A collection of tips for aspiring floor singers that a number of us put together (quite) a few years ago. Yes, some of the tips contradict each other. 🙂 Following a discussion on the Folk 21 group, I started work on an updated and more cohesive version, but pressure of work meant that it might still be a month year decade or two before it’s completed, if ever. In fact, several years after retiring, I have to admit that it has long since been very low on the priority list. However, if anyone has a sensible contribution to make, by all means contact me! I’ll attempt to address any problems as soon as advised, but general improvements may not be an immediate priority! I apologise for the large quantity of introductory copyright info etc.
TL:DR – you’re welcome to make use of the tipsheet, as long as you respect and credit the work of the original authors.
David Harley
Version information
Update vs. 3.1dh: just after publishing 3.0dh I discovered another update from several years ago. I hadn’t proceeded very far with it, but I’ve incorporated most of the new content from there into this version.
[Update (vs. 3.0dh) checking links and minor edits, plus some new content, 26th March 2025. I figure there’s enough new content to make it version 3, which is not to say that versions 2.x by other editors are invalid. Of course they are, as long as they meet the copyright requirements.]
Originally from another site – or probably sites – that I no longer have. A much-shortened version also appeared many moons ago in fRoots (at that time called Folk Roots: it was the issue from July 1998, No. 181).]
I found a version 2.2 of this tipsheet on the Spindwyers page but it seems to have disappeared.
There’s also a version 2.2 still available [as of March 2025] on Hamish Currie’s page here. It includes the introduction from the shortened version in Folk Roots, by permission, which seems to be the main addition. Since I don’t have that permission, I haven’t included the Folk Roots quote here.
Previous Release Version 1.1b [Incorporated updates supplied by Paul Clarke regarding some sources of further information: see the very last section below. DH – July 1st 2018]
Copyright Notice
I don’t think anyone who contributed to this document was or is interested in stopping the community from benefiting from or adding to the advice herein. I introduced this section back in version 1.0 simply to ensure that (a) no blodger tries to profit from our work without due credit (b) that no such blodger slaps his own copyright notice on it, possibly with the result if not the intention of stopping us from making any use of our own work. Think this doesn’t happen? It does. (Trust me, I’m a writer…) While I’m not aware of any such abuse, I’m releasing this version under Creative Commons licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode.
The ‘human-readable’ summary of the licence is at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ but it goes something like this.
- You can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- You can adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
However:
- You must giveappropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike— If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
- You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
- No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
Copyright on all contributions to this document remains with the authors and all rights are reserved. It may, however, be freely distributed and quoted – accurately, and with due credit. (You know who you are!)
It may not be reproduced for profit or distributed in part or as a whole with any product or service for which a charge is made, except with the prior permission of the copyright holders. To obtain such permission, please contact David Harley, compiler and editor of the original tipsheet.
If permission is given, it will be on the basis that:
- reproduced text will be quoted accurately
- it will be made clear that derived material is based on the tipsheet
- the authors must be credited
This document must not be redistributed without the copyright section.
It’s often difficult to determine the exact authorship of a particular paragraph – perhaps I should have done that at the time of compiling the tipsheet, but I didn’t (perhaps because it seemed against the spirit of the group uk.music.folk), and while I can recognize many of my own contributions at this point, I’ve only flagged them as such if they were more recent additions to the original document, especially the sections added in this revision. But it seems to me that the fairest way to deal with this content is as a jointly-authored document and acknowledge the use of common material by referencing the whole document, whether you’re an original contributor, someone adding content, or someone simply quoting the document. What I really don’t want to see, is anyone claiming sole credit and copyright for the document, for whatever reason. I doubt if there’s a live version of the newsgroup anywhere at this point, though it’s probably archived in several places. [DH]
Availability
The latest version of this document as edited by myself is, for the moment, the one available here. Other sites carrying a version of the tipsheet will be listed here as and if advised. Of course, there may never be another version, and there have been versions I only came across by accident… [see notes above: DH]
Disclaimer
We hope there are no significant errors or misinformation or omissions, but accept no responsibility for any ill effects resulting from the use of any information contained in this document. Caveat lector, and I really don’t advise learning songs while driving! However, if you do find something that you think should or shouldn’t be in here, feel free to contact me via the blog contact form.
