normal and be yourself and we will see your uniqueness.

It’s like the saying goes, “Just be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.”