Sing like a Guitar

This one is for the singers. I've always been an advocate of good bands and musicians as a unit. I'll admit that until the past year or so I never gave background singers as much attention as other instrumentalists, until I had to help out on some vocals on a few gigs. I'm by no means a vocal giant and am somewhat reluctant to call myself a vocalist of any kind, but lately it's been something I've given a lot of attention.

Too often background singers come into gigs with a huge amount of "I's" and "My's." They think extra hard about "my" note, how do "I" look, and this is "my" spot on the stage. Just like instrumentalists, THIS IS BLATANTLY THE WRONG APPROACH!! While you must hone in on your part to execute it perfectly, the most important function of you and anybody in your unit is where you fit in the entire puzzle. I was on a gig recently, and the singers all plopped themselves directly in front of the only two monitors on that side of stage. The problem with this was they were the only monitors for the keyboardist and guitarists! Sometimes a lack of the amount of monitors is key, as it was at this gig, and the ones present can't be moved, but that's when you PLAN FURTHER and think about the entire unit and not use the "I/My" mentality.

Furthermore, the key to any gig, no matter your role, is what's going on around you. With singers, you must blend. I repeat: YOU MUST BLEND!!!! A vocal unit must sound like ONE VOICE with a strange ability to produce multiple tones at once. A good analogy is to think about your unit as a guitar. When a guitarist hits a chord, you hear every note as one. Each note sings together to create one beautiful sound. This is exactly why most good guitarists will check their tuning by striking a chord; one note off in the body of the chord can make for poo poo in an instant. Use the same mentality, vocalists: listen to everybody around you in your unit, though you can hear the individual notes you shouldn't hear an INDIVIDUAL. Leave your crazy vocal licks at home, and invite them out ONLY when they serve the proper purpose. When done right, your unit will be UNBREAKABLE and will shine all together. It's a cliche' to no end, but its an age old fact: there is no "I" in TEAM.

These are just a few tools coming from a non-singer that will definitely benefit in the long (and short) run. My primary example of the perfect unit is the legendary I-Threes. These three ladies were Bob Marley's background singers and ventured out on their own. It still boggles my mind how unbelievably tight their parts were; it was just like listening to one voice, on a unison AND in harmony. One cannot forget Boyz II Men ("Water Runs Dry" comes to mind immediately), Parliament Funkadelic, and pretty much ALL of the male/female singing units of the Motown era. Study these examples and apply them to your own stage shows, the results will be baffling.

- r

P.S. - Anybody that knows me will testify that I'm NOT a fan of John Legend by any means. But I will always respect and give him credit not only for his songs and writing, but his band definitely sets a high standard as a unit. Shouts to my homies Allen, Clayton, Man-Man, Kenny, and honestly everybody else that's been a member of the unit, you guys are definitely an inspiration! Check it out folks: band placement and part placement at it's best.