Singing Is Just So Hard...

Hayley Williams' microphone

Well, I have my next band practice tomorrow and am half-excited, half-not-so-excited. You should know by now why--- stage presence.

First of all, if Mariah doesn't show up to practice, I am going to scream. I don't want to do the lead vocals... not again. I need to focus on my part, not hers.

And my part is the problem. I have the worst stage presence in the entire band of seven--- it's true.

Mariah (lead vocals) has been singing for like, ever and has amazing stage presence, plus a beautiful voice.
Josh (rhythm guitar) might be the second-to-youngest member of the band, but his stage presence isn't bad... at least not when we're practicing, but I think he was nervous at the actual competition, so his stage presence wasn't as wild as usual... not that that's a bad thing... his usual presence is WILD.
Chris... (bass) I don't know about his presence, but he has an instrument, so that gives him some leeway.
Mark--- (keys) just watch his face when he plays piano!
Nathan (lead guitar) walks around somewhat.
Brian (percussion/drums) is behind a drum set.

See.... I told you, my stage presence is worse than EVERY ONE'S. So, I looked up a few of my favorite bands and favorite songs and videos, and I haven't really learned how to improve my presence.

"Somebody To Love" by Justin Bieber didn't help. At all.

"Brick By Boring Brick" by Paramore was full of acting... not as much singing.

"For Those Who Wait" has a lot of acting in it, too.

"Sorrow" was just rambunctious.

So, with all the music videos that failed me, here are some that helped:

"Desperate" by Fireflight: If you're gonna stand in one place, at least show some facial expression. Smile or something. Don't ever dye your hair white when you're a natural youthful blonde. DO go for red streaks if you're brunette or have black hair--- Look at Wendy!!! (Wendy is married to Glenn, one of the guitar guys. One of the cutest couples--- they're on my list!)

"Fixed At Zero" by VersaEmerge: (love that song!) Make little gestures that go along with the lyrics. If "there's a vulture on" your shoulder and it's telling you "to give in", don't listen to it! And, smile, even if the lyrics aren't smiley--- just look how much Sierra is smiling!

"Excuses" by Deas Vail: Would it be enough to say I hate that song? When the band started practicing it, I loved it! But then, we kept practicing it and practicing it and practicing it... the week of DFAF, we had practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday (yep, at 4 p.m. and then most of us stayed up there until church, especially considering that Nathan and Josh live about eight minutes from me {Nathan and my sis, Charity, go to the same school and are in the same grade!} which is far from the church, and Brian and Chris are in a different city, but also far from our church) and Thursday... and then we ran through it a couple times on Friday, of course, and the performance was on Friday, and we got called back to perform AGAIN on Saturday. Busy week!

Anyway, that shows why I hate that song. I've heard it maybe a little under two hundred times.

This video shows (do you know how much I had to force myself to watch it???) that you really shouldn't stay in the same place, but most of the band does it anyway--- just look at Mr. Guitar Man on the far right. The leader, Wes Blaylock, (he's married to Laura, the piano girl. They got married around the time this song came out! They're on my list of cutest couples!) moves around a lot. One moment he's to the far left of the stage, the other he's in the middle, and the next thing you know he's carried the mic stand to the right and back to the left! Don't stay in one place. It's time to make your move.
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So, my point is, stage presence isn't all that hard--- if you're not me! If you have bad presence, I hope these videos helped you like they helped me. And if they didn't... well, feel free to look up the ones that didn't help me, like some Justin Bieber and Flyleaf videos.

P.S. Who is Cody Simpson? Who is Greyson Chance? I'm trying to find out who these kids are--- they're all over J-14 and I don't know who they are! Help me!