Singing Is Communicating

What are we saying with our singing? Are we communicating anything beyond simply reciting the words of the song?
Many singers unfortunately end up saying nothing much at all. That’s because we too often get caught in one of two traps: either stage fright or over-focusing on technique and how beautiful the voice sounds. Of course, good technique and how your voice sounds are vital, but they are not the whole story. Far from it!
Singing, at the core of it, is about communicating an idea, a feeling, or a story to our listeners. That’s what’s going to move an audience, make them feel something, and ultimately make your performance memorable. We as performers are there, ultimately, to give something to the audience. It’s about them, not us!
In order to communicate well with our listeners, we need to dig deep into the song and figure out what story is being told and what emotions connect with that story. We then need to learn the skill of communicating that story so the audience can experience those emotions. Performance and acting skills are just as important as vocal technique, if not sometimes more important.
It doesn’t matter if you’re singing words or simply “ah” or “oo” – you can still emote with no actual lyrics.
So no more blank faces when singing, okay?