Obviously, there’s a wide range of opinion expressed here, and there are no rules which can’t be broken on occasion. Just take out what works for you.
Historical Background
Once upon a time, Neil Corbett of the Bracknell Folk Club asked on uk.music.folk:
“What would be your top 3 tips for aspiring folk club floor singers? I’d lke to put a top 10 tip list on our Bracknell Folk Website.”
However, the response was so enthusiastic that it seemed a shame not to use all the advice that was offered, so I suggested putting together an FAQ. In fact, this is less an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document than a tipsheet, but we hoped it would be of use. The site on which I was keeping it disappeared several years ago, and in fact I’d forgotten about it until I came across it in a dark corner of my network. There are probably a lot fewer folk clubs around than when we put this together in the late 1990s, but I’ve been to enough open mic nights and jam sessions subsequently to believe that there are still people who are new to singing in public who might find it of some use, even if references to cassettes seem a little quaint in the second decade of the 21st century.
Contributors (purely alphabetical order)
Arcadiamax (Max)
Jacey Bedford
Chris Beeson
Ken Bradburn
Pete Coe
Neil Corbett
Dom Cronin
Diane
Graham Dixon
M.R. Fish
Wendy Grossman
David Harley
Colin Irvine
Jim Lawton
Ken Piper
Irene Shettle
Ian White
Tim Willets
Contents
- Choice of Material
- Practice Makes Perfect?
- Food, Drink and Dutch Courage
- Instrumentals and Accompaniments
- Presentation and Posture
- After the Set
- Future Areas for Discussion?
- Do it!
Choice of Material
- PLAY/SING FOLK MUSIC- [it’s strange how many forget to do this.
I commented at the time that ‘I remember with particular fondness a singer who said “I’m sorry, I don’t know any folk songs” as an introduction to “House of the Rising Sun”’. But there was a more serious point to be made there. I don’t think this is the place to get into a discussion about what is and isn’t folk music, fun though such discussions can be. Well, for some, probably not me at this point. There’s no doubt that while there is plenty of traditional and material that most people will agree is ‘folk’, and plenty more that will attract fervent “oh yes it is/oh no it isn’t” debate, that’s not really the point here. The real message is “know your audience” – or at least make an educated guess. Sometimes an audience will appreciate a change of pace, something a little different. Sometimes, a group has very firm opinions as to what is acceptable in that context, such as those that don’t allow anything that hints at political comment, or modern, or accompanied, or American… Sometimes, it’s about expecting (and embracing) the unexpected. On the other hand, getting it wrong isn’t the worst thing in the world. Learn from the experience, and don’t get discouraged.
- SING SOMETHING ENTERTAINING and different – there’s too many miserable old b******’s around doing floor spots with the same dreary old 6 songs they have to choose from, and if you’re lucky you may be the the only one who’s not dreary/boring/miserable/sad/repetitious/whatever – if you are you’ll be welcome back, and if you are entertaining you can get away with a few stumbles. Next time you go to that club, do different songs. [Though I’m not sure why you’d want to go back to a club full of dreary, boring, miserable, sad, repetitious singers. It does seem to me that sometimes people (performers and audiences) are all too willing to cling to the familiar, but there’s something to be said for reading your audience. If your initial or previous set went down well, there’s no harm in including songs that were well received previously, and in fact it will give you some confidence that is likely to spill over into your performance of something more novel. In other words, you’re building confidence and professionalism while you’re building your set. Professionalism? Sure: you may not ever intend to do a paid gig, but presumably you want to give the best performance you can every time, even if your audience isn’t paying to hear you. – DH]
- CHOOSE CAREFULLY – something short with a good positive tune for your first song. In fact, short songs are a good policy until you’ve had plenty of practice in front of an audience and built up your confidence. Don’t set yourself unrealistic targets. The shorter it is, the likelier you are to remember the words! If it’s your first time on the floor/stage, whatever, I suspect a tragic ballad is probably not a good idea anyway, unless it’s one that you’re committed to – a lot of them are long, and it seems a hell of a long time up there with knocking knees, sweaty palms etc.
