The Six Stages of Learning a Song
I've had to learn about 40 songs recently for a cover band I just joined. But most of them are still not anywhere near done. There's learning how a song goes, and then there's owning a song. You're a much better performer when you get to the point of owning your songs.
The Six Stages of Learning a Song
1) Learning lyrics, melody, phrasing, and structure.
This means just knowing "when to sing" and "what to sing" to get through the song start to finish successfully, even if you have to think about it.
2) Internalizing lyrics, melody, phrasing, and structure.
Know how it all goes without even thinking about it.
3) Fine-tuning: pitch, when to take a breath, enunciation, etc
Most songs offer some kind of new challenge. Even when you know how it goes, depending on where you are as a singer you may still need to fine-tune pitch entrances, runs, fast passages, enunciation, or where to take a breath.
4) Interpretation
Dynamics. Attitude. Vocal texture. Emotional expression. What are you going to do to make this song interesting and expressive?
5) Performance
Does the song merit movement? Interaction with band members? Emphasis of hits or breaks? Is there a solo where you'll step back as lead singer and let the focus be elsewhere?
6) Ownership
After you've performed a song live for a certain amount of time, it finally "gels." You figure out how to sing all of it in your style, you get inside of it, you relax into it, it becomes "yours." That takes time, but also requires the previous steps.
(c) 2011 Adrienne Osborn
Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado. For more free articles and tips, visit http://PerformanceHigh.net.
performing in Stage Performance, Stage Presence 
Reader Comments (3)
This is some absolutely invaluable insight, and I'll dare add that the whole process can be held true for each and every instrument! (I'm back to drums and keyboards, and I suffer a little...)
I really appreciate your emphasis on dynamics and breathing. Nothing is more gross than a singer swallowing huge gulps of air and making nothing of it!
Oddly, I find that #1 is the hardest part. Getting started, doing the "musical grunt work" is never easy.
Especially when one has a really short attention span...
A really great breakdown of is required to "nail" any song. I regularly get involved in jams where fellow singers use songbooks and try to perform whilst reading. No disrespect but it ain,t never gonna work. To totally own the song you have to perform it instinctively, without thinking about the mechanics of how you are doing it. It takes a long time to get to this stage. I busk and play in pubs and for a while i tried to learn a song a week. This is possible but very difficult and I found it was virtually impossible to do a song you love justice by learning it in a week. I am lucky and only sing stuff I like, so I can give it the time i need to perfect it...but 40 songs...that's tough...I hope you liked them all.
Al: Ha! No, I certainly don't own all these songs. I'm at Step 3 on most of them, starting on Step 4 on a few. Fortunately our first gig is just one set, so about 12 songs or so. :)