what the singer actually does in a band

Singers arrive at their first band rehearsal expecting to sing the song. Then the guitarist asks what key it is in, the drummer asks how many bars the intro is, and someone starts the second verse while the singer is still breathing. The singing is the easy part.

In a band the voice is the instrument the audience follows, which makes the singer responsible for a lot more than the melody.

you are carrying the words

Everyone else in the band can play a slightly wrong note and get away with it. A missed lyric is heard by the whole room. Learn the words to the point where you are not thinking about them, because you need your attention for everything else happening on stage.

Diction has to survive a loud room, which means consonants arrive quickly and vowels stay open. In rehearsal, ask someone standing at the back whether the words are landing. They usually are not, and the fix is articulation rather than volume.

counting and cues

Somebody has to count the band in, and in most student bands it ends up being the singer or the drummer. Decide which, out loud, before you start the song. "Drummer counts four, I come in on the second bar" takes five seconds and saves three false starts.

Then hold the form. Know that the solo is eight bars, not twelve. Know whether the last chorus repeats. Count through the instrumental sections instead of waiting to feel the right moment, because at volume, with a drummer behind you, feel is unreliable.

lock to the drummer

New singers listen to the guitar, because that is what they learned the song from. In a band, the time comes from the drums and the bass. If you are following the guitarist and the guitarist is slightly behind the kick, you end up further behind than either of them.

Stand where you can hear the hi-hat. On stage that often means standing a little off centre rather than directly in front of the kit.

the microphone is part of the instrument

Hold it a couple of centimetres from your mouth, pointing at you rather than at the ceiling, and keep that distance steady on quiet phrases. On the loudest notes, move back slightly. That one habit does more for your sound than any amount of pushing.

Do not cup your hand around the grille. It feels like a stage move and it collapses the microphone's pickup pattern, which is what gives you feedback. And keep the microphone pointed away from the speakers in front of you.

the bars where you are not singing

There are usually sixteen of them in the middle of the song, and standing still staring at the floor is the default. Decide in advance what happens: you turn to the soloist, you clap the backbeat, you step back from the mic, you cue the band for the last chorus. Make it a decision rather than an accident.

getting through a long rehearsal

Voices are muscle and tissue, and they tire differently from fingers. Warm up before the band starts rather than using the first song as the warm-up. Do not shout over the amps between songs; wave, or wait. If you are hoarse at the end of every rehearsal, something in the setup needs fixing, and that is worth raising in your next lesson. The basics of breath and warming up are in starting to sing without straining.

Band Club runs at both campuses, and most student bands are short of a singer. If you want the vocal work first, private vocal lessons are the place to build it. Tell your teacher, or message us on Telegram at @supersoundbkk or @supersoundtk.