[I love a 23 verse ballad myself, but it needs to be reasonably well done. J On the other hand, nothing is more enraging than a short song unnecessarily prolonged. – DH] - CHOOSE YOUR VERSION – when you choose a chorus song, make sure your version is the one the club usually sings, it’s very unnerving to have the audience bugger off into their own version if you’re a novice and if you are you won’t get them back.
[Another good argument for knowing your audience. Of course, as your confidence builds, you are likelier to wander further afield and perform in places you haven’t necessarily checked out before. A good argument for knowing something about your repertoire, too, so that you can anticipate the possibility of this sort of mismatch. In some circumstances, you might even consider doing the Ewan MacColl/Peggy Seeger thing of teaching the audience the chorus version you intend to do as part of the introduction. The way I remember their gigs, they were as much about education as musical performance, and audiences always responded really well to it. Of course, they were not only musically accomplished but intensively knowledgeable, but if you have a little nugget of information that others may not have, that may appeal to the audience. Though if you impart the same nugget to the same audience every week, that appeal is likely to fade. – DH] - THINK AHEAD – have a number of songs you can sing at the drop of a hat just in case the person in front of you sings the song you were going to. And you never know, you might be asked for another one or two later on.
- SING A CHORUS SONG so that the audience can join in and give you a break. But beware ‘chorus relaxation’ – if you stop concentrating, when it comes to the verse, you’ll have forgotten it!
- THE RIGHT SONG FOR YOU – are you learning the right songs for you? Are they easy to remember, and will the audience remember them and you when you’ve finished? Audiences like familiar songs, in general, but the more familiar the song is, the more likely it is that there are a plethora of good versions out there already. Don’t sing a song which doesn’t suit you because it’s a great song. Don’t sing an unsingable song because it appeals ideologically.
- GET TO KNOW THE VENUE FIRST – see what sort of material seems to go best. Don’t panic if it’s not the sort of material you can do well: sometimes songs which contrast with the usual fare are appreciated, especially if done well. On the other hand, if you offer an audience which is used to listening rather than singing an obscure and difficult sea-shanty, you’re likely to find yourself singing it all by yourself, which is rarely a satisfying experience.
- CHOOSE SENSITIVELY – think about whether a song might be contentious. Some very traditional clubs hate -anything- modern or foreign (I remember clubs where you could see the faces fall when someone carried a guitar in). In some social contexts, it might be -very- unwise to do a hunting song or even a whaling song. There are many fine Irish songs which can’t be divorced from their political context, and that can cause considerable offence in some circles.
- NOW YOU’VE LEARNED A FEW SONGS….. NOW YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PERFORM THEM…. time you got out a bit more! The most intimidating audiences are family and friends…
- CAN YOU SING FAR AWAY….. the further you are away from home, the better you are appreciated..
- FOLK CLUBS AND SINGAROUND SESSIONS are usually friendly, supportive environments. There’s a lot of them about waiting for you to drop in and try out your songs. You’ll hear other good ones too and people are very willing to pass them on.
Practice makes Perfect?
- IF YOU FLUFF, and you will sooner or later, it isn’t the end of the world – think what you might say when you forget the words, and try to remember how trivial an issue it is when *you*’re in the audience and someone else cocks up.
- REMEMBERING WORDS. The older we get, the likelier it is that we forget words. Personally, I’m OK with people having a crib sheet, especially if they just take a quick peek in moments of panic. Singing the entire song from a crib sheet can result in a stilted performance, because you don’t engage with the song properly. I’m not saying you can’t engage with a lyric when you have it in front of you – that’s actually how I work in the studio. But you need to know it well to sing it authentically, perhaps well enough to sing without the words if necessary. Bear in mind that a lot of people will be put off if you sing from a lyric sheet, or your phone or other gadget, and some of those people can be very rude indeed, online or in a live situation. [New section – DH]
- ACOUSTICS – if you’ve not done it before, practice the song in a few rooms that are acoustically different. If you’ve only ever practiced in the bathroom and the folk club room is carpeted and has heavy curtains etc. you may find it difficult to set off at the correct pitch and volume.
