What To Do Before a Vocal Performance

ktvocalbusiness
Jul 1, 2021
4 min read

It’s your performance day and you are stressing out already. At the end of the day we learn and practice how to sing in order to be able to perform. Performance of any kind is a singer’s goal, and we must know what to do when that time comes.

Stress never disappears.. If you care about what you do you will always have some sort of stress. With experience and practice though, you learn how to control and eliminate stress as much as you can. Below I will give you some tips of what you can do before the performance so you can have a successful, easy going experience and to prevent as much stress, and problems as possible.

Before we go any further I want to explain that the act of singing has to do with our mind, body, soul and muscles. So keep in mind that a healthy mind and body unleashes a healthy voice. Take care of your inner singer.

SLEEP

Make sure that you get enough hours of sleep the day before in order to wake up feeling fresh and energized. Wake up 3-4 hours in advance to give yourself and your voice time to wake up and get ready.

DON’T USE THE WORD ‘STRESS’

Obviously you will be stressed.. Accept the fact and don’t try to trick yourself into something you are not. Stay calm, breathe, concentrate and enjoy yourself. Have some alone time in order to rest your voice and in order to prevent any negative thoughts or tension.

If you are in a crowded place surrounded by loud noise, you will have to speak louder than usual and that would tire out your voice. Also if you are in a place with other performers who are rushing and stressing out they will pass on that feeling to you and you will start stressing out and having negative thoughts, which is something we don’t want.

Stay Calm and have some alone time if you need to before you go on stage, so you don’t receive any bad energy and you don’t transmit any bad thoughts or energy to other performers / musicians.

HYDRATE

Make sure your body and voice are always hydrated. You should always drink lots of water, and always try and hydrate your vocal folds. Especially on a performance day make sure you stay hydrated. When we drink water, we don’t hydrate our vocal folds directly, but we hydrate our body which then helps our voice stay hydrated as well.

Although by inhaling steam we directly hydrate the vocal folds, so that is something you should do at least once a week, especially if you are a professional singer and have performances multiple times per week. You can do that by having hot steamy showers, by using vocal steamers (that only include water, no chemicals or aromas), or by placing your head over a bowl of hot water.

PLAN YOUR MEAL

I know if you are nervous you might not want to eat, but don’t perform on a totally empty stomach. Eat a small nutritional meal, 2-3 hours before singing and avoid ingredients and food that are not good for your voice, such as dairy, caffeine..etc. I will include more on this topic in my book.

WARM UP

Please always warm up before you use your voice, especially before a performance. Warm up an hour before the performance so you can take your time. Make sure that you go one or two notes higher/lower than your highest/lowest notes in your repertoire.

Also warm up well but not too much so you don’t tire out your voice before the performance. If you don’t know how to warm up there are plenty free warm ups online that you can use, or ask your vocal coach or voice teacher, or find a voice teacher that can help you. Stay tuned for my 101 Vocal Warm up Pack which is coming soon.

(Don't forget to get your Free Straw Vocal Warm up on my Website's Homepage)

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If you plan your day ahead and you were organized enough to prepare your repertoire and performance before hand, everything will work out better for you. Think Positive, try your best, and you will always improve.

These are only some tips.. I will include more information, tips and advice in my book ‘All a Singer Needs to know about the Performance Day‘ which will be coming soon. I have also published my 1st book of this series ‘All a Singer Needs to Know About Theory’ which you can find on Amazon Worldwide or on my Website, available as a paperback or eBook. I will leave the link below if you want to check it out, or if you wish to work with me on your voice.