- DISTRACTIONS – also, practise with some of your attention distracted – because that’s exactly what’s going to happen when you stand up for the first few times in public.
- SINGING WHILE DRIVING is a good way. [I don’t actually agree: I don’t want to be on the same road as someone who’s giving some of their attention to the plight of Little Musgrave, so I’ve removed the rest of this bit. Sorry, whoever originally wrote it. – DH]
- REHEARSE lots in the privacy of your own home before you start. Rehearse at full volume in a secure environment (on your own) if your partner, kids, neighbours object then someone has to go… find an empty room at work, school etc. If you practice in a small voice, so will you perform. [I have known people who considered their music more important than their marriage. If you’re an aspiring floorsinger, you’re probably not one of them. DH]
- LEARNING THE GAME… Write down the songs in your own songbook, it helps you to learn them. You might worry about being over-rehearsed. Actually, getting a difficult song to the state where you’re confident enough with it to concentrate on the meaning and the quality of the performance rather than on getting through without forgetting the words is a good measure of your commitment to the song.
- LEND AN EAR… Learning by ear from tapes etc helps you absorb style and when you sing the song out you still have the source in your mind, like singing a duet. [Removed section about learning words while driving” – DH] On the other hand, there comes a time when you have to let go of other people’s versions and sing it your own way. When you’re starting out, that’ll tend to be when you’re well past the phase of mechanically learning the song. When you’ve put in some solo flying time, you’ll be better able to hear a new song and think “I could do that -this- way instead of -that- way”, but that’s going to be different for each performer.
- SINGER OR THE SONG?….you’ve got to sell the song of course, but have faith in your choice of song, stand behind it, it’s more important than you are, it’ll still be around when you’ve gone.
- ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY…… If it’s a traditional song it’s been around for a long time and passed on by generations of singers who valued it greatly. You should feel privileged to be part of the chain, treat it with enormous respect. If it’s a contemporary song.. do the writer a favour.. it took them a lot longer to write than it did for you to learn… you owe them a debt… pay up, get it right and give them credit.
- UNTIL YOU HAVE THE SONGS INSIDE YOU, YOU’RE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS…. you know that, so does your audience.
- STAND UP FOR FOLK – practice playing your songs STANDING UP. Most people sing better that way, even though it can be difficult to get used to playing an instrument that way. In a club where there is no PA system, you will be heard (and seen) much better, in general, if you’re standing, or, at a pinch, elevated on a stool. [If you’re a classical guitarist, veena player, or double-bassoonist, you may regard this as a little rigid. This is a very singer-oriented tipsheet, though. Still, lots of very accomplished guitarists, for example, are more comfortable sitting down, and that should be respected – DH]
Food, Drink, and Dutch Courage
- Don’t have to much to drink prior to singing (Dutch courage doesn’t work). At least, too much Dutch courage doesn’t….. Some people find it very uncomfortable to perform absolutely dry, but if you’re not used to performing, you might be shocked at some of the tricks that the combination of adrenaline and alcohol can play on you. If you’re an instrumentalist, be prepared to lose in motor function and memory what you gain in lessened inhibitions. There’s a lot to be said for holding back on the alcohol as much as you can. Be selective about what you drink: spirits maximize alcohol intake and are rough on the throat, while at least beer deconstricts the voicebox a little (not to mention the anal sphincter…..). [Hm. There’s a lot of Harleyism in that section…]
- One problem with Dutch courage is that you need to line the stomach well before you get going, but a full stomach is a bad basis for singing. In any case, don’t have a heavy meal immediately beforehand – it will rob you of your wind. [Certainly those gigs where the only chance of eating en route to the gig was a large bag of chips didn’t necessarily get my best vocals. – DH] If you’re going to sing, avoid eating gluey foods beforehand: bananas, melted cheese, oatmeal. They coat the vocal cords and make even good, experienced singers sing flat.
[I don’t know if the physiological details are correct, but I’ve certainly seen/heard/felt the effect…. I’m not qualified to comment on best practice before singing, but the suggestions I’ve seen elsewhere suggest that you should maybe at least consider whether the following suit you: heavily processed foods, dairy foods, fried foods, sugary foods, caffeinated drinks, chocolate, spicy foods, and obviously anything to which you’re allergic or spark a sensitivity such as coeliac. DH]
Be aware that if you eat within the hour or two before you sing you are probably going to burp on stage. Shandy is good for maximizing fluid intake while holding you back from the gallop towards alcohol-induced incoherence, but also has a tendency towards making you burp.
Instrumentals and Accompaniments
Tune up before you come on stage. Of course, if you walk in to be told you’re on, you don’t have a lot of choice, but if you wait until you’re on to take your instrument out of its case and you happen to be put on just before the main act, you’d better be sure it’s not going to take you five minutes to get it in tune. In general, stringed instruments like to acclimatize to the room temperature out of their cases for a while, as long as they’re safe from being stepped on, spilt on, or walked off with.
Presentation and Posture
- TOO HIGH? TOO LOW? Make sure you can start in the right key. …use pitch pipes, recorder or whistle so that you’re consistent in singing each song in the right key for your voice.
- If you don’t have access to an instrument you can get a note from, you might like to consider chromatic pitchpipes. The key to them is that it’s easy to know which note you’re blowing – the circular one has separate mini-mouthpieces, and the harmonica ones have a sliding frame to block out adjacent notes. Bear in mind, though, that nerves and unfamiliar acoustics will tend to modify your ‘optimum’ key. Nerves raise your pitch. A lot of people in a room tend to ‘deaden’ the acoustic, and you may need to sing higher to project better.
- To do it without mechanical aids, hum quickly through the tune, very softly inside your head. You can feel in your throat whether the tune is all within your range, without needing to make any audible noise. If you’ve practised the song enough beforehand, you already know where the high and low spots are, and you can “fast forward” to them very quickly.
- The audience will never notice. They’ll think you’re composing yourself… well, you are.
- STANDING UP – most people find it easier to stand up and sing – better for the voice and tone. Of course, if you play an instrument as well, the issue may not be so simple.
- FIRST TIMERS – tell the organiser if it is your first time (so that he/she can place you in a suitable slot, i.e. not following the local ‘superstar’). In fact, while practised club singers tend to hate the ‘graveyard spot’ as first floor singer, it does come in useful for minimizing the exposure of neophytes to more attention than they can cope with…. Of course, if the organizer opens the evening and -is- the local superstar, this may not apply. 😉
- SMILE – if you convey the fact that you are enjoying it, chances are that the audience will enjoy it also. On the other hand, a fixed grin suits some songs better than others.
- TRAD JOKERY – please, none of those old jokes about “it’s good enough for folk” or “if I ever get it in tune I’m going to weld it”, or “this is a little Chinese number called tu-ning” (does this show my age, or just how many times I saw Diz Disley!? – DH). Not to mention “It was in tune when I bought it” and “If you don’t know the words, take your shoes off and hum”. [Actually, there’s plenty of mileage in even the oldest jokes, but unless you’re a fully-fledged life-and-soul-of-the-party type, go easy on the humour. A joke that falls flatter than expected won’t help your confidence, and a mildly humourous one-liner may be just as effective and a little safer than an obviously rehearsed shaggy dog story.]
- EASE IN – don’t choose to open with your most difficult number. Start with something so familiar it’s like wearing an old slipper.
- DON’T APOLOGISE for how bad it’s going to be before you start. It’s OK to apologise if you do screw up, though.
- CONFIDENCE – even if you are scared, try to look confident. (Yes, a smile helps.) Relax or your breathing will tighten up and your voice will start to wobble.
- EYES WIDE OPEN – keep your eyes open. Look towards the back of the room and your voice will project to the point you are looking at without you having to “shout”.
- ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE – singing can be enhanced by using some of the same rules as public speaking. If you concentrate better if you close your eyes, fair enough, but it engages the audience better if you look round them one person at a time, straight into the eyes. [What you should never do is emulate one of the two open mic acts I’ve really hated – to whit – a duo where the singer stood in front of her musician partner with her back to the audience. (The other was a chap who sang a song about killing paedophiles – I’m appalled by people who abuse children, but there are more humane ways of dealing with the problem than willy-nilly capital punishment and lynch mobs. – DH]
[By the way, I’ve written about public speaking in the specific context of conference presentations here: The Occasional Orator Part 1; The Occasional Orator Part 2; The Occasional Orator Part 3. I’m not saying you’ll definitely find them useful, but they are aimed at beginners to that activity, and they basically encapsulate the learning process that made me a barely competent public speaker. And they are absolutely free, though maybe not worth every penny. DH] - ENGAGE EVERYBODY – it doesn’t matter what sort of singing you’re into – you need to be able to communicate with the person right at the back, and the person right under your nose. (It’s exactly the same if you’re standing on stage with a choir of 199 others.) Chances are that you won’t be able to see most of them further back than the first few rows anyway, if it’s the sort of location where there are lights etc.
- INTRODUCTIONS – I find it helpful to start with a minimum of introduction and often an unaccompanied song. That way I only have the song to concentrate on, and if it goes OK, I can loosen up on the next and spare some thought for general communication and the accompaniment. It’s a good move to let a song speak for itself rather than give an unnecessarily long introduction, though. That said, even Nick Drake didn’t get away with never speaking directly to the audience without losing their attention. On the other hand, there’s very little point in speaking (much) to an audience that isn’t paying attention anyway. (Yes, I did play a lot of wine bars…) Anyway, don’t tell the audience what they probably already know. If you tell them what they -don’t- know, make sure it’s interesting.
- SONGWRITERS – newbie songwriters have a habit of telling audiences much more than they want to know about the gestation of the song they’re eventually going to sing. That’s probably less interesting if you’re talking about your latest breakup than if you’re talking about a dramatic historic event. [DH]
- CRIBSHEETS (AGAIN) – If you’ve written the song yourself it isn’t generally a good look to have the words and music in front of you. [DH]
- LEARN THE SONG, wherever it originates, don’t read it from a scrap of paper. However, it’s not a bad idea to have a crib sheet handy so that you can recover quickly rather than stand there with sweat trickling down your back wondering which verse you were supposed to be singing. Rather than having a crib sheet, another suggestion is to have a friend in the front row who can prompt you.
- FALSE STARTS – no-one (much) will worry about a bit of a false start. But don’t -ever- get halfway through a song, panic, and start right from the beginning!
- MOOD – try to be sensitive to the mood of the evening and what has gone before.
- MAKE YOUR FIRST SONG AN EASY ONE. Take a deep breathe and inflate your stomach too.
- BREAKING THE ICE. Introduce your song, it doesn’t have to be a lecture… eg “Here’s a song called Newlyn Town which I learned from recordings of Harry Cox, who was a farm labourer from the village of Catfield in Norfolk”. Audiences will be impressed because you know something about the song and the singer and might ask you where they can get hold of more of Harry Cox’s songs and recordings. OR…”I pinched this song off a tape, I don’t know who the singer was or anything about the song.. if anyone can tell me about it after, I’d be grateful” Best of all..”Here’s a song I learned off my grandma “……Ten out of ten for that one!
[I actually did learn a couple of songs off my grandmother. I don’t sing them, though I’ve recorded them and written about them in the Folklife Traditions Journal and Folk In Cornwall. I doubt if I get points for that, though.] - THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY – on a personal note, I’ve been amazed (and irritated) to be corrected on my pronunciation of Shrewsbury (the town I grew up in!) in clubs and sessions as far away as Cornwall. I don’t suppose this particular issue is a problem for most aspiring singers, but there may be comparable sensitivities to bear in mind. (For what it’s worth, if I do a song with a Shrewsbury connection now (I’ve written several), I mention briefly that some people pronounce it Shoosbree and leave it at that… [New section – DH]
- PLOT HOLES – try to avoid the temptation to explain the entire story of a ballad before you sing it – especially if the explanation takes as long as singing the thing. If the song has a good “plot” then the audience will appreciate it better if they haven’t had it thoroughly explained to them in advance.
- LEARN YOUR INTRODUCTIONS, TOO. NEVER SAY…. “Here’s a song I wrote this afternoon”, “I hope I can remember the words” (so do we!), “I need to look at the words for this one”. You won’t be the first or last person to forget your words. If you do forget them… go through them again as soon as you sit down. But maybe you should get to know a song a bit better before you throw it at an audience. Though I did hear that Phil Ochs wrote Changes the same day that he first sang it in Montreal. (I can’t confirm that.) And there is, of course, the famous story of The Writing of Tipperary as written and recorded by the late Bill Caddick.
- START BY TEACHING THE AUDIENCE THE CHORUS…. play the first 3 or 4 notes of the tune on the whistle, hum them to make sure you’ve got them… deep breath…. GO!…sing to the far wall just as you practised.
- STRING YOUR GUITAR with reasonably new (though not brand new) strings. They not only sound better but are easier to tune and keep in tune. [Obviously take whatever preparatory action is needed with other instruments, strung or not. DH]
- SPARE ACCESSORIES – if you play an instrument, have spares of everything you actually need: picks, capos, strings, etc. If you don’t have those, maybe you know an acapella song you can switch to if something’s missing or breaks. Often you can borrow replacements, but if you’re unsure of yourself these may throw you off. [I still remember with some admiration John Davies’s snapping a string at the start of his song The Heat Is On and continuing to sing it acapella while replacing the string. I think that was at the old Jackson’s Lane club in Highgate. DH]
- AMPLIFICATION – if the club uses P.A. then try to resist the temptation to tap the microphone/ask “is it on?” before singing. If you’ve just seen someone using a microphone, the chances are that it is still working. If you want to check, just start talking into the mic to introduce the song and let your ears confirm the P.A. is still working. Do not shout into microphones – or whisper. Sing and speak normally, from about a foot from the mic.
- MIC MANAGEMENT – How far from a mic you should be depends on a lot of things. If you’ve a well developed shanty voice a foot might be about right. The trick is to use your ears. You have to learn to estimate what the audience can hear from what you can hear. This is not usually a problem in FCs but if you’re going to do gigs, you really *must* learn microphone technique. If there’s somebody else controlling the sound (and you haven’t had a chance to liaise with them beforehand), choose your position, stay still and let them get on with it.
- MICROPHONES vary enormously. One trick that might work is to get close in but don’t sing straight into the mike. This may help with some of the breathiness, sibilance etc. which can nuke an inexperienced PA-user’s sound quality. In the end, though, you have to rely on your own ears.
- YOU DON’T HAVE TO use a mike/P.A. just because it’s there. Some performers use a PA in a small venue not for volume, but just for better balance, or because they use electric instruments (an electric instrument and an unamplified voice may sound ‘wrong’, even though the instrument doesn’t necessarily overwhelm the voice (partly depending on the natural echo in the room). You may not need to use it. In fact, there’s a psychological element here. An audience may feel that using the PA is a licence to talk over a performance, and may actually listen more attentively if you don’t use it. I’ve seen this work many times at folk and poetry venues, less often at open mics. If the PA belongs to the main guest, -please- don’t use it without asking.
After the Set
It probably wasn’t perfect. It never is, for any of us. If it was a disaster, remember that it was probably much worse for you than anyone else. [I can think of one or two exceptions, though… DH] If you stumbled over the words or pitched it badly, don’t give up: learn from the experience. If you got a buzz off the good bits, enjoy it.
But don’t get complacent. Just because it may have gone all right the first time you sang it out, don’t assume that you’ve cracked it, because you haven’t. It’ll take a lot more performances til you get it right and really get inside the song. So far you’ve remembered the words and tune, that’s all…. eventually you’ll learn it by HEART. One day you might even understand it!
Do it!
Have the courage to have a go! And don’t expect to be perfect. Most of us who’ve been doing it since the Dark Ages are still making mistakes.
In general, people are pretty kind to beginners: they don’t mind a few rough edges, as long as they can see that you’re making an effort. And they very rarely attack and kill performers, even the crap ones. 😉
Remember that there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who *can* do what you are doing and those who *can’t*. If they can’t do it they’ve got no right to criticise. If they can, then at some point in the past they must have gone through the same thing so they should have some sympathy. Criticism is not going to be a problem anyway because in general people are very supportive. [You should, though, probably welcome positive criticism – sometimes a slightly negative comment is ultimately helpful. DH]
In addition to everything else people have said:-
Enjoy yourself!
– Oh yes, if you sing in a pub, when everything goes quiet as you start singing, then that funny noise – that’s you that is!!
Future Areas for Discussion?
I haven’t seen much in the way of suggestions since the last version of the tipsheet, but if you feel like contributing something, let me know via the contact form.
How to get gigs. You’ve done a few floor spots but you want to play more than the two or three in a night. Where do you start in getting to play more often and longer sets. Even, dare I say, for money!!! How and who do you persuade that you need to be unleashed on the wider public for longer? I suppose one’s music should speak for itself, but only if its heard often enough. So any ideas about self promotion would be gratefully received. Also some “don’ts” in there would be useful too.
One suggestion is to show up to do floor spots, introduce yourself to the organizer and say that you’re looking for work, or else to send cassettes. [CDs or video/audio links are mostly more useful nowadays! DH] Clubs that have a big name policy may be interested in (cheap or even free) support acts. Fewer festivals nowadays seem to have serious jams and singarounds, but those that do help to get your name known. Some clubs give local singers a chance to do a longer set (a half or whole evening) from time to time. Of course, some clubs don’t consider they have a particular incentive to book someone who comes every week anyway. Clubs that are associated with festivals are likely to be looking for local talent to pad the guest list cheaply and do things like MC concerts, run singarounds etc., which all raises your public profile.
Tapes/recordings generally need to be pretty good to make much of an impression. If you’re going to send them round the country to clubs, festivals, agencies etc., you’ll be taken more seriously if they’re professionally packaged with a good looking poster or two, a properly formatted and well-printed resume etc. Some people won’t even look at a tape that isn’t well packaged: it’s one of the heuristics for dealing with a flood of unsolicited gig-hunting mail. Best not to offer a tape as a 3-hour cassette of your life’s work. A well-balanced set of three songs, say, should be quite enough to interest an organizer, if you’re his/her cup of tea. For heavens sake do some research before you send stuff off. Don’t waste their time and yours by sending a tape of acoustic rock and roll to a hardcore traditional club, or sea shanties to a club which leans towards the cabaret.
[Thanks to Paul Clarke of focsle.org for his update on the Brian Hooper booklet and Folk On Tap.]
Another area which seems to interest people is running clubs, especially in terms of MC-ing. Apparently Brian Hooper of Southampton published a booklet a while ago called “So you want to be a Folk Club MC”.
Paul Clarke told me several years ago that “Brian Hooper’s book on MC-ing is still available, and I’m sure he’d post a copy in exchange for a small fee to anyone who asks … Brian is our longest-standing club member (about 45 years) and is the nearest thing we have to a “Mr Focsle” (or a Mr Central-South-Coast-Folk-Music, for that matter). He was our immediate predecessor in running the club.” You can hopefully still contact Brian via:
By George Publications
44 Janson Road
Southampton
Hants
SO15 5GJ
I think this is probably his Facebook page, though, for a more direct contact. And Focsle Music has a web page here.
Paul also told me that Folk on Tap, formerly referenced here, is “long defunct, and won’t ever get resurrected, given the dominance of the Net as a resource for much of its material.” I’ve removed some information that no longer seems valid. [DH]
David Harley
Wheal Alice Music 